PURPOSE: The current study investigates the level of students' learning and attitudes towards the teaching and learning process when using digital lectures to teach gross anatomy to year 1 medical students. METHODS: The study sampled year 1 medical students of cohorts 2013 and 2014. The year 1 medical students in 2013 were taught gross anatomy of the heart by didactic classroom lectures while those in 2014 were taught with digital lectures using the same content. A review session was conducted for the 2014 cohort. A 19-item survey was distributed amongst students to investigate their attitudes and feedback. The data were analysed using SPSS software. RESULTS: The 2014 cohort had a mean score of 47.65 for short essay questions and 51.19 for multiple choice questions, while the 2013 cohort scored an average of 36.80 for short essay questions and 49.22 for multiple choice questions. The difference in scores for each type of question was found to be significant. Using a 5-point Likert scale, students gave an average of 4.11 when asked if they liked the teaching and learning process and would like it to be applied further. CONCLUSION: The results of the study provide strong evidence that the digital teaching and learning process was well received by students and could also lead to improved performance. Digital lectures can provide a satisfactory substitute for classroom lectures to teach gross anatomy, thus providing flexibility in learning and efficient learning, whilst also freeing lecture slots to promote mastery learning.
Cohort Studies ; Heart ; Humans ; Learning* ; Lectures* ; Pliability ; Students, Medical

This paper is aimed at finding if there was a change of correlation between the written test score and tutors' performance test scores in the assessment of medical students during a problem-based learning (PBL) course in Malaysia. This is a cross-sectional observational study, conducted among 264 medical students in two groups from November 2010 to November 2012. The first group's tutors did not receive tutor training; while the second group's tutors were trained in the PBL process. Each group was divided into high, middle and low achievers based on their end-of-semester exam scores. PBL scores were taken which included written test scores and tutors' performance test scores. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between the two kinds of scores in each group. The correlation coefficient between the written scores and tutors' scores in group 1 was 0.099 (p<0.001) and for group 2 was 0.305 (p<0.001). The higher correlation coefficient in the group where tutors received the PBL training reinforces the importance of tutor training before their participation in the PBL course.
*Achievement ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; *Curriculum ; *Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; *Educational Measurement ; Faculty, Medical/*education ; Humans ; Malaysia ; *Problem-Based Learning ; *Students, Medical

Dengue viruses are single-stranded RNA viruses of the Flavivirus genus. It is a common viral infection worldwide, especially in tropical regions. Various neurological manifestations such as encephalitis, encephalopathy, meningitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) acute viral myositis, Guillain–Barré syndrome and others are increasingly reported. However, acute haemorrhagic encephalitis is a very rare presentation. Currently, there are only few previous case reports