Rapid development of a digital module during the Covid 19 pandemic in undergraduate medical education of pediatrics by teachers and students

Evaluation of the National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives (NKLM 2.0) for undergraduate medical education at the Medical School Hannover

Background

The National Competence-Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) serves as the foundation for curricular development in undergraduate medical education in Germany. A new version of the NKLM was launched in 2021, and medical faculties are now evaluating the learning objectives (LOs). This paper describes the evaluation process used at Hannover Medical School.

Methods

The evaluation process was structured in three steps. LOs were rated as "keep", "modify" or "delete". First, the 1133 LOs were compared with the mapping of the Hannover curriculum from 2017. Then, a small team from the Curricular Development Department conducted a pre-evaluation of the 1133 LOs. Finally, a group of clinical experts and students discussed and agreed on the ratings.

Results

For 868 LOs, one or more counterparts were found in the mapping, but 265 new LOs were not found and thus, classified as new. In the first rating, 779 LOs were kept, 300 were modified (172 due to wording), 45 were deleted, and there was no rating for 9 LOs. The expert group changed 47 of the pre-evaluation decisions. The final rating was to keep 738 LOs, modify 356, and delete 39 LOs.

Conclusion

This method effectively evaluated the LOs from NKLM 2.0 while balancing expert knowledge and an overview of the curriculum.

Evaluation of a course for neonatal fellows on providing psychosocial support to NICU families

Objectives

Families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) experience significant psychological distress. Fellowship training requires education on mental health issues. No standardized program exists. We evaluated the impact of an online course, combining research with family perspectives, on neonatology fellow knowledge and self-efficacy when emotionally supporting NICU families.

Methods

Fellows from 20 programs completed a course covering: (1) Parent Mental Health, (2) Infant Mental Health, (3) Communication, and (4) Comprehensive Mental Health (e.g., discharge, bereavement) with pre- and post-course knowledge and self-efficacy assessments.

Results

Fellows (n=91) completed the course and assessments. Pre-course knowledge was similar by year of training (1^st: 66.9%; 2^nd: 67.2%; 3^rd: 67.4%). Mean knowledge and self-efficacy improved between pre- and post-course assessments regardless of training year or prior education for knowledge (d=1.2) (67.1% vs. 79.4%) and for self-efficacy (d=1.2) (4.7 vs 5.2 on 6-point Likert scale). Fellows who gained more knowledge had higher self-efficacy scores at post-test (r = .37).

Conclusions

Current neonatal fellowship training under-educates on mental health. An online course improved fellow knowledge and self-efficacy. Our course may be an exemplar for others creating similar curricula.

Innovation

An online course enriched by patient perspectives is an effective method of disseminating education around mental health.

One year of digital teaching in psychiatry as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Knowledge gain and content evaluation of medical students for two summer semesters in 2020 and 2021

After the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, digital teaching had to be implemented by most universities at short notice and widely replaced classroom teaching. As a consequence, digital teaching further reduced direct social interaction for students. One year after the introduction of digital teaching formats at our university medical center (department of psychiatry and psychotherapy), teaching evaluation of students from summer semesters 2020 and 2021 (SS20, SS21) were compared. The main objective of this study was to objectify whether students evaluate digital teaching less favorably after one year of its implementation. Ratings of 311 medical students on (1) knowledge gain, (2) teaching contents and (3) subjective advantages of digital teaching were analyzed for the two separate cohorts SS20 (n = 175) and SS21 (n = 136). Students also rated their pandemic-related stress level, and if learning progress had been reduced by the pandemic in general. Significant knowledge gain was achieved for all included domains in psychiatry (all p < .001), and did not differ between SS20/SS21. Teaching contents in SS21 were rated worse in six out of eight domains compared to SS20 (p < .001 to .05). Also, subjective advantages of digital teaching vanished in most domains comparing the cohorts of SS21 and SS20 (p < .001 to .05). No differences were found for pandemic-related stress level and subjective learning progress. Limitations include the post-hoc design, possible bias from individual exam grades, and sampling bias. The present study showed that knowledge gain can be considered to be stable one year after the pandemic-related implementation of digital teaching. However, sustainability of this teaching format should be monitored critically: The subject of psychiatry and psychotherapy thrives on direct communication, which can be compromised when using digital formats only. In this light, implementation of more interactive formats in digital teaching is discussed.

One academic year under COVID-19 conditions: two multicenter cross-sectional evaluation studies among medical students in Bavarian medical schools, Germany students' needs, difficulties, and concerns about digital teaching and learning

BACKGROUND

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has created a need for adaptation in many areas of life. This study explores medical students' perspectives on digital teaching under conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on expectations and concerns about digital teaching, the evaluation of specific aspects of teaching, and requests for future teaching.

METHODS

Six German faculties have joined forces within the Bavarian network for medical education to develop and deploy a common core questionnaire. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted at the end of the summer semester 2020 and winter semester 2020/21. Medical students from different semesters participated in the online survey. Data was analyzed descriptively and/or inferentially. Item differences across semesters were examined using contingency tables and Chi2 tests. Mean values were compared using the independent samples t-test; answer frequencies in retrospective and prospective concerns were compared using contingency tables and Chi2 tests with Yates' correction.

RESULTS

In the summer semester 2020, 1565 students and in winter semester 2020/21, 1727 students took part in the survey. Students' main prospective concern was lack of social exchange between fellow students (70%), but also with teachers. Second and third most often concerns were a lack of practical training (68%) and lack of integration of on-site digital teaching (50%). Approximately 7% of the students lacked sufficient access to technical equipment.. Approximately 39% of the students lacked a sufficient internet connection for synchronous digital teaching, 17% for asynchronous digital teaching. On-site teaching was the preferred form of teaching (60%), and there was a preference for asynchronous (24%) over synchronous (15%) digital teaching. Teaching recordings (79%) were particularly popular to complement future on-site teaching.

CONCLUSIONS

The following areas of education under COVID-19 conditions are highly important to medical students: adequacy of information sharing, integration of opportunities for exchange with fellow students and teachers, possibility to perform practical trainings. After the normalization of the pandemic situation, on-site teaching should be supplemented with blended learning concepts such as the inverted classroom model. Percentages of results are rounded averages from summer and winter semesters.