Innovative SPLICE Modules Promote Critical Thinking Skills, Early Clinical Exposure, and Contextual Learning among First Professional Year Medical Students

Adv Physiol Educ. 2023 Nov 30. doi: 10.1152/advan.00211.2023. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTMedical Education is undergoing various transformations to promote a more personalized and contextual way of learning. In light of this, the innovative "SPLICE" modules were designed, implemented and evaluated for medical students in 1st professional year as a strategy for Early Clinical Exposure in a collaborative and self-directed way of learning. This is a mixed methods study involving first-year medical students. Students were divided randomly into the control and the intervention group. Six "SPLICE" modules were administered to the intervention while the control group followed the traditional curricula. The educational outcome was compared using an end-of-module assessment. Also, 13-item and 8-item questionnaire was administered to students to evaluate the SPLICE and plenary sessions on a 5-point Likert scale. Furthermore, students' feedback was obtained on a 10-point rating scale and in in-depth small-group interviews. The majority of students perceived that the SPLICE module improved their communication and encouraged meaningful, active learning. Students found the plenary sessions to be well-organized, with sufficient interaction with professionals. Students have also given us excellent scores for feedback on SPLICE modules, demonstrating the effectiveness of the innovation. In terms of test scores used in assessing learning outcomes, the intervention group outperformed the con...
Source: Advances in Physiology Education - Category: Physiology Authors: Source Type: research