Medical Student Learning Experiences in Organ System Course Sessions using a Histology and Embryology Team‐taught Integrated Format

Abstract

Medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education are required to enhance their medical curriculum in a coherent and coordinated manner. Content integration, which is one characteristic of this requirement, involves linking concepts from different subjects and building from them so they can be more deeply understood and applied by students. At the relatively new Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, the preclinical medical curriculum is integrated horizontally within each organ system course. However, the appropriate basic science disciplines are generally presented in separate sessions delivered by different content experts.In an effort to enhance the integration of the basic sciences, histology and embryology sessions were delivered in select organ system courses as integrated, team‐taught lectures for a two‐year period. Histology and embryology professors were both present during the same session to present the content and the relationship between the two disciplines was emphasized with embryological concepts forming a foundation for interpreting histological images.Studies of team teaching in higher education suggest it enhances the learning environment; however, the research is predominately anecdotal, from the instructors' perspectives, and lacks measurement of benefits and costs. This qualitative study aimed to identify variables for measuring outcomes of team‐taught integrated sessions in medical histology and embryology. The specific objectives were to determine why students might prefer the team or traditional segregated format, to compile student‐recommended best practices for team lecturers, and to identify other disciplines that may be conducive to the team‐teaching format. A phenomenological approach to qualitative inquiry was employed, where medical students' perceptions about team lectures were generalized to describe their shared experience of the learning environment. Qualitative data were collected from second year medical students during audio‐recorded focus groups and from organ system course evaluations. Open coding analyses will be performed on the focus group transcripts and course evaluation comments to generate themes and identify variables of interest. This study serves as the first phase of an exploratory sequential mixed methods research project in that the results will drive the development of future quantitative studies on the benefits and costs of team‐taught integrated sessions in medical education.Support or Funding InformationOUWB Fellowship in Medical EducationThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.