gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Case Based Learning (CBL) is regarded as motivational and progressive didactic tool, and is suggested to be effective in assisting in the expansion of declarative and procedural knowledge in academia. Although a plethora of studies employ multiple choice questions (MCQs) in their investigation, few studies measure CBL or case based blended learning (CBBL) mediated changes in student’s procedural knowledge in practice or employ comparison or control groups in isolating causal relationships.

Methods: CBBL framework was established as an e-learning platform consisting of

1.

case based textbook material,

2.

online e-CBL and

3.

a simulated patient (SP) contact seminars and implemented in multiple medical fields for undergraduate medical education.

E-cases are based on anonymized real patient data and constructed according to the criteria of Bloom’s taxonomy. In this study, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) results from (n=619) medical students in 2013 before CBBL implementation, and after CBBL implementation in 2015 (n=624) and 2016 (n=643) were analyzed.

Results: A significant improvement (adjusted p=0.002) of the mean OSCE score by 1.02 points was seen between 2013 and 2015 (min=0, max=25).

Conclusion: E-Case Based Learning is an effective tool in increasing student mobilization and satisfaction, improving performance outcomes and may provide a sustainable learning platform for many fields of medicine in future.