Team-Based Learning and Lecture-Based Learning: Comparison of Sudanese Medical Students' Performance.

AIM: Students' performance in TBL compared to LBL needs to be evaluated. This study aimed to compare students' performance in team-based learning and traditional lectures. METHODS: A total of 176 class 4 and 202 class 6 medical students from University of Bahri, Khartoum, Sudan, participated in the study during 2018. Experienced staff were selected to conduct the teaching and assessment of the two groups, using the standard team-based learning procedure (iRAT, gRAT and AppT) in the first topic and the lecture-based learning procedure in the second, within the same time limit for the two methods. RESULTS: The two classes overall mean score has a significant 5.1 points difference (p<0.001; 95% CI: 3.5, 6.0). Separate analysis showed consistency of superiority of TBL to LBL in either gender. A remarkable difference was observed when we compared the two methods in class 6 separately from class 4. Class 6 mean score was high for both TBL and LBL (77.2 and 70.2, respectively), with a significant mean difference of 7.0 (p<0.001; 95% CI: 5.1, 8.9). In class 4, the score was lower for both methods (mean of 62.8 for TBL and 59.9 for LBL). The mean difference of 2.95 points was still significant (p<0.05; 95% CI: 0.46, 5.43). Separate multivariate linear regression for TBL and LBL showed no significant difference in performance of males and females in either method. Controlling for gender in TBL, class 4 had a mean of -14.26 points, (p<0.001; 95% CI: -12.54, -15.98) less than class 6. Similarly, in LBL, class 4 had a mean of -10.18 points (p<0.001, 95% CI: -7.02, -13.35), less than class 6. CONCLUSION: Students' performance using team-based learning was superior to lecture-based learning, irrespective of students' gender, noticeable among senior students.

Psychometric analysis of multiple-choice questions in an innovative curriculum in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Worldwide, medical education and assessment of medical students are evolving. Psychometric analysis of the adopted assessment methods is thus, necessary for an efficient, reliable, valid and evidence based approach to the assessment of the students. The objective of this study was to determine the pattern of psychometric analysis of our courses conducted in the academic year 2018-2019, in an innovative curriculum. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional-design study involving review of examination items over one academic session -2018/2019. All exam item analysis of courses completed within the three phases of the year were analyzed using SPSS V20 statistical software. RESULTS: There were 24 courses conducted during the academic year 2018-2019, across the three academic phases. The total examination items were 1073 with 3219 distractors in one of four best option multiple choice questions (MCQs). The item analysis showed that the mean difficulty index (DIF I) was 79.1 ± 3.3. Items with good discrimination have a mean of 65 ± 11.2 and a distractor efficiency of 80.9%. Reliability Index (Kr20) across all exams in the three phases was 0.75. There was a significant difference within the examination items block (F = 12.31, F critical = 3.33, P < 0.05) across all the phases of the courses taken by the students. Similarly, significant differences existed among the three phases of the courses taken (F ratio = 12.44, F critical 4.10, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The psychometric analysis showed that the quality of examination questions was valid and reliable. Though differences were observed in items quality between different phases of study as well as within courses of study, it has generally remained consistent throughout the session. More efforts need to be channeled towards improving the quality in the future is recommended.

Poor adherence to the World Health Organization guidelines of treatment of severe pneumonia in children at Khartoum, Sudan.

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is as a major cause for childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study was conducted to investigate the adherence and response of the WHO guidelines for treatment of severe pneumonia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the period of June 2009 to July 2010 at Khartoum Hospital, Sudan. Children admitted and treated for severe pneumonia were enrolled. RESULTS: Only 39 (18.8%) out of 208 enrolled children received prescriptions that were adherent to the WHO guidelines of treatment of severe pneumonia. In logistic regression none of the investigated variable (age, gender, and clinical presentations) was associated with the adherence to the WHO guidelines. There was no significant difference in the response between adherent and non-adherent prescriptions. There was no association between the demographic, clinical data, treatment-adherence to the guidelines and the patients' response. CONCLUSION: There is a poor (18.8%) adherence to the WHO guidelines of the treatment of severe pneumonia in the region regardless to the age, gender and clinical presentation.

Characteristics associated with severe pneumonia in under-five children admitted to emergency units of two teaching hospitals in Khartoum, Sudan.

Pneumonia, defined as infection of lung parenchyma, is associated with severe complications especially in the very young and old patients. It is the world's leading cause of childhood mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification and guidelines are commonly used in Sudan in the diagnosis and management of pneumonia patients. A group of 224 patients at Gaafar Ibn Oaf Children's Hospital and Omdurman Children's Hospital were assessed and managed for severe presentation of pneumonia. The data collected showed that most of the patients were of low socioeconomic class families. The vast majority (99%) of patients had chronic exposure to tobacco smoke at home. Female patients (52.7%) were more than males, with 42% of the presenting patients in the less than 12 months age group. Pneumonia is a dangerous childhood menace that is associated with severe presentations. Public health community outreach programs should be put in place to raise awareness. The case fatality rate during the study period was 4%.