Learning strategies in medical school: A holistic approach to physiology

Abstract

Background: In medical college medical curriculum needs to be evaluated on a regular basis because students perception about the subjects should be known to the teachers. Assessment of medical students regarding the understanding of the subjects is useful in modifying and can be made two-way learning, more appealing, and enjoyable too. Aims and Objectives: Considering the above-known facts different learning strategies in physiology were evaluated among 500 medical students of consecutively 3 academic years of 3rd semester (II/I) students who had finished their physiology curriculum. Materials and Methods: This was carried out by providing an appropriate and well-structured questionnaire with 10 items containing different learning tools of physiology. They were asked to choose more than one option which aids in their understanding. Results: Frequency was expressed in percentage. A total of 500 students participated in the study. The most preferred learning tool was clinical as 81% students found practical hours of clinical examination interesting while 57% agreed for regular hematology practicals, 54% felt small group discussion interesting. On the other hand, 48% favored lectures and tutorials both. Preference of problem-based learning by 46% and 29% identified group activities in the form of seminars as useful. Spots by some 26%, and lecture demonstration was selected by 20%. Charts with models were least preferred learning tool by 12%. Conclusion: Basically, the study was helpful for students in appreciating different learning methods.