Medical science students' perceptions of reading and writing

Abstract

The teaching and learning of reading and writing in medical universities responds to the need to guide students in their interaction with information, in order to generate new knowledge. The objective of this article is to present the results of an exploration of the perceptions and experiences of medical science students regarding reading and writing practices in the university context. A non-experimental, exploratory, quantitative study was conducted through the application of an online questionnaire to a total of 137 Nursing, Stomatology, Medicine, and Health Technology students from 13 Cuban provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud. Information was sought on the following aspects: the relationship between learning, reading, and writing; the influence of reading and writing errors on grades; actions and operations performed during reading and writing; the most frequently used sources of information in their study activities; the types of texts they write most frequently, and the characteristics of the reading and writing practices in their environment. The main foundations of the study come from research on academic literacy. The data was exported and processed using Microsoft Excel. The results are expressed as averages and percentages. According to the perceptions of the students surveyed, there is dissatisfaction and shortcomings regarding reading and writing practices in the context of Cuban medical education, particularly in relation to the epistemic function.