Impact of case-based learning approach in clinical microbiology on second-year students: A prospective observational study

Abstract

Case-based learning (CBL) is an interactive student-centred exploration of real-life situations. It has been used in addition to didactic lectures (DL) in the medical curriculum for strengthening the students' critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and better understanding of the disease and its management. 100 students were divided into 2 groups. Group A was exposed to CBL first and didactic lectures later and Group B were exposed to didactic lectures and then to CBL, with pre and post tests conducted with questionnaire each time. 91% of the students were satisfied with the newer teaching learning method and 94% of the students felt the teaching method must be student centric. CBL revealed improvised learning among the students and enhanced their communication skills and long term memory, while with didactic lectures, the students seemed not too keen on applying and implementing the topics.