Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Purpose: This study explored comics as a tool for teaching medical and physician assistant (PA) students about end-of-life decisions and advance care planning. Methods: Using a mixed method convergent design, a survey (consisting of a five-point Likert scale and open-ended questions) was administered to second-year medical and first-year PA students enrolled in an Ethics and Professionalism class at a US medical school. The survey assessed students' perspectives on the addition of a comic "Betty P." to assigned readings and about the use of comics in the classroom. Quantitative results were compared by demographics, and open-ended responses were analyzed qualitatively for emergent themes. Quantitative and qualitative findings were compared for correspondence. Results: Of the 145 students who completed the survey (83%), 141 students (81%) had read the comic. The vast majority (89%) felt that "Betty P." helped them understand end of life care for patients, and 84% felt that the comic did not distract them from the seriousness of the subject. Qualitative analysis revealed 2 major themes: 1) comics were educational, and 2) comics engaged learners emotionally. We observed convergence between quantitative and qualitative results. Conclusion: Integrating comics as a supplemental teaching tool is an innovative way to engage medical students.
Highlights
The use of comics has been shown to improve students’ learning experiences in a broad range of disciplines (Gerde and Foster, 2008; Muzumdar and Nania, 2015) Comics are increasingly being incorporated into medical school curricula in light of promising research demonstrating their ability to convey experiences and information not found in other types of educational materials (Green, 2013; Joshi et al, 2015)
The vast majority (89%) felt that "Betty P." helped them understand end of life care for patients, and 84% felt that the comic did not distract them from the seriousness of the subject
There is some evidence that comics can be effective teaching tools in medical education, they have not been evaluated in the context of teaching about medical ethics and EOL care (Muzumdar and Nania, 2015; Hosler and Boomer, 2011; Kraft et al, 2017)
Summary
The use of comics has been shown to improve students’ learning experiences in a broad range of disciplines (Gerde and Foster, 2008; Muzumdar and Nania, 2015) Comics are increasingly being incorporated into medical school curricula in light of promising research demonstrating their ability to convey experiences and information not found in other types of educational materials (Green, 2013; Joshi et al, 2015). As Paul Gravett, a journalist and comic book author, noted in his keynote address at the 2011 Comics and Medicine Conference, "the reason I am drawn to comics is empathy, being able to understand other people’s lives and experiences and hopefully finding a connection in yourself. Even if it is something you’ve never experienced, you can open up your mind and heart to what other people are going through" (Gravett, 2011). We hypothesized that including the short, published graphic narrative "Betty P" as a supplement to text-only readings would better engage students in the themes of the course and help them gain a deeper understanding of both physicians’ and patients' experiences (Green and Rieck, 2015)
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