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Background: Malnutrition affects up to a third of children in India, with severe and acute malnutrition prevalent among under five children. Nutritional assessment skills for detecting malnutrition in children in primary care settings are vital. Hybrid problem-based learning (HPBL) is an innovative, collaborative, and adaptable instructional learning strategy that can be used to teach medical students clinical skills in a community setting. Methods: A two-month quasi-experimental study was undertaken in a rural setting with third-year medical students. Faculty members were sensitized and subject experts developed a training module addressing the knowledge, attitude, communication, and practice domains. The students underwent a 3-week training module where pre-testing, case presentation, and group formation in first week, an anchoring lecture, tutorial and self-directed learning and role-play by students in subsequent week, and in last week, case discussion, post-testing, and feedback rounds were done. Results: In all domains, knowledge (3.8, 0.01), practice (4.3, 0.01), attitude and communication (3.7, 0.01), and proportional satisfactory responses, the HPBL approach resulted in a significant improvement in nutritional assessment competency. Teachers preferred the practical and engaging character of the approach, stating that doubts and questions were better addressed and that they would use it to teach similar topics. Conclusion: HPBL is an excellent teaching method for clinical skills, like nutritional assessment in simulated/field settings. The novel teaching-learning approach was well received by students and faculty members. Learning outcomes and satisfaction rates enhanced in students and faculty were encouraged to apply the approach to other topics.
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Background: Exemplars are the graded responses to theory questions from previous examinations and are considered as means to guide students about what is valued by assessors; hence giving feed forward to students before the exam and developing self-regulated learning among students. The present study was undertaken to compare the effect on performance of students between intervention (didactic lecture and exemplar) and control group (didactic lecture). Methods: This study was an interventional study conducted among 256 students of a medical college in Rajasthan, India. Participants were randomized to either the control group A or to the interventional group B. Outcomes included a post intervention test evaluating the knowledge gained after the session and students 'attitudes about the same. A focus group discussion was conducted investigating the perceptions. The feedback from faculty was also taken. Results: The mean post test score of intervention group was found to be 6.1 ± 1.74 and of the control group was 5.5 ± 1.6; significantly higher with p-value of 0.03. Out of 128 participants in group B, majority (n = 94,73%) believed that exemplars improve learning and created their interest in topic (n = 78, 60.9%). Most of students (66%) were of the opinion that exemplars should be regularly used with didactic lectures. Key themes identified from focus group were: advantages of the exemplars-based feedforward, challenges in implementation and ways to improve the method. Conclusion: Exemplars improved the performance of students. The faculty members and students agreed that they are an effective tool to enhance learning.
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Background: Blueprint provides a base for assessment by assigning proportionate weightage to various content areas and helps the paper setter to construct a uniform and valid assessment. This study aimed to design and validate a blueprint for theory in Community Medicine as per the new curriculum for Medical Undergraduates in India. Methods: Blueprint in community medicine was designed by assigning impact score (I) and frequency score (F) for the competencies. Blueprint was validated using the Content Validity Index (CVI), and inter-rater agreement for subject experts using Fleiss' kappa statistics was calculated. Feedback from faculty and students was obtained afterward to assess the postimplementation response. Results: Blueprint was designed by an expert group where impact score and frequency score were assigned to 146 competencies in the theory of Community Medicine. In Delphi survey I, 63.2% of subject experts responded, while in Delphi survey II, a response rate of 58.3% was achieved. Value of the Fleiss' Kappa test for an inter-rater agreement was 0.68, i.e. "substantial agreement," while CVI among the raters came out to be 0.86, i.e. overall valid assessment. Feedback of faculty (n = 11) suggested that the blueprint was helpful and standardized the paper setting, whereas feedback from students (n = 138) depicted that it helped in preparing for exams, and they would recommend it to other students. Conclusion: Validated blueprint by consensus of subject experts has impact score and frequency score along with topic-wise distribution of marks for the convenience of faculty and its utility is well proven among learners too.
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BACKGROUND: E-classrooms help teachers save time, keep classes organized, and improve communication with students. This study aims to assess Google Classroom's usefulness in enhancing medical students' knowledge and acceptance of new technology for in-depth learning. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This educational interventional study was carried out on 100 students in the 3rd year of the M.B.B.S., Part 1. After a briefing about Google Classroom and educational topics, enrolled students and faculty were allowed to discuss the topic for two months. Following this, the descriptive approach was utilized to describe the respondents' technology acceptance through the administration of the technology acceptance model (TAM) survey questionnaire. RESULTS: Students were actively involved in discussion, with a 67% response rate. Nearly 85% of students agreed that Google Classroom is a satisfactory way for in-depth knowledge acquisition. On factor analysis, it was observed that the goodness of fit was 0.985, suggesting that the model is acceptable. It was also found that perceived usefulness (PU) had a significant positive effect on motivation towards self-directed learning (SDL), and perceived ease of use (PEOU) had a positive effect on both behavioural intention and actual use. CONCLUSION: Google Classroom is a valuable tool for learning that can enhance active self-learning and increase behavioural intention and actual use. It should be incorporated into day-to-day teaching activities to overcome time constraints.
RESUMO
Cinema has the ability to convey important messages in an engaging and interesting manner. Cine medicine also known as cinema medicine or Cinemeducation has the potential to teach medical students and healthcare professionals about various aspects of medical conditions and illnesses. It is an innovative approach that can enhance empathy among the students and understanding toward patients with various medical conditions. Indian cinema has played a significant role in promoting health awareness and educating people about various medical conditions. Cinemeducation/Cine medicine can be instrumental in inculcating ethics and professionalism among budding clinicians. Of late, medical educationists have understood its importance and have introduced this innovative method in teaching not only medical humanities but medicine per se. This article aims to summarize the strengths, weaknesses opportunities, and threats analysis of the cine medicine along with reviews of Indian cinema for emphasizing the medical condition depicted in these cinemas/movies.
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Background: Development of esophageal varices is one of the major complications of liver cirrhosis, and endoscopy is used to see the presence, grading, and long-term monitoring of esophageal varices which is an invasive and unpleasant procedure. There is no adequate data available showing noninvasive methods can be used for the same. Methods: Seventy patients with liver cirrhosis participated in the study. Factors like portal vein diameter, spleen size, platelet count, serum bilirubin, Child-Pugh score, prothrombin time (PT), and PT INR were observed and correlated endoscopically with the presence and grading of esophageal varices in all patients. Results: The platelet count, portal vein diameter, serum bilirubin, spleen bipolar diameter, and PT had statistically significant correlations with the presence of varices. Among them, platelet count, portal vein diameter, and serum bilirubin also had statistically significant correlations with the grading of varices. Monitoring of these noninvasive parameters can help in monitoring variceal growth. Conclusions: Noninvasive parameters can be used effectively to predict the presence and grading of esophageal varices and at the same time keep the rate of undiagnosed varices acceptably low. By using noninvasive parameters, patients can be benefited by decreasing the requirement of repeated endoscopic evaluation which is an unpleasant procedure and availability is also limited.