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“Meet the Patient” Sessions: An Effective Pedagogical Approach for Teaching Pharmacology to Pre‐clinical Medical Students
Author(s) -
Athauda Gagani,
De La Camara Frances,
Shopa Keith,
Krieger Diane,
Toonkel Rebecca Lyn,
Moulik Sabyasachi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.07315
Subject(s) - session (web analytics) , medical education , facilitator , likert scale , class (philosophy) , multiple choice , medicine , psychology , computer science , significant difference , social psychology , developmental psychology , artificial intelligence , world wide web
Opportunities for patient involvement in teaching pharmacology to pre‐clinical medical students is limited. At our institution, two “Meet the Patient” sessions were incorporated into the Period 2 Endocrine System course as a novel pedagogical tool. This method of teaching invites students to approach content in a clinically oriented fashion while meeting and discussing their learning with a live patient. In this study, we investigated student satisfaction and the effect of these “Meet the Patient” sessions on medical student pharmacology knowledge acquisition as assessed by MCQ final exam performance. Methods All second‐year students (Class of 2021, n=117) in the Endocrine Systems course participate in two mandatory “Meet the Patient” sessions focusing on Diabetes Mellitus and Pituitary/Adrenal Disorders. Prior to the sessions, students are required to view short pre‐recorded modules (covering pathophysiology and pharmacologic management) and to take a short readiness quiz. Sessions occur in the lecture hall, with students working in pre‐assigned groups of three. During the session, the facilitator briefly introduces the patient and allows students to ask probing questions to flesh out the history. Students then work together to complete guided in‐class learning questions. Student satisfaction was assessed anonymously through end of course evaluations (5‐point Likert scale). Pharmacology knowledge acquisition was assessed by student performance on session‐related pharmacology MCQs included on the internally developed final course exam and compared with student performance on all non‐session‐related MCQs on the same exam. Unpaired two‐tailed T‐tests (unequal variance) were used to compare the means. Results Mean agreement (agreed or strongly agreed, n=105) with statements that the sessions: “improved my understanding of management,” “improved my understanding of pathophysiology,” “helped me better understand the diagnosis,” “helped me understand the implications of the disease,” and that “I am more likely to retain information presented in this format than through traditional lecture” was found to be 91.43%, 87.63%, 90.48%, 93.34%, and 88.57%, respectively. Mean performance on session‐related pharmacology MCQs included on the internally developed final course exam (n=5 questions) was found to be 97% (SD 3.67) as compared with 85% (SD 17.97) for mean performance on all non‐session‐related MCQs (n=25 questions) on the same exam (p=0.005). Conclusion “Meet the Patient” style sessions are an effective tool for teaching pharmacology to pre‐clinical medical students. These sessions are well received by students and may lead to improved knowledge acquisition. Further study is needed to assess effects on retention and to explore potential explanations.