Study of two teaching methods on film-reading session of radiology education for medical students

Abstract

Objective To probe the potential application and advantages of Socratic method in the film-reading session of imaging radiology through comparison with the traditional didactic method.Methods 56 third-year medical students were evenly divided into two groups (Group A with Socratic method and Group B with didactic method).The analysis of final examination of radiology course and an anonymous investigation were carried out at the end of semester and at the end of their internship two-year later respectively.Results For the evaluation of teaching efficiency on time,there was no difference of the total score and the scores of objective questions for the two groups.But the scores of subjective questions and the questions with the high difficulty coefficient for students in Group A were higher than Group B (P＜0.05).The anonymous investigation showed that the students in Group A obviously demonstrated the stronger ability in analyzing and solving the concrete problems,as well as in language expression and studying interests.However,the students in Group B showed advantageous in the basic theoretic knowledge.When tracing to long-term teaching efficiency 2-year later,the scores of total,subjective and objective questions,and the questions with the high difficulty coefficient for students in Group A were all higher than Group B.The anonymous survey proved that the students in Group A were satisfied with Socratic method to help them a lot in solving clinical problems and strengthening their ability in practice.Conclusions In the filmreading session of radiology education for medical students,the Socratic method emphasized the student's participation and active thinking,also showed the potential influence on their career. Key words: Radiology education; Socratic method; Didactic method; Study