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Teaching Pathology in an Integrated Preclinical Medical School Curriculum and Adaptations to COVID-19 Restrictions.

ABSTRACT: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a major impact on education at all age levels, including professional schools and health professions programs. We describe the experience of adapting preclinical medical school courses within an integrated curriculum to virtual instruction. A major feature of two of the courses were pathology small groups adapted from pathology courses in the previous medical school curriculum. These small groups were designed to use facilitated groups of 8 to 10 students. With a sudden change to virtual learning, these small groups were shifted to large group virtual sessions. In general, the conversion went well, with ongoing optimization of the format of the large group sessions mainly occurring over the first several sessions. End-of-course student evaluations were generally positive, but with a preference toward returning to live sessions in the future. Scores on 5 multiple choice examinations in the spring 2020 course were essentially identical in mean, standard deviation, and distribution to examinations in the previous 2 years of the course that had similar layout and topic organization. We discuss the challenges and successes of the switch to virtual instruction and of teaching pathology content within an integrated medical school curriculum.

SUBMITTER: Krasowski MD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8138288 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Teaching Pathology in an Integrated Preclinical Medical School Curriculum and Adaptations to COVID-19 Restrictions.

Krasowski Matthew D MD Blau John L JL Chen Stephanie J SJ Jones Karra A KA Schmidt Thomas J TJ Bruch Leslie A LA

Academic pathology 20210101

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a major impact on education at all age levels, including professional schools and health professions programs. We describe the experience of adapting preclinical medical school courses within an integrated curriculum to virtual instruction. A major feature of two of the courses were pathology small groups adapted from pathology courses in the previous medical school curriculum. These small groups were designed to use facilitated groups of ...[more]

PMID: 34046522

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Project description:Background Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs) are innovative educational models that allow medical student continuity with patients, preceptors, colleagues, and health care systems. Given their benefits, the number of LICs continues to increase. We share a pilot model for an ophthalmology LIC curriculum at the University of Colorado School of Medicine targeted for students to see patients through transitions of care. Methods A needs assessment was performed including literature search, interviews with expert faculty, and a precurricular student questionnaire. Based on our findings, we developed a pilot two-part curriculum consisting of an introductory lecture and a half-day clinical experience designed to integrate patient eye care into the LIC model. At the end of the year, students completed a questionnaire assessing attitude, confidence, and knowledge. Precourse data were collected from students in the academic year (AY) 2018/2019 to aid with the needs assessment. Postcourse data were collected after completion of the curriculum from students in AY 2019/2020. Data from questionnaire were intended to improve our curricular experience. Results Our curriculum was piloted between the 2019 and 2020 AY. The completion rate of our curriculum was 100%. The questionnaire response rate was 90% in pre- and postcurricular groups ( n =15/17 and n =9/10, respectively). Hundred percent of students from both groups responded that it is "very important"/"important" for all physicians to be able to identify when ophthalmology referral is indicated. After the intervention, there were significant differences in the rate of students responding that they were "confident" diagnosing acute angle-closure glaucoma (36 vs. 78%, p =0.04), treating a chemical burn (20 vs 67%, p =0.02), and diagnosing viral conjunctivitis (27 vs. 67%); 90% of students reported increased confidence in longitudinal care of patients in the eye clinic. Conclusions Medical students believe in the importance of ophthalmic education regardless of their specialty of choice. We present a pilot model to introduce ophthalmology within an LIC model. Future studies with a larger sample are needed to determine the impact of this model in terms of knowledge acquisition and relationship between curriculum and ophthalmology interest among students. Our curriculum can be adapted to other underrepresented specialties in the medical school curriculum and is easily exportable to other LICs.

Project description:Objective Evaluate a Midwestern medical school's current pregnancy termination and family planning undergraduate medical curriculum (UMC) in accordance with Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) guidelines. Assess 1) student interest 2) preparedness to counsel patients, and 3) preferred modality of instruction. Study design A survey assessed students about UMC. Course syllabus learning objectives and APGO educational guidelines were compared. Results There were 309 responses total; six did not complete all survey questions and were excluded. Participants (n = 303) were primarily female (62%) and White (74%). Across all class levels, many (61%) students expected to learn about family planning and contraception in UMC. While most (84–88%) participants who completed the preclinical course with or without the clerkship felt prepared to counsel about common, non-controversial pharmacotherapies, only 20% of students felt prepared to counsel on abortion options, and 75% of students who had completed both the preclinical and OBGYN clerkship felt unprepared for abortion counseling Overall, 86% of all students surveyed believed that the medical school should enhance its reproductive health coverage in UMC. Traditional lectures, panels, and direct clinical exposure were the most popular instructional modalities. Conclusion We identified potential gaps in UMC where students expressed high level of interest with low level of preparedness regarding abortion options counseling, even among senior students. Considering the high percentage of students expecting to learn about pregnancy termination and family planning in their UMC, this expectation is not being met. Students were open to a variety of modalities of instruction, indicating that several possible options exist for curricular integration. Implications Despite evidence of need for training in family planning and abortion, few medical institutions have a standardized curriculum. Little available literature exists on curricula covering pregnancy options and contraception counseling, signifying a gap of knowledge and an opportunity to study how to integrate these important topics into UMC. Abortion, Medical education, Undergraduate medical curriculum, Pregnancy options counseling, Contraceptive counseling.

Dataset Information

Teaching Pathology in an Integrated Preclinical Medical School Curriculum and Adaptations to COVID-19 Restrictions.

Publications

Teaching Pathology in an Integrated Preclinical Medical School Curriculum and Adaptations to COVID-19 Restrictions.

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