Purpose
To determine if shifting traditional 50-minute learning sessions to multiple shorter asynchronous videos would reduce the instructional time needed while preserving student performance.

Methods
Course faculty reviewed sessions that had been traditionally offered in live 50-minute classes (with recordings made available afterwards) and then broke content into 10-20 minute pre-recorded mini-lectures to accompany the corresponding abbreviated powerpoints. Throughout the semester all students were required to attend weekly in-person active learning sessions built around that week’s content and the format of these sessions did not change compared to previous years. Weekly formative assessments were provided so that students could self-assess their mastery of the material. Clinical correlations remained as large lecture sessions, although their number is small compared to total course hours.

Results
The content of the pre-recorded lectures produced in Spring 2024 was essentially identical to that delivered in-person in Spring 2022 and 2023. Pre-recording of lectures reduced overall lecture time between 35-40% over a content block. Since the time allotted for the course did not change, students effectively received “free” time they could use for studying or for promoting a better school-life balance. The overall course pass rate was similar to previous years but direct exam and grade performance comparison is complicated by a switch to pass/fail grading that recently occurred. Student feedback about the switch to short asynchronous videos, provided via anonymous end-of-semester course evaluations, was generally positive with many appreciating the flexibility this new approach provided.

Conclusion
Course passing rates were not negatively impacted by switching instructional modalities from traditional in-person lecture to short pre-recorded videos delivered asynchronously and student opinion on the approach was positive. Students could see several hours of unstructured time each week returned to them with this approach, which is a positive outcome in and of itself.