Peer Assisted Learning: A New Teaching Approach in Undergraduate Medical Students

Introduction: Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) is an innovative teaching learning tool where people from similar social groupings, who are not professional teachers, help each other to learn. Medical Council of India (MCI) recommends improving quality of training of Indian Medical Graduates (IMG) by expanding the role of doctors/IMGs from clinician to communicator, leadership and member of the healthcare team. Aim: To introduce peer assisted learning as new teaching and learning method in first year medical students and to compare the impact of this method on learners with traditional method of learning by Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE). Materials and Methods: In this observational study, first year MBBS students were randomly divided into two groups- the regular module and PAL module. In regular module, the students were taught by the faculty. In PAL module, the students were taught by a previously trained final MBBS students. In PAL module, senior medical students were trained on the clinical-practical topic to be taught. After training, the senior medical students taught their juniors. In the regular module, the junior students were taught the same clinical practical topic by the faculty. At the end of the session, the students were assessed by OSPE. Paired t-test was used for assessing effectiveness of educational methods. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Students’ post-test marks in PAL group were higher than the regular module group (12±2.9 vs 9.8±3.5, p<0.01). Majority (70%) of the students agreed that PAL is a better method of learning and develops teaching attitude. Most of the students strongly agreed that PAL provides friendly environment for learning (80%). About 70% of students gave positive response about need of similar sessions in the future. Conclusion: PAL is an interesting and exciting teaching-learning methodology in undergraduate medical training.

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A Quantitative Evaluation of Empathy Using JSE-S Tool, Before and After a Medical Humanities Module, Amongst First-year Medical Students in Nepal

10.21203/rs.3.rs-128016/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Krishna G.C. ◽

Amit Arjyal ◽

Amanda Douglas ◽

Madhusudan Subedi ◽

Rajesh Gongal

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

South Asia ◽

Quantitative Evaluation ◽

Medical Humanities ◽

Rank Test ◽

P Value ◽

First Year ◽

Before And After ◽

First Year Medical Students ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Doctors’ empathy: the understanding of patients’ experiences, concerns and perspectives, is highly valued by patients yet often lacking in patient care. Medical humanities has been introduced within undergraduate curriculum to address this lack in empathy. There is a paucity of research on the impact of a course on medical humanities on the empathy of medical students, particularly in South Asia. Here we report on the impact of such an intervention in first-year medical students and aim to help outcome-based medical education and the evaluation and promotion of humanities within medical courses. Methods This study is a quantitative evaluation of student empathy before and after a Medical Humanities course. The study employs the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student version (JSE-S). Participants were first-year medical students at Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal. All cohort students were invited to participate and written consent was obtained. Data were collected both prior-to and on-completion-of, a six-week Medical Humanities module. Pre- and post-module data were analyzed and the resulting empathy scores compared using the paired t-test or Wilcoxon Sign Rank test. Subgroup analysis was undertaken to determine the association of the score with gender and preferred future speciality. Results Sixty-two student responses were analyzed, 32 (52%) male. In the Pre-module scores females had a slightly higher mean score than males:108 and 103 respectively. Participants who preferred people-oriented specialities also scored higher than those preferring procedure and technology-oriented specialities: 107 and 103. There was a significant increase in mean score for the entire class from Pre-module to Post-module: 105 to 116, p-value of < 0.001. Mean scores rose from 103 to 116 in males, and from 108 to 116 in females. Participants preferring Procedure and Technology-Oriented specialities showed a significant increase in meanscores:103 to 117, and participants preferring People-Oriented specialities demonstrated a smaller increase:107 to 111. Conclusion This study provides evidence of the impact of a Medical Humanities course for increasing medical student empathy scores at an institution in Nepal. Teaching of Medical Humanities is an important contributor to the development of empathy in medical students and its widespread expansion in the whole of South Asia should be considered.

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First year medical students' performance analysis in anatomy with different modes of teaching: an experience of medical school in South India

National Journal of Clinical Anatomy ◽

10.1055/s-0039-3401697 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 02 (01) ◽

pp. 031-034

Author(s):

Thangarasu Rajan ◽

Atul M Bage

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical Profession ◽

P Value ◽

First Year ◽

Clinical Anatomy ◽

Teaching Anatomy ◽

The Subject ◽

First Year Medical Students ◽

The Impact ◽

Anatomy Teaching

Abstract Background and aims: The routine method of didactic lecture followed by dissection does not help for long-term retention of the subject, anatomy amongst medical students. The impact of clinical anatomy knowledge in medical profession is large and there is an absolute lack of positive reception in this regard amongst student community. Teaching methods play an important role to create interest and to make students appreciate the subject better. Studies evaluating different modes of teaching anatomy are scarce. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of different modes of anatomy teaching among medical students. Materials and methods: First year medical students were divided randomly into three groups and different modes of teaching anatomy like blackboard and chalk, audio/visual and using plastic models were compared by examination based assessment. The data of multiple groups were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, followed by the Newman–Keuls multiple comparison test (PRISM Graph pad, version 4; Graph Pad Software, Inc., San Diego, CA). A P value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: No single method is effective in increasing the performance of both theory and practical examination across different topics and so a suitable combination of the different modes for a particular topic in anatomy teaching should be framed.

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The impact of patient narratives on medical students’ perceptions of shared decision making: A randomized controlled trial

10.31234/osf.io/f84cq ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Martina Bientzle ◽

Marie Eggeling ◽

Simone Korger ◽

Joachim Kimmerle

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Medical Students ◽

Shared Decision Making ◽

Medical Training ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Future Research ◽

Shared Decision ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Information Text ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND: Successful shared decision making (SDM) in clinical practice requires that future clinicians learn to appreciate the value of patient participation as early as in their medical training. Narratives, such as patient testimonials, have been successfully used to support patients’ decision-making process. Previous research suggests that narratives may also be used for increasing clinicians’ empathy and responsiveness in medical consultations. However, so far, no studies have investigated the benefits of narratives for conveying the relevance of SDM to medical students.METHODS: In this randomized controlled experiment, N = 167 medical students were put into a scenario where they prepared for medical consultation with a patient having Parkinson disease. After receiving general information, participants read either a narrative patient testimonial or a fact-based information text. We measured their perceptions of SDM, their control preferences (i.e., their priorities as to who should make the decision), and the time they intended to spend for the consultation.RESULTS: Participants in the narrative patient testimonial condition referred more strongly to the patient as the one who should make decisions than participants who read the information text. Participants who read the patient narrative also considered SDM in situations with more than one treatment option to be more important than participants in the information text condition. There were no group differences regarding their control preferences. Participants who read the patient testimonial indicated that they would schedule more time for the consultation.CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that narratives can potentially be useful for imparting the relevance of SDM and patient-centered values to medical students. We discuss possible causes of this effect and implications for training and future research.

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The Impact of an Educational Program on Medical Students’ Knowledge and Awareness of Elder Abuse

Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development ◽

10.1177/23821205211016487 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 238212052110164

Author(s):

Abbie West ◽

Cara Cawley ◽

Elizabeth Crow ◽

Alexis M. Stoner ◽

Natalie M. Fadel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Educational Program ◽

Survey Methodology ◽

Elder Abuse ◽

P Value ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Survey Results ◽

Second Year ◽

College Of Osteopathic Medicine ◽

The Impact

Objective: Approximately 1 in 6 adults 60 and older have experienced a form of abuse in the past year. Many cases remain under-reported due to lack of knowledge and awareness. This study created an educational program on elder abuse for medical students to determine if participation would increase knowledge and awareness of elder abuse. Methods: This study used a pre and post survey methodology to evaluate students’ knowledge and awareness of elder abuse before and after participating in this educational program. Sixty first and second year osteopathic medical students at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Carolinas Campus participated in this study. Students were emailed a pre-survey to evaluate their pre-existing knowledge and awareness. The survey was, previously created by the Student Training on Preventing Domestic Violence (STOP-DV) team using validated measures. Participants then attended educational events about various forms of elder abuse and recognizing its associated signs, and afterward completed the post-survey. The results were compared using t-tests to determine if there was a significant difference. Results: First and second year students differed significantly in pre-survey results of knowledge but not post-survey results. The results showed a significant difference in overall mean knowledge ( P-value < .001) and awareness scores ( P-value < .001) in all students. Conclusion: These results suggest education on elder abuse can enable future physicians to better recognize, understand, and support older adults regarding elder maltreatment.

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Replicating Anatomical Teaching Specimens using 3D Modelling Embedded within a Multimodal E-Learning Course: A Pre/Post Study Exploring the Impact on Medical Education during COVID-19 (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.30533 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chelsea Stunden ◽

Sima Zakani ◽

Avery Martin ◽

Shreya Moodley ◽

John Jacob

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Learning Outcomes ◽

Test Scores ◽

Student Attitudes ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

First Year ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

E Learning ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant effects on anatomy education. During the pandemic, students have had no access to cadavers, which has been the principal way of learning anatomy. We created and tested a customized congenital heart disease e-learning course for medical students that contained interactive 3D models of anonymized pediatric congenital heart defects. OBJECTIVE To assess if a multimodal e-learning course contributed to learning outcomes in a cohort of first year undergraduate medical students study congenital heart diseases. Secondarily, we assess student attitudes and experiences associated with multimodal e-learning. METHODS The pre/post study design involved 290 first year undergraduate medical students. Recruitment was conducted through the course instructors. Data were collected before using the course and after using the course. The primary outcome was knowledge acquisition (test scores). The secondary outcome included attitudes and experiences, as well as time to complete the modules, and browser metadata. RESULTS A total of 141 students were included in the final analysis (N=141). Students’ knowledge significantly improved by an average of 44.6% when using the course (SD 1.73, Z = -10.287, p < 0.001). 88.26% of students were highly motivated to learn with the course and 93.5% of students reported positive experiences with the course. There was a strong correlation between attitudes and experiences, which was statistically significant (rs = 0.687, p<0.001, N = 122). There were no relationships found between change test scores and attitudes or experiences (p>0.05). Students most frequently completed the e-learning course with Chrome (77.3%), and on Apple MacOS (61.0%) or Windows 10 (36.9%). Most students had devices with high-definition screens (83.0%). Most students (58.9%) completed the course in under 3 hours. CONCLUSIONS Multi-modal e-learning could be a viable solution to improving learning outcomes and experiences for undergraduate medical students, who do not have access to cadavers. Future research should focus on validating long-term learning outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL n/a

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Breastfeeding, maternal asthma and wheezing in the first year of life: a longitudinal birth cohort study

European Respiratory Journal ◽

10.1183/13993003.02019-2016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 49 (5) ◽

pp. 1602019 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Meghan B. Azad ◽

Lorena Vehling ◽

Zihang Lu ◽

David Dai ◽

Padmaja Subbarao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Birth Cohort ◽

Respiratory Health ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

P Value ◽

First Year ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Complementary Foods ◽

Adjusted Rate ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

The Impact

The impact of breastfeeding on respiratory health is uncertain, particularly when the mother has asthma. We examined the association of breastfeeding and wheezing in the first year of life.We studied 2773 infants from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) birth cohort. Caregivers reported on infant feeding and wheezing episodes at 3, 6 and 12 months. Breastfeeding was classified as exclusive, partial (supplemented with formula or complementary foods) or none.Overall, 21% of mothers had asthma, 46% breastfed for at least 12 months and 21% of infants experienced wheezing. Among mothers with asthma, breastfeeding was inversely associated with infant wheezing, independent of maternal smoking, education and other risk factors (adjusted rate ratio (aRR) 0.52; 95% CI 0.35–0.77 for ≥12 versus <6 months breastfeeding). Compared with no breastfeeding at 6 months, wheezing was reduced by 62% with exclusive breastfeeding (aRR 0.38; 95% CI 0.20–0.71) and by 37% with partial breastfeeding supplemented with complementary foods (aRR 0.63; 95% CI 0.43–0.93); however, breastfeeding was not significantly protective when supplemented with formula (aRR 0.89; 95% CI 0.61–1.30). Associations were not significant in the absence of maternal asthma (p-value for interaction <0.01).Breastfeeding appears to confer protection against wheezing in a dose-dependent manner among infants born to mothers with asthma.

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Student engagement and higher order skill proficiency: a comparison of traditional didactic and renewed integrated active learning curricula

AJP Advances in Physiology Education ◽

10.1152/advan.00149.2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 685-692 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mari K. Hopper ◽

Daniela A. Brake

Keyword(s):

Student Engagement ◽

Medical Students ◽

Active Learning ◽

Medical School ◽

Curriculum Reform ◽

Higher Order ◽

Poor Correlation ◽

First Year ◽

Cohort Groups ◽

The Impact

A large, multicampus, public medical school underwent curricular renewal, emphasizing a student-centered approach with 50% of all course contact time devoted to active learning. Determining the impact of active learning on student engagement and higher order skill (HOS) proficiency was the primary aim of this study. Following Institutional Review Board approval, two cohort groups of first-year medical students were enrolled. The first cohort ( n = 54) included students before curriculum reform in the legacy curriculum (LC). The second cohort ( n = 73) included students completing studies in the renewed curriculum (RC). Near the end of the first year of medical school, both cohorts completed a validated survey of student engagement, and a proctored problem-based assessment of HOS proficiency [Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+)]. Results indicated RC students perceived greater levels of engagement than LC (39.5+5.8 vs. 33.3+5.6), and greater reliance on HOS, including analysis, synthesis, and application. However, there were no significant differences between cohorts in proficiency of HOS when assessed by the CLA+ (LC = 1,878 ± 161 vs. RC = 1,900 ± 157). Additionally, poor correlation between engagement and HOS for both LC and RC indicated more engaged students do not necessarily possess greater HOS proficiency. Ceiling effect may explain results as medical students enter medical school as highly skilled learners with potentially little room for improvement. It will be informative to continue to track engagement and HOS of both cohort groups as they continue their medical studies.

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First year medical students’ perceptions of the impact of wearing scrubs on professional identity: a narrative analysis in the United Arab Emirates

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039357 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. e039357

Author(s):

Sara Sorrell ◽

Halah Ibrahim

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Medical School ◽

Professional Identity ◽

United Arab Emirates ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

First Year ◽

Written Narratives ◽

First Year Medical Students ◽

The Impact

ObjectivesMedical school serves as a critical developmental period for future physicians, during which students begin to form a professional identity. Just as personal appearance, particularly clothing, is an important external expression of one’s personal identity, ‘uniforms’ in healthcare, including white coats and scrubs, symbolise status and a group identity. There are, however, limited studies on the impact of physician attire on medical students’ formation of professional identity. Accordingly, through qualitative analysis of written narratives, we sought to analyse medical students’ experiences of wearing professional physician attire, namely scrubs, and how the uniform impacted their confidence level, performance and behaviours, as well as their identity as future physicians.DesignQualitative analysis of medical student’s written narratives.SettingKhalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences (KU CMHS) is a new medical school in the United Arab Emirates, with an inaugural class of 30 students admitted in August 2019. It is the only medical school in the city of Abu Dhabi, and the only school in the country that follows a postgraduate medical curriculum.ParticipantsAll first year medical students at KU CMHS were purposively sampled.MethodsStudents completed a voluntary online anonymous questionnaire. We employed a social identity approach to data analysis. Thematic content analysis was conducted on their narratives to identify themes.ResultsWe identified three major themes, namely (1) emotions, (2) logistics and (3) interpersonal relationships.ConclusionsMedical students form early perceptions regarding physician attire and its impact on their professional identity. Engaging in conversations regarding professional attire with educators or mentors could provide an important opportunity for students to discuss and explore professional identity early in training.

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Assessment of knowledge, attitude and skills towards e-learning in first year medical students

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20194977 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (11) ◽

pp. 4119 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Monali Hiwarkar ◽

Onjal Taywade

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical Training ◽

Positive Impact ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Students ◽

Learning Modalities ◽

Conventional Teaching ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Education In India ◽

E Learning

Background: With digitization the e-learning modalities are being increasingly used by medical students. These often help the first MBBS students to overcome limitations of conventional teaching methods like didactic lectures. However, e-learning is not official part of medical education in India and the awareness about its use among medical students need to be evaluated. Aim and objective of the study was to assess the extent to which MBBS first year students use e-resources for learning as well as to assess knowledge, attitude, skills and habits of first MBBS students towards e-learning.Methods: A questionnaire of twenty five questions on various aspects of e-learning was administered to the first MBBS students at two medical colleges. The data generated from responses was compiled and analyzed on SPSS to get insight on various aspects of e-learning.Results: Out of 236 students surveyed 77.97% were aware about the academic websites related to first MBBS subjects. 90.68 % accepted that e-learning helped in understanding topics, 84.32% recommended conventional teaching to be supplemented with e-learning. However there was no statistically significant difference between responses from two groups i.e. female and male students (p>0.05).Conclusions: The majority of first MBBS students use e-resources for learning various topics in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. The e-resources have made a positive impact on overall learning especially anatomy. e-learning can supplement conventional teaching in the first year of medical training.

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