Teaching cardiovascular physiology with equivalent electronic circuits in a practically oriented teaching module

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samo Ribarič ◽  
Marjan Kordaš

Here, we report on a new tool for teaching cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology that promotes qualitative as well as quantitative thinking about time-dependent physiological phenomena. Quantification of steady and presteady-state (transient) cardiovascular phenomena is traditionally done by differential equations, but this is time consuming and unsuitable for most undergraduate medical students. As a result, quantitative thinking about time-dependent physiological phenomena is often not extensively dealt with in an undergraduate physiological course. However, basic concepts of steady and presteady state can be explained with relative simplicity, without the introduction of differential equation, with equivalent electronic circuits (EECs). We introduced undergraduate medical students to the concept of simulating cardiovascular phenomena with EECs. EEC simulations facilitate the understanding of simple or complex time-dependent cardiovascular physiological phenomena by stressing the analogies between EECs and physiological processes. Student perceptions on using EEC to simulate, study, and understand cardiovascular phenomena were documented over a 9-yr period, and the impact of the course on the students' knowledge of selected basic facts and concepts in cardiovascular physiology was evaluated over a 3-yr period. We conclude that EECs are a valuable tool for teaching cardiovascular physiology concepts and that EECs promote active learning.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Stunden ◽  
Sima Zakani ◽  
Avery Martin ◽  
Shreya Moodley ◽  
John Jacob

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant effects on anatomy education. During the pandemic, students have had no access to cadavers, which has been the principal way of learning anatomy. We created and tested a customized congenital heart disease e-learning course for medical students that contained interactive 3D models of anonymized pediatric congenital heart defects. OBJECTIVE To assess if a multimodal e-learning course contributed to learning outcomes in a cohort of first year undergraduate medical students study congenital heart diseases. Secondarily, we assess student attitudes and experiences associated with multimodal e-learning. METHODS The pre/post study design involved 290 first year undergraduate medical students. Recruitment was conducted through the course instructors. Data were collected before using the course and after using the course. The primary outcome was knowledge acquisition (test scores). The secondary outcome included attitudes and experiences, as well as time to complete the modules, and browser metadata. RESULTS A total of 141 students were included in the final analysis (N=141). Students’ knowledge significantly improved by an average of 44.6% when using the course (SD 1.73, Z = -10.287, p < 0.001). 88.26% of students were highly motivated to learn with the course and 93.5% of students reported positive experiences with the course. There was a strong correlation between attitudes and experiences, which was statistically significant (rs = 0.687, p<0.001, N = 122). There were no relationships found between change test scores and attitudes or experiences (p>0.05). Students most frequently completed the e-learning course with Chrome (77.3%), and on Apple MacOS (61.0%) or Windows 10 (36.9%). Most students had devices with high-definition screens (83.0%). Most students (58.9%) completed the course in under 3 hours. CONCLUSIONS Multi-modal e-learning could be a viable solution to improving learning outcomes and experiences for undergraduate medical students, who do not have access to cadavers. Future research should focus on validating long-term learning outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL n/a


Values Based Reflective Practice (VBRP®) is a group reflection framework widely utilized within healthcare settings across Scotland, where groups of colleagues meet and discuss their workplace-based experiences using the VBRP® structure. The VBRP® model has previously been noted within HSCC as assisting “courageous conversations” about working in a caring vocation (Bunniss, 2021a, 2021b). Despite its national platform, however, there has been limited evaluation of VBRP®. Aim: This study explores the impact of VBRP® as a reflective tool among undergraduate medical students. Method: A qualitative action research methodology was used. Results: Three themes were identified from the data: overcoming barriers to reflection during VBRP®; enhancing reflection through the social nature of VBRP®; participants’ perceptions of reflection through the lens of VBRP®. Conclusion: VBRP® enabled deeper, more authentic reflection and enhanced written reflection abilities due to its social nature. It promoted the formation of peer support networks and positive coping mechanisms among medical students. Teamworking and group relationships were also improved.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue-lin Wang ◽  
Ming-xiu Liu ◽  
Shuai Peng ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
Chen Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background:Undergraduate medical (UM) students faced the realities of the difficulties inherent in medical careers due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Thus imperative containment measures could affect UM students’ career intentions. There is limited information regarding the factors potentially associated with these students’ career change intentions.Methods:we conducted a cross-sectional survey to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on career intention and the associated factors in UM students in August 2020. Univariate analyses and logistic regression analysis were used to identify the factors that contributed to any change of career intention.Results: A total of 2,040 medical students were contained from Hubei University of Medicine. The change of career intention was related to grade, attitude towards being a health worker and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Conclusions: Changes in career intentions were particularly influenced by grade, attitude towards being a health worker, and the degree of COVID-19’s impact on the participants’ lives. Treating large-scale public health emergencies in rational way, setting up correct views of occupation choice and building reasonable career planning may reduce the loss of medical talents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fares Gouzi ◽  
Christophe Hédon ◽  
Léo Blervaque ◽  
Emilie Passerieux ◽  
Nils Kuster ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Over-testing of patients is a significant problem in clinical medicine that can be tackled by education. Clinical reasoning learning (CRL) is a potentially relevant method for teaching test ordering and interpretation. The feasibility might be improved by using an interactive whiteboard (IWB) during the CRL sessions to enhance student perceptions and behaviours around diagnostic tests. Overall, IWB/CRL could improve their skills. Methods Third-year undergraduate medical students enrolled in a vertically integrated curriculum were randomized into two groups before clinical placement in either a respiratory disease or respiratory physiology unit: IWB-based CRL plus clinical mentoring (IWB/CRL + CM: n = 40) or clinical mentoring only (CM-only: n = 40). Feasibility and learning outcomes were assessed. In addition, feedback via questionnaire of the IWB students and their classmates (n = 233) was compared. Results Analyses of the IWB/CRL sessions (n = 40, 27 paperboards) revealed that they met validated learning objectives. Students perceived IWB as useful and easy to use. After the IWB/CRL + CM sessions, students mentioned more hypothesis-based indications in a test ordering file (p <  0.001) and looked for more nonclinical signs directly on raw data tests (p <  0.01) compared with students in the CM-only group. Last, among students who attended pre- and post-assessments (n = 23), the number of diagnostic tests ordered did not change in the IWB/CRL + CM group (+ 7%; p = N.S), whereas it increased among CM-only students (+ 30%; p <  0.001). Test interpretability increased significantly in the IWB/CRL + CM group (from 4.7 to 37.2%; p <  0.01) but not significantly in the CM-only group (from 2.4 to 9.8%; p = 0.36). Conclusions Integrating IWB into CRL sessions is feasible to teach test ordering and interpretation to undergraduate students. Moreover, student feedback and prospective assessment suggested a positive impact of IWB/CRL sessions on students’ learning.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishan K. Sharma ◽  
Yuchiao Chang ◽  
Eli Michael Miloslavsky

Abstract Background Medical students are often paired together on clinical teams during their clerkships, but the effect of this practice on student performance is unknown. The primary objectives of this study were (1) to retrospectively assess whether students paired together on a medical team during their Internal Medicine sub-internship affected each other’s grade and (2) to survey medical students’ perceptions on the impact of pairing on their evaluations. Methods We examined clerkship grades of 186 student-pairs at 3 sub-internship hospital sites of Harvard Medical School from 2013-2017. To evaluate student perceptions we administered a survey to the graduating class of 2018. Results There was no significant deviation between the expected and observed distribution of student grades (p=0.39) among 186 student pairs, suggesting that pairing had no meaningful effect on the sub-internship grade. We also saw no effect when controlling for prior internal medicine clerkship performance (p=0.53). We then surveyed students in the 2018 graduating class assessing student perceptions on pairing. Of the 99 respondents (59% response rate), 90% and 87% of respondents felt that being paired affected their evaluations by resident and attending physicians, respectively. Conclusions Our analysis suggests that paired medical students do not meaningfully affect each others’ grades, despite the majority of surveyed students believing that being paired affects their evaluations. Awareness of student perceptions regarding pairing can inform clerkship structure and be utilized to address student concerns.


2021 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. S59-S61
Author(s):  
Naveen Kotur ◽  
M. R. Anitha ◽  
Nanda Sappandi ◽  
Niranjan Murthy ◽  
Shilpashree Madhava Kunjathur ◽  
...  

Objectives: The Medical Council of India has introduced competency based medical education (CBME) for all the undergraduate medical students across the country. We conducted this study to assess the impact of new curriculum on students’ performance and the differential time utilization of the teaching faculty. Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted at ESIC Medical College and PGIMSR, Bengaluru during January to March 2020. The college has an intake of 100 under-graduate students for an academic year. The sources of data included internal marks of the students and a semi-structured questionnaire for teaching faculty. Results: The mean (range) marks obtained by the students of 2018-19 and 2019-20 batch were found to be (a) theory: 48.75 (7 to 83) and 50.71 (10 to 78) (b) practical’s: 64.88 (38 to 90) and 69.70 (30 to 93). The man hours per week-faculty for different teaching activities during 2018-19 and 2019-20 were as follows: (a) theory teaching: 6 (16%) (b) practical teaching: 12 (32%) (c) research activities: 6 (16%) (d) planning activities: 8 (21%) (e) administrative activities: 6 (16%). Conclusion: The newer MBBS curriculum is found to be promising for the medical students but it is taking a huge toll on the teaching faculty. Measures to promote research and faculty strength in the existing medical colleges should be prioritized by policy makers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Nauman Aziz ◽  
Muhammad Waseem ◽  
Anmol Fatima ◽  
Aqsa Anwar ◽  
Fahad Khalid ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 has caused unrest among medical students all over the world including Pakistan. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on education of undergraduate medical students of Pakistan by assessing their responses to a survey. METHODOLOGY: A validated questionnaire of this cross-sectional analytical study was distributed among 900 undergraduate MBBS students of different medical colleges and universities across Pakistan. Results were assessed by using SPSS version-24. RESULTS: The response rate of our study was 85%. Majority of the participants were females (64.4%) while the fourth year MBBS students took part in the survey with the highest number of students, 434 (56.7%). Major part of the participants (90.8%) agreed to the fact that COVID-19 has affected their study duration. Ninety six percent of the students had online classes during this COVID-19 but more than half of the students (52.8%) were of the view that it’s hardly effective. Interestingly 91.5% of the students participating in the survey showed that they have lost interest in studies. A great difficulty was faced by the students in establishing boundaries between work and home (84.0%). Almost eighty five percent of the students missed their classroom environments. CONCLUSION: There is a huge impact of COVID-19 on medical education of the students in Pakistan. It affected them both physically and mentally and created great phobia in them related to future of their education.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Atul R Rukadikar ◽  
Charushila Rukadikar ◽  
Nitesh Jaiswal

In an undergraduate (UG) medical education program, the educational environment is a critical factor of effective outcomes. Because it is a proven approach for this assessment in medical schools, the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) was employed in this study.1. To assess the student’s perception of the educational environment using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire among 1st-year undergraduate medical students. 2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses in student’s educational environment.A cross-sectional study was carried out among first-year medical students. To obtain student perceptions of the educational environment, a widely accepted DREEM questionnaire was employed. The DREEM questionnaire is divided into five sections, each of which has 50 statements that are rated on a five-point Likert scale (0–4). The questionnaire was distributed to consented individuals (n=150) after receiving ethical approval. The filled questions were collected and statistically evaluated. The data were presented as mean and standard deviation, frequency, and percentages. The responses were analyzed and interpreted using McAleer and Roff's practical recommendations.There was a 100% response rate. The average DREEM score was 124.9 ± 50 (62.46%). Among the five DREEM dimensions, students' perceptions of learning received the highest score (65.63%), while students' perceptions of the environment received the lowest (59.31 %).Statements “I have good friends in this college”, “My social life is good” and “I am confident about passing this year” scored ≥ 3 of 4 points.“A more positive than negative perception,” according to the total mean DREEM score. Student confidence, social life, instructor knowledge, encouragement to participate in a teaching session, teacher preparedness, and having excellent friends on campus received the most positive answers. However, there is space for development in areas where there is a lack of expertise, such as student ennui and creative teaching.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10164
Author(s):  
Ilango Saraswathi ◽  
Jayakumar Saikarthik ◽  
K. Senthil Kumar ◽  
Kumar Madhan Srinivasan ◽  
M. Ardhanaari ◽  
...  

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is found to affect the mental health of the population. Undergraduate medical students are especially prone to mental health disorders and hence could be more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic. Methods A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on 217 undergraduate medical students in a medical college at Chennai, India. Depression, anxiety, and stress levels were recorded using Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 Items (DASS21) before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in India in December 2019 and June 2020, respectively. In the follow-up survey, in addition to DASS21, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess sleep quality and a self-administered questionnaire to assess the impact of COVID-19 related stressors were used. The self-administered questionnaire assessed the status of COVID-19 testing, interactions with COVID-19 patients, self-perceived levels of concerns and worries related to academics (COVID-19-AA (academic apprehensions)) and those pertaining to the self and family/friends (COVID-19-GA (general apprehensions)). Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparison of overall scores of depression, anxiety, and stress and scores stratified by gender, year of study, place of residence and monthly family income were performed. Predictors for depression, anxiety, and stress during COVID-19 were investigated using adjusted binary logistic regression analysis and results were expressed as adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI). A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The average scores of depression, anxiety, and stress during the baseline survey were 7.55 ± 7.86, 4.6 ± 6.19 and 7.31 ± 7.34 with the prevalence (95% Cl) of 33.2% [27–39.9%], 21.2% [16–27.2%] and 20.7% [15.5–26.7%]; in follow-up survey, the mean scores were 8.16 ± 8.9, 6.11 ± 7.13 and 9.31 ± 8.18 with the prevalence being 35.5% [29.1–42.2%], 33.2% [27–39.9%] and 24.9% [19.3–31.2%] for depression, anxiety, and stress respectively. There was a significant increase in both the prevalence and levels of anxiety and stress (P < 0.001), with depression remaining unchanged during COVID-19, irrespective of gender, year of study, place of residence and family’s monthly income. Poor sleep quality, higher levels of baseline depression, anxiety, and stress, higher COVID-19-GA, COVID-19 patients in family/friends and direct interactions with COVID-19 patients were found to be significant predictors of negative mental health in undergraduate medical students. COVID-19-AA was not significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic appears to negatively affect the mental health of the undergraduate medical students with the prevalence and levels of anxiety and stress being increased, and depression symptoms remaining unaltered. Addressing and mitigating the negative effect of COVID-19 on the mental health of this population is crucial.


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