Patient-oriented Problem-solving: An Effective Educational Tool for Learning Immunology Mohan B S1,*, Nambiar Vinod2, Arvindkshan Rajeev3 1Department of Microbiology, Oman Medical College, Sohar, 2Department of Microbiology, Oman Medical College, Sohar, Sultanate of Oman 3Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India *Address for Correspondence: B. S. Mohan, Department of Microbiology, Oman Medical College, Sohar, Sultanate of Oman. E-mail: drmohan123@gmail.com
Online published on 10 December, 2018. Abstract Background Medical teaching requires innovative methods through which teachers can provide a student-centered learning environment that improves students’ learning through their active participation. The patient-oriented problem-solving (POPS) system is an active learning tool that permits students to work in small groups to solve clinical problem, promotes self-learning, enhances clinical reasoning, and enriches their knowledge, and long-term memory. The aim of the study was to implement POPS session in immunology course and assess the students’ perception of the effectiveness of POPS teaching in learning immunology. Methodology 121 students were divided into small groups of 10 each. The pre-test questions were given to assess their previous knowledge before the POPS activity. Post-test questions were given after the activity to check the effectiveness of POPS session in learning. A questionnaire was also given at the end of the activity to assess the students’ perception of POPS activity in learning. The data were collected, tabulated, and statistically analyzed. Results Significant improvement in the mean differences between pre-and post-test scores of the students, suggests the effectiveness of POPS teaching activity. A majority of the students (>80%) stated that POPS promotes self-learning, creates interest, enhances conceptualization, empowers critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Conclusion POPS activity is a good educational method to enhance the learning skills of the medical students. Top Keywords Active learning, clinical problem, immunology, patient-oriented problem-solving. Top |