Applying the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle in medical education to refine an antibiotics therapy active learning session

BMC Medical Education

Andrew Caruso¹  Richard Hamill²  Stacey Rose²  Nital P. Appelbaum³ 

[1] Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Suite M220.15, 77030, Houston, TX, USA;Division of Evaluation, Assessment, Research, Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;

关键词: Active learning;    Antibiotics therapy;    Medical education;    Quality improvement;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-021-02886-3

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundActive learning improves learner engagement and knowledge retention. The application of continuous quality improvement methodologies, such as the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework, may be useful for optimizing medical education, including active learning sessions. We aimed to enhance student satisfaction and achievement of learning outcomes by applying the PDSA framework to an antibiotic utilization curriculum for medical students.MethodsGuided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework, between February 2017 and July 2019, we developed, implemented, and revised an active learning session for medical students, focused on appropriate utilization of antibiotics during their Internal Medicine clerkship.ResultsAcross twelve sessions, 367 students (83.4%) completed the post-evaluation survey. Although baseline ratings were high (97% of respondents enjoyed the “active learning” format), constructive comments informed iterative improvements to the session, such as modifying session timing, handouts and organization of the gaming component. Intervention 3, the last improvement cycle, resulted in more favorable ratings for the active learning format (p = 0.015) improvement in understanding antibiotics and their clinical application (p = 0.001) compared to Baseline ratings.ConclusionsThis intervention suggests that active learning, with regular incorporation of student feedback vis-à-vis a PDSA cycle, was effective in achieving high student engagement in an Internal Medicine core clerkship session on antibiotic therapy. Iterative interventions based on student feedback, such as providing an antibiotic reference table and answer choices for each case, further improved student receptivity and perceived educational value. The study findings have potential implications for medical education and suggest that the application of the PDSA cycle can optimize active learning pedagogies and outcomes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY