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Trends in Teaching Laboratory Medicine in Microbiology to Undergraduate Medical Students: A Survey Study

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Abstract

The teaching laboratory has long been a component of medical microbiology courses. Limited data suggest that many medical schools have eliminated their teaching laboratory for diagnostic microbiology despite support for active learning over didactic lectures and a concern that undergraduate medical student’s education in the area of laboratory medicine is inadequate. A survey study of North American medical schools was conducted to determine if there is a trend towards decreasing or eliminating this teaching laboratory. The study also documented reasons for changes to this teaching laboratory, curricular content of existing microbiology teaching laboratories, and use of computer-assisted instruction. There was a 53 % response rate to the survey. Forty-three percent of medical schools decreased the hours or eliminated the teaching laboratory in diagnostic microbiology entirely between 2002 and 2012, and an additional 7 % of schools have plans to decrease hours or eliminate this teaching laboratory. Changes to the teaching laboratory were most often due to limited resources, reduced teaching hours, and overarching curricular changes. Because the way in which medical students are taught laboratory medicine in microbiology is undergoing a significant change, educators need to ensure that the learning experience is sufficient, and the quality is not compromised as a result.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Jorge Benach for his assistance in enrolling participants in the survey, the course/content directors who participated in the survey, and Drs. Elza Mylona and Peter C. Williams for providing feedback during the development of the project.

Notes on Contributors

Janet C. Hearing, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Stony Brook University. Wei-Hsin Lu, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine at Stony Brook University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Life Sciences 130, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5222, USA

    Janet C. Hearing

  2. Department of Preventative Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Health Sciences Center L4-086, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-8036, USA

    Wei-Hsin Lu

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  1. Janet C. Hearing
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  2. Wei-Hsin Lu
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Correspondence to Janet C. Hearing.

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Hearing, J.C., Lu, WH. Trends in Teaching Laboratory Medicine in Microbiology to Undergraduate Medical Students: A Survey Study. Med.Sci.Educ. 24, 117–123 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-014-0015-4

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