gms | German Medical Science

14. Grazer Konferenz – Qualität der Lehre: New Horizons in Teaching and Learning

22. - 24.04.2010, Wien, Österreich

The integration of medical and clinical contents into the chemical part of the medical curriculum of the medical university of Graz

Poster

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14. Grazer Konferenz – Qualität der Lehre: New Horizons in Teaching and Learning. Wien, Österreich, 22.-24.04.2010. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2010. Doc10grako35

doi: 10.3205/10grako35, urn:nbn:de:0183-10grako355

Published: November 18, 2010

© 2010 Oettl et al.
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Poster

Basic sciences are essential in medical education [1]. However, clinical education and scientific foundations widely occur in a separated manner and during preclinical courses students often perceive basic sciences as not being relevant for clinical care [2]. On the other hand, students during their clerkship might experience regret having not paid more attention to factual basic science knowledge in their preclinical years [3]. Application to the sciences in a clinical context helps to reinforce their acceptance and retention [1]. Therefore our intention is to incorporate medically and clinically relevant contents into preclinical education and training in chemistry. The intended procedure is oriented at the curriculum development strategies suggested by Kern et al. [4] and developed in the course of the MME-D education.

Needs assessment: Some of the current contents of the chemical education might be of less importance for clinical care while other contexts have to be explained in more detail. To assess the needs of teachers involved in clinical education as well as students completing clinical courses both groups will be consulted by a questionnaire concerning the requirements in chemical education. After a quantitative content analysis of the responses a workshop will be organised to refine the needs and to collect relevant clinical contents suitable and necessary for an improved instruction in chemistry.

Learning objectives and content development: Based on the replies of the questionnaires and the results of the workshop the goals and learning objectives for chemical education will be revised by a task group of chemistry teachers. Based on the revised learning objectives the contents of the chemical education will be adapted. However, it will have to be considered that the intention of the medical curriculum is not only the preparation of the students for clinical care but also the acquisition of basic scientific knowledge which, e.g., is necessary to master a PhD-programme.

Implementation and Evaluation: The medical curriculum is organised in 5-week modules and includes chemical contents primarily in modules 1 and 2. Therefore the project is focussed on these modules. The current state of chemical education with special regard to medical and clinical relevance will be evaluated immediately after modules 1 and 2 have taken place in fall 2010. One year later, immediately after the implementation of the adapted contents an evaluation will be performed again to give a feedback of an expected improvement and further development.


References

1.
Finnerty EP, Chauvin S, Bonaminio G, Andrews M, Carroll RG Pangaro LN. Flexner Revisited: The Role and Value of the Basic Sciences in Medical Education. Acad Med. 2010;85(29):349-355. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181c88b09 External link
2.
Brass EP. Basic Biomedical Sciences and the Future of Medical Education: Implications for Internal Medicine. J Gen Intern Med. 2009;24(11):1251-1254. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-009-0998-5 External link
3.
Custers EJ, Ten Cate OJ. Medical clerks' attitudes towards the basic sciences: a longitudinal and a cross-sectional comparison between students in a conventional and an innovative curriculum. Med Teach. 2007;29(8):772-777. DOI: 10.1080/01421590701509696 External link
4.
Kern DE, Thomas PA, Howard DM, Bass EB. Curriculum Development for Medical Education. A Six-Step Approach. Baltimore(MA): The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1998.