Perceived clinical relevance and retention of basic sciences across the medical education continuum

Abstract

Medical programs are under pressure to maintain currency with scientific and technical advances, as well as prepare graduates for clinical work and a wide range of postgraduate careers. The value of the basic sciences in primary medical education was assessed by exploring the perceived clinical relevance and test performance trends among medical students, interns, residents, and experienced clinicians. A pilot study conducted in 2014 involved administration of a voluntary 60-item multiple-choice question test to 225 medical students and 4 interns. These participants and 26 teaching clinicians rated the items for clinical relevance. In 2016, a similarly constructed test (main study) was made a mandatory formative assessment, attempted by 563 students in years 2, 4, and 6 and by 120 commencing general practice residents. Test scores, performance trends, clinical relevance ratings, and correlations were assessed using relevant parametric and nonparametric tests. Rank order and pass-fail decisions were also reviewed. The mean test scores were 57% (SD 7.1) and 52% (SD 6.1) for the pilot and main studies, respectively. Highest scores were observed in pathology and social sciences. Overall performance increased with increasing year of study. Test scores were positively correlated with perceived relevance. There were moderate correlations ( r = 0.50–0.63; P < 0.001) between participants’ scores in the basic science and summative exams. Assessments may be key to fostering relevance and integration of the basic sciences. Benchmarking knowledge retention and result comparisons across topics are useful in program evaluation.

Medical Students’ Attitude and Perception Towards Basic Medical Science Subjects at Wollo University, Northeast Ethiopia

“…This is in agreement with a similar study conducted in Australia. 22 But; this result contradicts the finding of Yograj et al, who found that during their clinical years, 88.8% of the respondents found physiology to be the most relevant subject, followed by anatomy (72.4%) and biochemistry (45.4%). 31 This discrepancy may be due to variations in basic science teachers' teaching methodology.…”

“…It is known that basic medical science subjects are a precondition for all of the other clinical sciences as they help to recall facts, contribute to better diagnostic formulations, and help to solve complex and atypical clinical scenarios. 22 In this study, we have tried to explore the perception and attitude of our medical students towards basic medical sciences and their perceived clinical relevance and retention of basic medical sciences across the medical education continuum. Moreover, we have tried to find out their preference regarding basic medical science as their future career and the reason for students not getting interested in basic medical science subjects.…”

Is remote near‐peer anatomy teaching an effective teaching strategy? Lessons learned from the transition to online learning during the Covid‐19 pandemic

“…Anatomy is a three-dimensional subject that requires an understanding of the relationships between structures, which may be difficult to garner from an online-only platform. It was vital to try to preserve student understanding of anatomical concepts in the switch to virtual learning; medical students traditionally have anatomical knowledge that falls short of preclinical expectations, performing poorly in anatomy relative to their other basic science courses (Malau-Aduli et al, 2019).…”

Is memorization the name of the game? Undergraduates’ perceptions of the usefulness of physiology songs

“…The usual caveats regarding student feedback certainly apply here, e.g., students are not always the best judges of their own learning (15). Nevertheless, as suggested by the recent surge of research on student perceptions (24,27,31), an expanded understanding of such perceptions may ultimately lead to better teaching and learning. In this case, our findings on students' concerns about memory and song length have several implications for STEM instructors and educational researchers.…”