Flipped classroom versus traditional teaching methods within musculoskeletal physical therapy: a case report

A Comparative Analysis of Physical Therapy Anatomical Knowledge and Retention: Human Donor Dissection Versus Virtual Laboratory

INTRODUCTION

Despite a long history of using human donor dissection (HDD) for physical therapy (PT) anatomy education, there are no PT guidelines that require HDD. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine if Doctor of Physical Therapy students who used HDD had different grades both within anatomy and within courses that require retention and application of anatomical knowledge (kinesiology and a foundational musculoskeletal course) compared with those who used virtual 3-dimensional anatomical software (VAS).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Numerous factors affect the decision to use HDD within PT anatomy, and few PT studies have compared the effectiveness of VAS to HDD.

SUBJECTS

All students who took anatomy in an entry-level PT program from 2018 to 2021 (232 total students, 115 who used HDD in 2018-2019 and 117 who used VAS in 2020-2021).

METHODS

Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare anatomy grades (course, written examination, and practical examination) and future grades in kinesiology and a foundational musculoskeletal course for students who used HDD or VAS.

RESULTS

Physical therapy students who used VAS had statistically significant higher anatomy course grades (VAS 93.81% ± 4.99% to HDD 92.20% ± 4.53%) and higher practical examination grades (VAS 97.43% ± 2.91% to HDD 93.55% ± 4.39%) compared with those who used HDD. However, there were no significant differences between groups on written anatomy examinations (VAS 89.42% ± 7.21% to HDD 90.40% ± 4.94%), kinesiology grades (VAS 91.86% ± 4.52% to HDD 92.80% ± 4.27%), or foundational musculoskeletal grades (VAS 89.50% ± 3.89% to HDD 89.77% ± 3.83%).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The causal-comparative study design prevents concluding that PT student grade differences were due exclusively to either anatomy laboratory method. It does provide preliminary evidence that the PT anatomy laboratory method did not practically affect anatomy performance or long-term application of anatomy knowledge in future coursework.

Effects of six teaching strategies on medical students: protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Mounting evidence has suggested that novel teaching strategies have a positive impact on the quality and efficiency of medical education. However, the comprehensive evidence about the superiority among various strategies is not clear. To address this issue, we aim to conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate the effects of six main strategies on medical education, including case-based learning, problem-based learning, team-based learning, flipped classrooms, simulation-based education and bridge-in, objective, preassessment, participatory learning, postassessment and summary.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A systematic search will be conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library, covering studies published from database inception to November 2023. Randomised controlled trials which evaluated the different teaching methods and meet the eligibility criteria will be included. The effectiveness of medical students' learning, which is evaluated by theoretical test score, experimental or practical test score, will be analysed as the primary outcomes. Besides, the secondary outcomes consist of learning satisfaction of students and formative evaluation score. The study selection and data extraction will be independently performed by two authors. The risk of bias in each study will be assessed using V.2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised controlled trials. To compare the effects of six teaching strategies, pairwise meta-analysis and NMA will be performed using Rev Man, STATA and R software. Statistical analyses including homogeneity tests, sensitivity analysis, consistency tests, subgroup analysis, Egger's test and publication bias will also be completed.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

No formal research ethics approval is required because this study is a meta-analysis based on published studies. The results will be disseminated to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.

PROTOCOL REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42023456050.

Simulation-based holistic education in physiotherapy interns to increase empathy toward older adults and individuals with disabilities

Background

The proportion of older adults and individuals with disabilities in the general population increases each year. Thus, clinical clerkships designed for physiotherapy interns should provide more than simply knowledge and skills. For such interns to be able to handle the requirements of their future jobs, clerkships must enable them to develop empathy and positive attitudes toward patients. This study investigated the effect of simulation-based, holistic health-care education on physiotherapy interns’ empathy, attitudes, and knowledge. 

Methods

A parallel-group design. Thirty physiotherapy interns from a medical institution were enrolled as participants, with experimental and control groups each comprising 15 participants. Both groups received standard clinical training. However, the experimental group received an additional 3.5 h of simulation-based holistic health-care education. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale, the Attitudes Towards the Elderly Scale, the Knowledge About Aging Scale, Knowledge of the Situation of Older People Scale, Perceptions of Working with Older People Scale, and Care Willingness Scale were used in a pretest and posttest.

Results

After the intervention period, we observed substantial between-group differences of 6.4 points on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (p = 0.001), 7.7 points on Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (p = 0.002), 3.5 points on the Attitudes Toward the Elderly Scale (p = 0.002), 2.5 points on Knowledge About Aging (p = 0.055), 4.5 points on the Knowledge of the Situation of Older People Scale (p < 0.001), and 2.1 points on Perceptions of Working with Older People Scale (p = 0.046).

Conclusion

Simulation-based, holistic health-care education can significantly improve the empathy, knowledge, and attitudes of physiotherapy interns.

Training Public Health Professionals to Tackle Women, Children, and Families Health Issues: A "Skill-Based Qualitative Learning Approach"

Purpose: There are several teaching and learning approaches but finding the one that is appropriate for a particular field or training program is an arduous task. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the “Skill Based Qualitative Learning Approach” (SBQLA) in training health professionals.

Description: The SBQLA is a pedagogical approach via which learners are trained in developing qualitative questionnaires and interview skills to learn from experts in the Public Health (PH) field. This teaching approach arms students with interview skills that help them identify and address PH roadblocks and get them authentic information from experts. It also equips them with techniques on how to do formalized presentations and come up with projects and interventions that help mitigate and eliminate drivers of health problems among women, children and families.

Assessment: Learners' field experiences are shared in a professional presentation style in a class to help trainees benefit from each other's information and to get formalized feedback on their presentation. Assessment in this learning approach is based on a synthesis and an analysis of data collected from professionals.

Conclusion: Findings from this learning approach enables experts to shed light on true stories shared by real and authentic individuals whose faces can be associated with their shared experiences. This learning approach makes it possible for trainees to also initiate projects that help them tackle existing and emerging public health issues in their future work.