Application based learning through hospital projects for teaching microbiology to medical students.

ABSTRACT

Microbiology in-spite of being a crucial subject for understanding the basic principles with their application in infectious disease fails to impress the undergraduate medical students probably because they are taught the subject in isolation without much clinical context. To help students learn important concepts of microbiology by shifting the focus from didactic classroom setting to the patient care setting, we introduced hospital projects focusing on selected concepts of microbiology. The students (n=103) in their 2nd phase of MBBS studying para-clinical subjects were randomly divided in test and control groups. Test group was sent to the hospital with specific objectives for a defined duration. The difference in the level of understanding and knowledge in the selected topics for both the groups was judged by pre and post test. Perception of faculty and students towards the whole process was collected through feedback questionnaires, framed with a four point scale as per the Kirkpatrick's evaluation model. The test group (average pre-test score 9.64 to post-test score 16.28) showed a remarkable improvement in the understanding and knowledge of topics in comparison to the control group (average pre-test score 10.12 to post-test score 12.5). This was highly significant (P value <0.001) by statistical analysis (paired T test). The process of sending the students to hospital for strengthening of the important microbiology concept is a novel idea. Students appreciated the process as they could understand the practical significance and relevance of the theory taught to them in classrooms. Time constraint was perceived as a major limiting factor. [Suman Singh et al. NJIRM 2011; 2(3) 1-7]