Presented By: Colleen Croniger, Case Western Reserve University

Purpose
The adult learner is very different today compared to the student from 10 years ago, when learning was primarily from lectures  and reading textbooks. Today, there are many resources available that are streamlined and efficient. However, they present the material as isolated facts and don't integrate the concepts which are essential for long-term learning. The goal of this project was to develop new interactive teaching methods to replace the traditional biochemistry lectures taught in the pre-clerkship curriculum  (Block 3) at CWRU. 

Methods 
Short videos (<5 min) were generated on the main topics of biochemistry taught in Block 3 for the M1  students (class of 2027). Formative quizzes were made to test the knowledge gained in these short videos. These resources were offered asynchronously. On Friday, students attended a required 2-hour interactive session that applied the material covered in the videos and quizzes. These sessions included case studies and USMLE Style Step 1 questions. The interactive session was led by an expert faculty member in biochemistry. 

Results 
All students took the end of block survey which included questions on their attitudes towards this novel approach. Knowledge was assessed in the exam at the end of Block 3 and the results were compared to the class of 2026, which had traditional lectures only. 

Conclusion 
Students utilized the asynchronous videos and quizzes to prepare for the interactive sessions. Students felt that the asynchronous videos offered greater flexibility than in person  traditional lectures. The formative quizzes and interactive sessions helped to integrate their understanding and improve their knowledge in biochemistry.  Thus, we have developed a novel approach to teach biochemistry which can be easily utilized by other medical schools curriculum.