Effectiveness of interactive case-based learning in medical microbiology

Introduction: In Indian medical schools, most of the undergraduate teaching is mainly theoretical and mostly teacher centric, though now it is slowly changing to learner centric. In Microbiology, the second year medical students are taught “organism based” instead of “infection based”. Interactive Case-based learning (CBL) helps in better understanding of the basic concepts and helps in clinical correlation. Objective of the Study: To evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive case based learning methodology in teaching microbiology to undergraduate medical students. Methodology: The crossover interventional study was undertaken at government medical college, Palakkad. The second year MBBS students were briefed regarding the study and were divided into two groups (test and control group). The case-based learning modules were prepared after discussion with the department- faculty and clinician and then validated by renowned faculties from different medical colleges and implemented. Pre and post tests were conducted and the results analyzed using unpaired T test. Feedback from students and faculty too were obtained and analyzed. Results: The study showed that there was significant difference in the post test scores of students who were part of Case based learning methodology. The feedback analysis using the Likert scale also gave a positive feedback for the CBL sessions. Conclusion: The interactive case based learning helped the students to understand the basic microbiological concepts better. It also motivated the students and helped them in clinical correlation.