Presentation 1 - Addressing a Medical School Curricular Gap by Integrating Pharmacy and Medical Student Courses on Therapeutics
George Bergus
Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa

 

PURPOSE Medical students and faculty reported that students in our new curriculum had gaps in their knowledge about Therapeutics. Therefore, we designed a course to enhance this knowledge. METHODS We piloted a 2-week case-based course on Therapeutics in which medical and pharmacy students collaborated in formulating treatment plans for clinical cases prepared by faculty.  During daily class sessions, medical and pharmacy students presented treatment plans followed with discussions led by faculty physicians and pharmacists. At the end of each session students were assigned a new clinical case for presentation/discussion the following day. Students completed self-assessment surveys using a Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). RESULTS A total of 9 medical students enrolled in this course. Each 3rd or 4th year medical student worked collaboratively with 1 to 2 pharmacy students to formulate treatment plans for 8 clinical cases: pneumonia, CHF, hypertension, thrombosis, gout, COPD, osteoporosis, T2DM. At the end of the course all medical students (n=9) agreed/strongly agreed that 1) "Active learning activities were utilized in this course", 2) "The course encouraged me to teach myself as well as my peers", 3) "The knowledge gained in this course will help me take care of patients", 4) "The cases allowed me to use my foundational science knowledge", 5) "Because of this course I will make better prescribing decisions" and 6) "I hope to collaborate with pharmacists when I enter practice". 8 of the 9 students agreed/strongly agreed that "I benefited from the opportunity to work with pharmacy students". As a result of this learning experience, medical and pharmacy students reported significantly increased comfort in providing collaborative care to patients (pre vs. post: p=0.02, p<0.01; respectively). CONCLUSION Medical students reported knowledge gains from this case-based interprofessional course on Therapeutics. Because of this experience, both medical and pharmacy students voiced greater support for collaborative care.

 

Presentation 3 - Facilitating Medical Student Learning of Anatomy via Radiographic Imaging
Cindy Funk

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
 

PURPOSE Cadaver dissection is effective in teaching medical anatomy. Due to associated time and financial demands, there've been curricular initiatives to develop strategies to replace or supplement cadaveric dissection with imaging/virtual resources. At BCOM, anatomy is taught primarily through imaging (MRI, CT, ultrasound), with minimal cadaveric prosection. The current study describes the development and assessment of a teaching strategy to facilitate learning of anatomy through imaging. METHODS An action research design was used to develop and assess a strategy for anatomists to facilitate learning of anatomy through imaging. The strategy was implemented in the Musculoskeletal I course. The effectiveness of the strategy was assessed by utilizing a between-subjects design comparing test question performance between BCOM Classes of 2020 (teaching strategy not implemented) and 2021 (teaching strategy implemented). Test statistics analyzed included difficulty and point biserial for identification, first-order and second-order questions. Students t-test was utilized to compare data between classes. No individual student data we analyzed. RESULTS The most effective teaching strategy was one utilizing a small-group, problem-solving approach. Through active-learning and collaboration, students engaged in problem solving exercises that emphasized a knowledge of anatomical functions/relationships. At the end of each problem set, students worked through a learning catalytics-based self-assessment to insure that basic concepts had been attained. Student feedback, for continual improvement, was attained through learning catalytics. Data comparing test question performance between the Class of 2020 and 2021 were not significant, but were confounded by overall modifications to the MSK I curriculum. CONCLUSION These data detail an effective method for facilitating learning of anatomy through imaging. This strategy can be utilized to support anatomical learning as a supplement to or in place of cadaveric dissection. Due to the novel nature of this anatomical curriculum, further data will be needed to assess how students perform on national licensing examinations

 

Presentation 4 - The Zombie Pandemic: An Innovative Simulation on Disease Outbreaks and Disaster Response for Preclinical Medical Students
Jennifer M. Jackson

Wake Forest School of Medicine
 

PURPOSE:  Understanding public health system processes, including disease outbreak investigations and disaster response and preparedness, is an important physician competency, though most medical schools provide limited training in this content.  To address this gap, we designed and implemented an innovative simulation for preclinical medical students and performed a qualitative study of students' reports to characterize their application of these concepts. METHODS:  One-hundred and forty 1st-year medical students participated in this 2-hour simulated pandemic activity, implemented during the Virology course following core virology instruction. Prior to this simulation, students had not encountered formal instruction on disaster response or preparedness content. Students worked in teams to collect and analyze clinical, laboratory, and epidemiological data to formulate hypotheses for the source of a simulated pandemic manifesting with "zombie"-like signs and symptoms.  Student teams then developed infection prevention, containment, and resource allocation recommendations.  Qualitative analysis of students' reports was performed to characterize the content of their public health recommendations using both inductive and deductive coding, and themes and sub-themes were generated. Distribution and frequency of sub-themes and of data source types observed in students' reports were calculated using descriptive statistics. RESULTS:  Nine unique disaster response codes were identified among students' reports; codes were clustered in themes of community level interventions, individual level interventions, infection investigation, healthcare facility interventions, and resource allocation recommendations. 'Healthcare facility infection control measures' was the most common sub-theme observed (90%) followed by 'prioritizing healthcare personnel for prophylaxis and/or treatment' (55%).  Other disaster response sub-themes were variably observed (15% - 50%).  Students cited 6 primary data source types, of which the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization websites were the most commonly cited (60%, 60%). CONCLUSIONS:  Collaborative problem solving during a simulated "zombie" pandemic provides preclinical medical students an effective and engaging opportunity to practice applying disaster response concepts.