Following the approval and in consultation with the Director of Secondary Education, of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the team of the Integrated Precision Medicine Technologies Research Center of Excellence carried out the following visits to secondary schools:
- Wednesday, 2/5/2018, Paralimni Lyceum (A. Odysseos, C. Pitris)
- Wednesday, 2/5/2018, Lyceum of Kokkinohoria, Frenaros (A. Odysseos, C. Pitris)
- Friday, May 4, 2018, High School of Idalion (C. Pattichis)
- Monday, 7/5/2018, High School of Arch. Makarios III, Dasoupolis (C. Pitris)
- Wednesday, 9/5/2018, Akakio High School (A. Odysseos, C. Pitris)
During the visits the lecture of Appendix 5 was presented. The purpose of the presentation was to introduce the students to the concepts of Precision Medicine but also to inform them about the efforts to create the Center of Excellence. The presentations were attended by more than 150 students who were very positive about their experience.
During the visits, anonymous information was collected through the questionnaire given in the box below. The purpose of the questionnaire was to assess students' perceptions of Precision Medicine and research, in general, before and after the lecture. Based on the answers of the students, in the questionnaires completed before and after the presentation, some very interesting conclusions were drawn:
- Both the belief that there is the possibility of international-level research and a research career in Cyprus and the possibility of creating an International Center for Research on Precision Medicine Technologies in Cyprus (questions 7 and 8) were evaluated before the presentation with grades below 3 (2.84 and 2.90 respectively) on a scale from 1 to 5. After the presentation, the grade went up for both (3.67 and 3.77 respectively).
- The percentage of students who correctly understood all factors influencing the effectiveness of health care provision (question 3) improved after the presentation (from 53% to 61%) but not statistically significantly (p = 0.111).
- There was some uncertainty about the question of the use of devices or drugs exclusively in a patient (question 5) that was answered correctly at a lower rate after the presentation (63% to 43%).
PRECISION MEDICINE – Questionnaire and Results |
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% Correct |
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Before |
After |
p |
|
1. How much do EU countries spend each day for health?
|
24.8% |
93.9% |
0.0000 |
2. In which of the following health-related activities is the most money spent?
|
11.1% |
22.8% |
0.0082 |
3. What is the reason for the inadequate response and the great loss of money in the way we treat each patient today?
|
52.9% |
60.9% |
0.1110 |
4. Which of the following DOES NOT correspond to the term "Precision Medicine"?
|
35.3% |
62.3% |
0.0002 |
5. To achieve "Precision medicine" we must create medicines or medical devices that can only be used for that particular patient. True or False?
|
63.2% |
43.0% |
0.0021 |
6. To achieve "Precision Medicine" we should be able to separate patients into subgroups based on (a) their different sensitivity to developing a disease, (b) the different biological way in which this disease develops within each patient, (c) the different ways in which they respond to each form of treatment. True or False?
|
83.1% |
92.0% |
0.0054 |
7. Do you think there is a possibility for international-level research and a career as a researcher in Cyprus. From 1 (unlikely) to 5 (very likely) 1 2 3 4 5 |
2.84 |
3.67 |
0.0000 |
8. Do you believe that there is the possibility of creating in Cyprus an International Research Center for "Precision Medicine Technologies". From 1 (unlikely) to 5 (very likely) 1 2 3 4 5 |
2.90 |
3.77 |
0.0000 |