Fasce HE, Ortiz ML, Torres AG, Delgado RM, Ortega BJ, Moraga PAM

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 48-62
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ABSTRACT

Introduction: Didactic or master classes are frequently used in medical education, although the students' attention is known to decrease progressively and information retention is limited. Interactive classes reduce these disadvantages, but their effect has only been evaluated in one-hour or less lessons and predominantly during the basic medical cycle.
Objective: To evaluate the intervention implemented for attaining greater knowledge in extended didactic classes on clinical subjects.
Method: The intervention was carried out in an educational module of the clinical cycle of the medical major of a Chilean private university. Sixty fifth-year students participated. The lessons of the intervened unit were taught in four consecutive academic hours of 45 minutes each. At the beginning of each lesson, the students answered a questionnaire with statements for the true/false format and referring the central objectives of each subject. The lessons were structured with the classical method and the predominant teaching style was visual information provider. The evaluation was carried out after 3 months through a knowledge test with 40 multiple-choice questions (11 about cardiology). It included a selection of true/false statements from those used during the lessons and a satisfaction survey in the Likert format. In addition, a differential semantic scale was applied to collect information about the lessons of the other units with aim at controlling the halo effect attributed to the preferences of participating teachers.
Results: The average of the scores in the cardiology questions of the knowledge test was significantly higher than the average of the other geriatric units (t (59)= -28.3, p< 0.001). The average percentage of correct answers in the post-test was 45.2 %, higher than the pretest (t (59)= -24.9, p< 0.001). The methodology was evaluated well: 100 % of students considered that they kept their attention during the lessons. The appreciation of the lessons given by the different teachers of the geriatric module was positive, without differences between them.
Conclusions: The use of questionnaires with true/false statements and referring the educational objectives, before each session of extended lessons, is a strategy that allows to keep the students' attention and favors the cognitive performance in undergraduate medical-clinical subjects.