Online interactive medical neuroimaging exercise to identify human brain structures.

A persisting need remains for developing methods for inspiring and teaching undergraduate medical students to quickly learn to identify the hundreds of human brain structures, tracts and spaces that are clinically relevant (viewed as three-dimensional volumes or two-dimensional neuroimages), and to accomplish this with the option of virtual on-line methods. This notably includes teaching the essentials of recommended diagnostic radiology to allow students to be familiar with patient neuroimages routinely acquired using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). The present article includes a brief example video plus details a clinically oriented interactive neuroimaging exercise for first year medical students (MS1s) in small groups, conducted with instructors either in-person or as an entirely online virtual event. This "find-the-brain-structure" (FBS) event included teaching students to identify brain structures and other regions of interest in the central nervous system (and potentially in head and neck gross anatomy), which are traditionally taught using brain anatomy atlases and anatomical specimens. The interactive, small group exercise can be conducted in person or virtually on-line in as little as 30 min depending on the scope of objectives being covered. The learning exercise involves coordinated interaction between MS1s with one or several non-clinical faculty and may include one or several physicians (clinical faculty and/or qualified residents). It further allows for varying degrees of instructor interaction online and is easy to convey to instructors who do not have expertise in neuroimaging. Anonymous pre-event survey (n = 113, 100% response rate) versus post-event surveys (n = 92, 81% response rate) were attained from a cohort of MS1s in a neurobiology course. Results showed multiple statistically significant group-level shifts in response to several of the questions, showing an increase in MS1 confidence with reading MRI images (12% increase shift in mean, p < 0.001), confidence in their approaching physicians for medical training (9%, p < 0.01), and comfort levels in working online with virtual team-based peers and with team-based faculty (6%, p < 0.05). Qualitative student feedback revealed highly positive comments regarding the experience overall, encouraging this virtual medium as a desirable educational approach.

Using a Mock Rounds Model and Neurology Patients to Teach Neurological Exam Skills in a Medical Neurobiology Course.

First-year medical student groups rotated through classrooms, each containing a Neurology patient and physician, as a "Neuro Day" event to make direct clinical connections with the basic sciences. Inspired by post-graduate Clerkships, this event provided timely first-hand experiences focusing on pathological neurologic exam findings. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from end-of-course surveys. The results show how the event served to reinvigorate enthusiasm for learning Clinical Neurobiology outside the traditional lecture environment and could empower patients as educators within a teaching community.

Interactive Large Group Lecture Demonstrations: Dramatization of Medical Neurobiology Concepts to Improve Student Perception of Understanding Fluid Mechanisms of the Central Nervous System.

With the advent of recorded lectures, face-to-face teaching in medical school large classroom settings is increasingly under pressure to incorporate engaging activities that encourage attendance and can translate to greater attainment and long-term retention for learners, especially of "Generation Z" learning styles. This places a greater onus on lecturers to convey key concepts in a manner that holds value beyond their recorded substitute. The present article details several on-stage Medical Gross Anatomy and Neurobiology demonstrations that involve the teaching of an intuitive understanding of brain fluidic mechanics, such as hematoma formation and the protective functions of an intact cerebral spinal fluid system (addressing concussion and lumbar punctures). These demonstrations can be presented relatively quickly on stage and are suitable for engaging large classroom sizes (n > 100), which can be used in conjunction with traditional lecture formats. Ideally, these in-class demonstrations, together with the continued contributions of other quantitatively assessed demonstrations from other institutions, will help to maintain a growing body of large class face-to-face teaching approaches and strategies to help influence decisions regarding what basic medical knowledge may best be taught in class live versus by recorded substitute or other non-traditional lecture methods.