ChatGPT-Based Learning: Generative Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education

Large language models like ChatGPT are a type of machine learning model that can offer a positive paradigm shift in case-based/problem-based learning (CBL/PBL). ChatGPT may be able to augment the existing paradigm to work in conjunction with the clinical-teacher in PBL/CBL case generation. It can develop realistic patient cases that could be revised by clinical teachers to ensure accuracy and relevance. Further, it can be directed to include specific case content in order to facilitate the constructive alignment of the case with the broader learning objectives of the curriculum. There is also the possibility of improving engagement by 'gamifying' CBL/PBL.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-023-01934-5.

Faculty-or senior resident-led SNAPPS for postgraduate teaching in pediatrics

This was an educational intervention on postgraduates using SNAPPS (Summarize narrow, analyze, probe, plan, self-directed learning) showing comparable median (interquartile range) satisfaction scores with faculty or senior residents as 4 (3,5) and 4 (4, 4.25); respectively, P = 0.79. Further training of senior residents in medical education will enable them to participate efficiently and actively in postgraduate teaching.

Zooming into the COVID Era Together

The pre-clinical medical school curriculum provides students with extraordinary experiences in preparation to become physicians. However, it was not originally designed to be delivered remotely. The COVID-19 pandemic promptly threw the medical education process into unforeseen circumstances. A model of student-faculty collaboration created to address new challenges and implement practical solutions rapidly is presented. This model was used effectively to respond to pre-clinical educational interruptions that were imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain high-quality training. Our experience provides valuable insights and lessons learned that can be applied to the ongoing pandemic response and to future educational challenges.

A pilot study on case-based learning (CBL) in medical microbiology; students perspective

Background

Traditional teaching of medical microbiology has revolved around an organism centric, didactic lecture approach, lacking clinical relevance and appeal. Studies have shown that case-based learning in comparison to didactic lectures leads to a greater comprehension and understanding of the subject. To conduct a pilot study in our medical. College for the current MBBS batch (2019) (following the old pattern of syllabus), on student perceptions on case based learning (CBL) before the new Competency based undergraduate curriculum is rolled out for 2021 batch coming to second year of MBBS.

Methods

This pilot study was conducted at a medical college. The study was designed as an observational study on educational research and was approved by the institutional ethical committee (IEC). Study participants were second MBBS students willing to participate in the study (n = 60). Four topics were chosen to be taught as casebased scenarios as per the new CBME syllabus. Six weeks after the first CBL session was conducted, a survey questionnaire was given to the students to share their perceptions anonymously. The questionnaire had questions framed to assess the students' perception about CBL. The evaluation was done on a 5-point Likert. The responses collected were compiled in Microsoft excel sheet and the data was analysed statistically. Faculty perspective was also gathered.

Results

Majority of the students perceived CBL positively. There was a shift in the student's perspective towards the subject of microbiology, from being perceived earlier as theoretical and non-clinical to being perceived as appealing and clinically relevant.

Case-Based Learning as an Effective Tool in Teaching Pharmacology to Undergraduate Medical Students in a Large Group Setting

BACKGROUND

The need for case-based learning in basic subjects is being recognized world over. Early clinical illustrations and actual clinical exposure enable students to associate basic science and real patient situations, probably increasing their retention of knowledge. The study was conducted to introduce an alternate method of teaching-learning in pharmacology in a large classroom setting to integrate pharmacology into clinical setting for better learning and understanding of the subject.

METHODS

Ninety-four students of second professional MBBS of a medical college in Punjab were divided into 2 groups and were taught a 2-hour topic in pharmacology using case-based learning (CBL) method and didactic lecture (DL) method using a crossover design. Their attendance and written test score at the end of teaching session were compared. Feedback from students and faculty was taken by prestructured questionnaires.

RESULTS

There was an increase in students' attendance (P = .008) in CBL sessions but insignificant difference in their performance (P = .98) in the tests. Most (84%) of the students felt that CBL is a better method of teaching-learning than traditional DL. The teaching faculty felt that the students looked more interested and were themselves more motivated for the newer method of teaching.

CONCLUSIONS

Case-based learning led to improvement in student motivation, satisfaction, and engagement. Most students and faculty accepted that CBL was an effective learning tool for pharmacology teaching in a large group setting and supported the incorporation of CBL into traditional DL teaching.

Are fishbowl activities effective for teaching pharmacotherapy and developing postformal thought in pharmacy students? A pilot study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Case based learning is a commonly used pedagogy to facilitate active learning and development of problem-solving skills, however its utility may be limited in a large lecture environment. Fishbowl activities have been utilized in higher education to encourage discussion and postformal thinking and may be useful in engaging large class sizes in collective problem-solving activities.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING

The fishbowl activity took place in a second-year six-credit hour infectious disease course delivered in the spring of 2017, consisting 95 students. A pre-post survey was administered via Google^® forms and consisted of demographic items (age, race, gender), students' self-reported level of preparation, perceived benefits of the activity, strengths and weakness of the fishbowl activity, and postformal thought using the Complex Postformal Thought (PFT) questionnaire.

FINDINGS

Aggregate mean postformal thinking score was 51.98 in the pre-survey and 56.26 in the post-survey (p < 0.05). A majority of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the activity helped them learn, was better than traditional lecture, and helped them prepare for material that would be on the exam.

DISCUSSION

Overall, this activity was generally well received by the students and may have positively impacted their postformal thinking. It appears that the fishbowl activity concept may transfer easily to pharmacy education and be an additional active learning tool for pharmacy educators based on these limited pilot results.

SUMMARY

Fishbowl activities may be a valuable educational tool for the development of postformal thinking skills in pharmacy students. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness and applicability of using this active learning approach in pharmacy education.

Media Matter: The Effect of Medium of Presentation on Student's Recognition of Histopathology

INTRODUCTION

Pathology teaching has undergone transformation with the introduction of virtual microscopy as a teaching and learning tool.

AIM

To assess if dental students can identify histopathology irrespective of the media of presentation and if the media affect student's oral pathology case based learning scores. The perception of students towards "hybrid" approach in teaching and learning histopathology in oral pathology was also assessed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A controlled experiment was conduc-ted on year 4 and year 5 dental student groups using a perfor-mance test and a questionnaire survey.

RESULTS

A response rate of 81% was noted for the performance test as well as the questionnaire survey. Results show a significant effect of media on performance of students with virtual microscopy bringing out the best performance across all student groups in case based learning scenarios. The order of preference for media was found to be virtual microscopy followed by photomicrographs and light microscopy. However, 94% of students still prefer the present hybrid system for teaching and learning of oral pathology.

CONCLUSION

The study shows that identification of histo-pathology by students is dependent on media and the type of media has a significant effect on the performance. Virtual microscopy is strongly perceived as a useful tool for learning which thus brings out the best performance, however; the hybrid approach still remains the most preferred approach for histopathology learning.

Integrated teaching program using case-based learning

Background:

At present, in a medical school, students are taught in different departments, subject-wise, without integration to interrelate or unify subjects and these results in compartmentalization of medical education, with no stress on case-based learning. Therefore, an effort was made to develop and adopt integrated teaching in order to have a better contextual knowledge among students.

Methodology and Implementation:

After the faculty orientation training, four “topic committees” with faculty members from different departments were constituted which decided and agreed on the content material to be taught, different methodologies to be used, along with the logical sequencing of the same for the purpose of implementation. Different teaching methodologies used, during the program, were didactic lectures, case stimulated sessions, clinical visits, laboratory work, and small group student's seminar.

Results:

After the implementation of program, the comparison between two batches as well as between topics taught with integrated learning program versus traditional method showed that students performed better in the topics, taught with integrated approach. Students rated “clinical visits” as very good methodology, followed by “case stimulated interactive sessions.” Students believed that they felt more actively involved, and their queries are better addressed with such interactive sessions.

Conclusion:

There is a very good perception of students toward integrated teaching. Students performed better if they are taught using this technique. Although majority of faculty found integrated teaching, as useful method of teaching, nevertheless extra work burden and interdepartmental coordination remained a challenging task.

Modified case based learning: Our experience with a new module for pharmacology undergraduate teaching

Objective:

The undergraduate teaching in pharmacology has always been a challenging task for medical teachers. Traditional lecture format is monotonous and a passive way of learning. There is a need to shift the educational focus from content centered to case based. In an effort to create interest and further improve the student learning, we have introduced simulated bedside teaching sessions as case based learning (CBL) module (modified CBL-[mCBL]) for 2^nd professional MBBS students.

Materials and Methods:

A case scenario of a clinical disease condition was prepared in consultation with a clinician. During the session, the case was presented along with discussion on the disease process, its management and rational drug use. Students were encouraged to participate actively. After the session, students were requested to fill the feedback questionnaire anonymously (both open-ended questions and responses on Likert scale).

Results:

According to the students, factors such as clinical orientation, interactivity and re-enforcement of important points helped them to learn better. Majority of the students (76.09%) found the sessions to be better than theory lectures and tutorials. The fact that the interactive component of departmental feedback (taken at the institutional level) has improved during the last 2 years could be attributed to the introduction of these sessions.

Conclusion:

mCBL (in the presence of departmental faculty and concerned clinician) is a good method of integrating pharmacology with clinical subjects. To make such sessions more reliable, the next planned step is to assess the knowledge gained by the students during such sessions in the future.

Case based learning: a method for better understanding of biochemistry in medical students

INTRODUCTION

Health professionals need to develop analytic and diagnostic thinking skills and not just a mere accumulation of large amount of facts. Hence, Case Based Learning (CBL) has been used in the medical curriculum for this reason, so that the students are exposed to the real medical problems, which helps them in develop analysing abilities. This also helps them in interpreting and solving the problems and in the course of doing this, they develop interest. In addition to didactic lectures, CBL was used as a learning method.

METHODS

This study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry, S.B.K.S.M.I and R.C, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth ,Piparia, Gujarat, India. A group of 100 students were selected and they were divided into two groups as the control group and the study group. A total of 50 students were introduced to case based learning, which formed the study group and 50 students who attended didactic lectures formed the control group.

RESULTS

A very significant improvement (p<0.0001) was observed among the students after the CBL sessions and they were also motivated by these sessions. A 4 point Likert scale questionnaire which contained 8 questions was administered to the students, to know their perception on the usefulness of the CBL. 98% of the students reported that they found the CBL sessions to be an interesting method of gaining knowledge. 84% of them felt that they exposed them to an experience of logical application of the knowledge which was gained in cracking cases, which would be of great help in the future also.

CONCLUSION

Case Based Learning (CBL) was used and it is effective in the medical curriculum for a better understanding of Biochemistry among the medical students.

Proposed model of case based learning for training undergraduate medical student in surgery

BACKGROUND

Systematic surveys of undergraduate medical education have cautiously supported the outcomes of Problem Based Learning (PBL) compared with traditional learning. This article provides a critical overview of PBL, its limitations in the developing country scenario and our proposed model of PBL triggered by Real cases, to address these limitations.

AIM

Our hypothesis was to see whether the proposed CBL model would work in Indian set up in comparison with traditional teaching

METHODS

We followed a modified Barrow's Model. A tutor selected a real case and created a problem scenario which was progressively disclosed to students, and learning issues were raised. In session 2 students presented self studied learning issues. The process was evaluated throughout with feedback from students and faculty.

RESULTS

We were successful in establishing CBL. Study group (n=57) students scored better in SAQ((short Answer question) and EMQ((extended matching question)) assessment, (Mean study 21.15+/- 4.0565, control 18.5357+/-3.8632, n=56, p value 0.01.) Students appreciated it as good learning activity STATISTICAL DESIGN: SAQ and EMQ, are compared in study vs. control groups by unpaired 't' test & also by equivalent non-parametric Mann-Whitney test

CONCLUSION

The training of doctors is too important an activity for bold experiments to be conducted without discovery what really happens. We had success in establishing Case based learning with faculty of almost all departments participating in the project as Resources. Although size of sample is small, CBL is found to be an effective modality of imparting medical education with effective integration of all departments.