Medical Students’ Preferences of Curricular Elements: Lessons Imparted by a Prototype Radiological Anatomy Study

Abstract

Students have a myriad of preferences of the various curricular elements especially teaching-learning methods, teaching aids and content. Taking radiological anatomy as a prototype, the responses from medical students in the clinical years regarding the rationale for preferences for the curricular elements were studied in a private university in Malaysia. The students’ responses to the research question were analysed qualitatively through thematic analysis. Analysis was conducted until no new themes emerged and data saturation was complete. The final themes were subjected to investigator triangulation. While searching answers for our research question of why students prefer certain curricular elements, the sub-themes that emerged were deep approach to learning, enabling transferability of knowledge to workplace, managing cognitive load and suiting learning styles. These sub-themes were categorised into two large themes namely student interaction with learning environment and relevancy of content to context. This prototype study sheds light on students preferred curricular elements. Curricular elements which employ effective student interaction with the learning environment and ensure relevancy to the context are highly sought. It could be concluded that active learning entailing studentcentred methods and clinically relevant content is most preferred by students. This prototype study provides potential findings that benefit other disciplines as well.