Integrated medical courses are one of the key models for the development and transformation of modern medical education. Modular-based integrated courses set higher standards for knowledge, skills and quality objectives. This article primarily discusses the specific practices of teaching reform in the integrated medical course of Frontiers of Infection and Immunity for eight-year program at Air Force Medical University. It covers the selection and integration of teaching content, innovative application of various teaching methods, diversified teaching evaluation and feedback, and the teaching team building. The course not only deepens students' knowledge and promotes their creative abilities but also enhances their comprehensive literacy and international perspective, thus effectively preparing high-quality medical talents for future challenges in the medical field.
Humans ; Education, Medical/methods* ; Teaching ; Curriculum ; Immunity ; Infections/immunology*

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact in healthcare systems across the world, with many hospitals having to come up with protocols and measures to contain the spread of the virus. This affects various specialties' clinical practices in many ways. Since early 2020 in Singapore, the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Tan Tock Seng Hospital had to rapidly adapt to this pandemic as we provided services to the main healthcare facility combating the virus in our country. We had to design new workflows and also remain flexible in view of the ever-changing situation. There are 6 important domains for an otolaryngology department or any clinical department in general to consider when making adjustments to their practices in an outbreak: (1) clinical work, (2) education, (3) research, (4) safety of patients and staff, (5) morale of medical staff and (6) pandemic frontline work. We hope that the sharing of our experiences and the lessons learnt will be useful for both our local and international colleagues.
Ambulatory Care ; Biomedical Research ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Delivery of Health Care/methods* ; Education, Medical ; Elective Surgical Procedures ; Health Workforce ; Humans ; Morale ; Otolaryngology/methods* ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Workflow

OBJECTIVES: A Womans University College of Medicine faces curriculum reform in 2020. To determine what reforms are needed in the premedical curriculum, a needs assessment was conducted.METHODS: This study utilizes qualitative study method. A focus group interview was conducted with four students who completed premedical courses from November to December 2018. Interviews were conducted in two groups by grade level, and each interview was recorded. After transcribing the recorded contents, four researchers analyzed the data using conventional content analysis.RESULTS: Students chose A Womans University College of Medicine considering their future careers as female medical professionals and other considerations such as scholarships. The students expected diverse experiences, exchanges with students in different departments, and fusion of medicine with other fields during their premedical years. Overall, these expectations were met during the course, but individual needs for customized education, such as liberal arts, were unmet. In general, students' attitudes toward premedical courses were very motivated and they actively used resources provided by the university.CONCLUSION: Qualitative research can provide a better understanding of quantitative data, such as a student survey performed to prepare for curriculum reform. Based on this understanding, the curriculum will be reformed to reflect the educational needs of students, to motivate students and to provide satisfactory education.
Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Fellowships and Scholarships ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Methods ; Needs Assessment ; Program Evaluation ; Qualitative Research ; Students, Premedical

OBJECTIVE: The point-of-care ultrasound of the airway (POCUS-A) is a useful examination method but there are currently no educational programs for medical students regarding it. We designed a POCUS-A training curriculum for medical students to improve three cognitive and psychomotor learning domains: knowledge of POCUS-A, image acquisition, and image interpretation.METHODS: Two hours of training were provided to 52 medical students in their emergency medicine (EM) rotation. Students were evaluated for cognitive and psychomotor skills before and immediately after the training. The validity measures were established with the help of six specialists and eight EM residents. A survey was administered following the curriculum.RESULTS: Cognitive skill significantly improved after the training (38.7±12.4 vs. 91.2±7.7) and there was no significant difference between medical students and EM residents in posttest scores (91.2±7.7 vs. 90.8±4.6). The success rate of overall POCUS-A performance was 95.8%. The students were confident to perform POCUS-A on an actual patient and strongly agreed to incorporate POCUS-A training in their medical school curriculum.CONCLUSION: Cognitive and psychomotor skills of POCUS-A among medical students can be improved via a limited curriculum on EM rotation.
Airway Management ; Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Emergency Medicine ; Humans ; Learning ; Methods ; Pilot Projects ; Point-of-Care Systems ; Schools, Medical ; Specialization ; Students, Medical ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: Team-based learning is known for its effective and satisfying education methods in the study of various medical schools. This study was prepared to confirm the satisfaction of applying this team-based learning to the training course of emergency medical technician.METHODS: A total of 165 new members of the course of second grade National Emergency medical technician at 2019 were finally enrolled in the study. Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire. The team-based learning method was organized with eight students per group to conduct pre-learning and then proceed to open book to encourage active discussion among individuals. The questionnaire consisted of questions about the satisfaction of the discussion process, such as whether the knowledge gained from the discussion was appropriate, and whether collaboration between colleagues was successful during the discussion, and about the benefits of team-based learning, how well knowledge transfer compared to existing lectures, and the replacement of existing lectures. The questionnaire used a Likert 5 point scale, and the data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS version 22.0.RESULTS: The overall rating of team-based learning was 7.8 ± 1.5 out of 10. Many students answered positively (88.5%) for benefits, while 87.9% responded positively to whether the knowledge transfer effect was better compared to existing lectures. In addition, the satisfaction of team-based learning was generally high, with more than 90 percent of education students giving positive answers to the replacement of other lectures with team-based learning.CONCLUSION: The learners gave positive answers to the satisfaction, usefulness and learning effects of team-based learning. Team-based learning is a discussion-based study, so it is a good way to improve communication skills. Since communication and teamwork are important in first aid activities, the characteristics of team-based learning could lead to improvements in first aid services, leading to high-quality emergency medical services.
Cooperative Behavior ; Education ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; Emergency Medical Technicians ; First Aid ; Humans ; Learning ; Lectures ; Methods ; Schools, Medical

PURPOSE: Test equating studies in medical education have been conducted only for high-stake exams or to compare two tests given in a single course. Based on item response theory, we equated computer-based test (CBT) results from the basic medical education curriculum at the College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea and evaluated the validity of using fixed passing scores. METHODS: We collected 232 CBTs (28,636 items) for 40 courses administered over a study period of 9 years. The final data used for test equating included 12 pairs of tests. After test equating, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were utilized to identify changes in item difficulty between previous tests and subsequent tests. Then, we identified gaps between equated passing scores and actual passing scores in subsequent tests through an observed-score equating method. RESULTS: The results of Wilcoxon rank-sum tests indicated that there were no significant differences in item difficulty distribution by year for seven pairs. In the other five pairs, however, the items were significantly more difficult in subsequent years than in previous years. Concerning the gaps between equated passing scores and actual passing scores, equated passing scores in 10 pairs were found to be lower than actual passing scores. In the other two pairs, equated passing scores were higher than actual passing scores. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the item difficulty distributions of tests taught in the same course during successive terms can differ significantly. It may therefore be problematic to use fixed passing scores without considering this possibility.
Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; Educational Measurement ; Korea ; Methods

PURPOSE: Interprofessional communication skills are an essential competency for medical students training to be physicians. Nevertheless, interprofessional education (IPE) is relatively rare in Korean medical schools compared with those overseas. We attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of the first IPE program in our school. METHODS: In the first semester of the school year 2018, third-grade medical students (N=149) at the Seoul National University College of Medicine participated in ‘communication between healthcare professionals in the clinical field’ training, which consisted of small group discussions and role-play. To evaluate the effectiveness of this training, we conducted pre- and post-training questionnaire surveys. Comparing paired t-tests, we evaluated the students' competency in interpersonal communication and their attitude towards the importance of IPE before and after the training. The Global Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale (GICC-15) was used to evaluate competency in interpersonal communication. RESULTS: Out of 149 students, 144 completed the pre- and post-training questionnaires. The total GICC-15 scores before and after training were 55.60±6.94 (mean±standard deviation) and 58.89±7.34, respectively (p=0.000). All subcategory scores of GICC-15 after training were higher after training and were statistically significant (p<0.05), except for two subcategories. The importance of IPE score also improved after training but was not significant (p=0.159). The appropriateness of content and training method scores were 3.99±0.92 and 3.94±1.00, respectively. CONCLUSION: From the results, our school's IPE program demonstrated a positive overall educational effect. Deployment of systematic and varied IPE courses is expected in the future, with more longitudinal evaluation of educational effect.
Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Humans ; Interprofessional Relations ; Mental Competency ; Methods ; Role Playing ; Schools, Medical ; Seoul ; Students, Medical

PURPOSE: The flipped classroom has been suggested as a method for efficient teaching in medical education. However, its feasibility and effectiveness in the educational environment are often overlooked. The authors redesigned an epidemiology course applying the flipped classroom method under a traditional curriculum consisting of heavily scheduled classroom hours and explored its feasibility and effectiveness. METHODS: In the fall semester of 2017, we flipped the ‘practice of epidemiology’ course for third-year medical students at Korea University College of Medicine. We provided online lectures and assigned readings as pre-class materials, and substituted group discussions and communicative activities for traditional lectures. We conducted pre- and post-course surveys to review students' perceptions. We also analyzed the pre-test results and final exam scores for quantitative comparison. RESULTS: Ninety-seven students out of 120 completed the course. Most students made use of the online lectures, but not the reading materials. Lack of time was the most frequently cited reason for under-preparedness. We observed improvements in preparedness, participation, and effectiveness at the end of the course, while changes in satisfaction were unclear. Students' perceptions of course relevance and difficulty were predictive of pre-test outcomes, but the effects of preparedness and length of materials were insignificant. The authors found no evidence of differing test scores before and after the course. CONCLUSION: This study supports the feasibility of the flipped classroom model even under a traditional, heavily scheduled medical curriculum. To encourage self-directed learning and achieve better learning outcomes, restructuring pre-existing curricular components should also be considered in parallel with new instructional methods.
Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Korea ; Learning ; Lectures ; Methods ; Preventive Medicine ; Reading ; Students, Medical

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explore what the students experienced in short filmmaking class performed to 1st grade premedical students of a medical school, and to trace educational effects of the class. METHODS: Taking a qualitative approach, the authors used semi-structured interviews to collect the data. This study employed the quota sampling method to purposefully select students to interview. Data coding and analysis were performed based on the grounded theory. The filmmaking experiences consistently described by the interviewees were labeled and reorganized into categories through the open, axial, and selective coding. RESULTS: The students experience the group filmmaking class as a participatory class. Learners also experienced the procedure of performing complicated group tasks according to detailed and scheduled processes. Participation leads to collaboration. Collaboration here is through communication and participation, not through mechanical cooperation. Students also experience various dimensions of communication. The students learned that successful performance of the group filmmaking process is enabled through consideration towards others, and experience a sense of connectedness resulting in a type of community spirit. Having fun and interest, finally, the students experience the sense of accomplishment and sharing through joint screening. CONCLUSION: Students' shared experiences and their education effects of the filmmaking class can be explained in terms of the above mentioned seven closely intertwined categories. In this class, the students were able to express emotions they would not normally express. Through this, the students were able to find the true character and new aspects of their fellow students, forming intimacy, which led to a sense of belonging and connectedness.
Clinical Coding ; Cooperative Behavior ; Education ; Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; Grounded Theory ; Humans ; Joints ; Mass Screening ; Methods ; Motion Pictures as Topic ; Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical ; Students, Premedical

Team communication, teamwork, and interprofessional collaboration are critical and the basis for patient safety in a more diverse and complex clinical environment. This study explored the current status of teamwork, team communication, and interprofessionalism in the context of patient safety within undergraduate medical education. A scoping review of the literature published since 2010 was undertaken. Fifteen papers were included for final review. The most commonly used educational methods were off-line lectures and simulations. Standard team communication tools suggested in TeamSTEPPS (team strategies and tools to enhance performance patient safety) were covered in some of the research. Knowledge, skills, and teamwork attitudes, interprofessional collaboration, and/or patient safety were improved in most of the papers. In the previous studies of team communication, the content and method of education, and the change in knowledge and attitudes of the individuals have been widely reported, but more research is needed regarding the method of evaluating the teamwork itself. In addition, education on team communication as well as patient safety and interprofessionalism is lacking. As the importance of team communication in patient safety increases, more attention is needed on this topic in undergraduate medical education.
Cooperative Behavior ; Education ; Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; Humans ; Lectures ; Methods ; Patient Safety