Future of Medical Education Journal

Future of Medical Education Journal

Viewpoints of second year medical students about Early Clinical Experience (ECE) in teaching endocrine and gastrointestinal physiology

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Batol Eghbali 1
Mitra Moodi 2
Zoya Tahergorabi 3
1 Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Department of Health Promotion and Education, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
3 Medical Toxicology and Drug Abuse Research Center, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
10.22038/fmej.2024.75282.1565
Abstract
Background: The importance of Early Clinical Experience (ECE) in education is increasing. This study aimed to investigate the viewpoints of medical students about ECE in teaching  endocrine and gastrointestinal physiology lessons.
Method: This study was conducted on 96 second-year medical students in endocrinology and gastrointestinal physiology classes including 15 sessions in the first and second academic semesters of 2022-2023. The first 45 minutes of the class was taught via the lecture method, after the 5 minutes break, the second 45 minutes of the class started by lecture method and a question based case-senario related to the teaching subject of the same session was asked from standard questions of United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). A researcher-made questionnaire was used at the end of sessions to assess the students' viewpoints. The questionnaire included 12 questions about ECE teaching method, quality of learning, content quality, and student motivation. They were rated by a 5 point Likert scale from completely disagree to completely agree.
Results: The mean age of students was 20.82±1.37 years and 51 (53.1%) of them were male. The mean score of overall students’ motivation, quality of teaching and learning quality was 6.85 ± 1.97,  7.16±2.46, and 14.47±3.8 respectively.
Conclusion: This study suggested the early clinical exposure in teaching endocrine and gastrointestinal physiology. This educational method can be used to solve problems such as students' understanding of the lack of connection between basic and clinical sciences to increase their motivation for learning.
 
Keywords
Early Clinical Experience
Endocrine and Gastrointestinal Physiology
Medical Students
Viewpoints
Medical Education
Subjects
  1. Pusparajah P, Goh BH, Lee L-H, Law JWF, Tan LT-H, Letchumanan V, et al. Integrating the Basic and Clinical Sciences Throughout the Medical Curriculum: Contemplating the Why, When and How. Progress in Drug Discovery & Biomedical Science. 2022;5(1):1-17.
  2. Alzerwi NAN. Flexner has fallen: Transitions in medical education system across time, a gradual return to pre-Flexnerian state (de-Flexnerization). World J Clin Cases. 2023;11(21):4966-74. 3. NuggedAlla MAA. Perception and significance of basic sciences for clinical studies. International Journal of Human Anatomy. 2018;1(2):26-32.
  3. Alammary A. Blended learning models for introductory programming courses: A systematic review. PLoS One. 2019;14(9):e0221765.
  4. Shah S, Meisenberg G. Opinions about teaching modalities: A comparison between faculty and students. Education Research International. 2012, 604052, 7 pages, 2012.. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/604052.
  5. Malik AS, Malik RH. Twelve tips for developing an integrated curriculum. Med teach. 2011;33(2):99-104.
  6. Weston WW. Do we pay enough attention to science in medical education? Can Med Educ J. 2018;9(3):e109-e114. 8. Warkar AB, Asia AA. Introduction to early clinical exposure as learning tool in physiology. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 2021;64(Suppl 1):S62-S9.
  7. Nabeiei P, Amini M, Ghanavati S, Marhamati S. Research priorities in medical education at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences:categories and subcategories in the Iranian context. J Adv Med Educ Prof. 2016;4(1):26-32.
  8. Tayade MC, Latti RG. Effectiveness of early clinical exposure in medical education: Settings and scientific theories - Review. J Educ Health Promot. 2021;10:117.
  9. Kulasegaram KM, Martimianakis MA, Mylopoulos M, Whitehead CR, Woods NN. Cognition before curriculum: rethinking the integration of basic science and clinical learning. Acad Med. 2013;88(10):1578-85.
  10. Gul A, Khan RA, Yasmeen R, Ahsan NU. How Case Based Learning Promotes Deep Learning In Preclinical Years Of Medical Students? J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2020; 32(2):228-33.
  11. Harden RM, Dent JA.A Practical Guide for Medical Teachers. 4 th ed. London: Elsevier; 2013.
  12. Wijnen-Meijer M, van den Broek S, Koens F, Ten Cate O. Vertical integration in medical education: the broader perspective. BMC Med Educ. 2020;20(1):509.
  13. Abdollahyar A, Baniasadi H, Doustmohammadi MM, Sheikhbardesiri H, Yarmohammadian MH. Attitudes of Iranian Nurses Toward Spirituality and Spiritual Care. J Christ Nurs. 2019;36(1):E11-E16.
  14. Sheikhbardsiri H, Khademipour G, Davarani ER, Tavan A, Amiri H, Sahebi A. Response capability of hospitals to an incident caused by mass gatherings in southeast Iran. Injury. 2022;53(5):1722-26.
  15. Dornan T, Bundy C. What can experience add to early medical education? Consensus survey. Bmj. 2004;329(7470):834.
  16. Walters MR. Case-stimulated learning within endocrine physiology lectures: an approach applicable to other disciplines. Advances in physiology education. 1999;276(6):S74.
  17. Walters MR. Problem-based learning within endocrine physiology lectures. Advances in Physiology Education. 2001;25(4):225-7.
  18. Vari RC, Borg KE, MCCleary VL, MCCormack JT, Ruit KG, Sukalski KA, et al. Endocrine physiology in a patient-centered learning curriculum. Advances in physiology education. 2001;25(4):241-8.
  19. Legan SJ. Multiple-format sessions for teaching endocrine physiology. Advances in physiology education. 2001;25(4):228-32.
  20. Kim E. Barrett, Susan M. Barman, Scott Boitano, Jane F. Reckelhoff. Ganong’s medical physiology examination & board review. International Edition ed: Mc Graw Hill education; 2018.
  21. Rafique N. Importance of vertical integration in teaching and assessment of physiological concepts. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences. 2014;9(4):282-8.
  22. Mattout SK, Shah BM, Khan MM, Mitwally NA, Al Aseri ZA, Yousef EM. Realistic simulation case scenario as a vertical integration teaching tool for medical students: A mixed methods study. J Taibah Univ Med Sci. 2023;18(6):1536-44.
  23. Farzan B, Anbari K, Rezaiean J, Shirkhani S. The necessity of implantation of horizontal integration plan of basic sciences and university academic staff and students, satisfaction. yafte. 2015;17(3).
  24. Willey JM, Lim YS, Kwiatkowski T. Modeling integration: co-teaching basic and clinical sciences medicine in the classroom. Advances in Medical Education and Practice. 2018:739-51.
  25. Dahle L, Brynhildsen J, Fallsberg MB, Rundquist I, Hammar M. Pros and cons of vertical integration between clinical medicine and basic science within a problem-based undergraduate medical curriculum: examples and experiences from Linköping, Sweden. Med teach. 2002;24(3):280-5.
  26. Thompson AR, Braun MW, O'Loughlin VD. A comparison of student performance on discipline-specific versus integrated exams in a medical school course. Advances in Physiology Education. 2013;37(4):370-6.
  27. Montané E, Vilaplana C, Riera J, Pujol M, Méndez M, Mas A, Vara A, Parés D. Medical Students’ Opinion of Their Learning Process. Medical Science Educator. 2023;33(5):1183-90.
  28. Del-Ben CM, Shuhama R, Costa MJ, Troncon LE. Effect of changes to the formal curriculum on medical students’ motivation towards learning: a prospective cohort study. Sao Paulo Medical Journal. 2019;137:112-8.
  29. Surapaneni KM. Innovative Self-directed, Problem-oriented, Lifelong learning, Integrated Clinical case Exercise (SPLICE) modules promote critical thinking skills, early clinical exposure, and contextual learning among first professional-year medical students. Advances in Physiology Education. 2024 ;48(1):69-79.
  30. Tayade MC, Giri PA, Latti RG. Effectiveness of early clinical exposure in improving attitude and professional skills of medical students in current Indian medical education set up. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2021;10(2):681.
Future of Medical Education Journal
Volume 14, Issue 1
Winter 2024
Pages 26-31