When Phil Koehler completed his pediatrics rotation as a third-year student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the in-person clinical training wasn’t the only requirement. He also participated in online discussion boards with clinicians and other students and viewed computer-based simulations of different patient scenarios.
Both of these allowed him to get answers to questions he didn’t have a chance to ask during his clinical rotation, he says.
“There were a lot of times where I’m like, ‘I wish I could have sat down with the clinician, asked some questions, got some answers, see what their thoughts are on a certain topic,'” says Koehler, who is now in his fourth year, pursuing his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or D.O., degree. “So that was neat, and really expanded the learning environment there.”
[Learnhow to decide between an M.D. and a D.O.]
Students like Koehler are experiencing the growth of blended learning — classes presented partially online and partially in person — in medical education.
In what’s also referred to as the “flipped classroom” model, several U.S. medical schools are requiring students to watch videos and complete online activities prior to class, and then spend face-to-face time on discussion and analysis, rather than passive forms of learning such as taking notes during lectures. Schools like the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine even integrate blended learning into the clinical rotation phase of medical education.
At some medical schools, elements of blended learning might have existed in the past, but many are now working to formally integrate them into their curricula, though to varying extents, experts say. Prospective students interested in medical school can determine whether blended learning is right for them by speaking to other students, contacting faculty or researching programs online.
In medicine, a field requiring constant patient-doctor interaction, it isn’t likely that classes will go completely online in the future, but there’s still room for parts of learning to move into the digital space, says Erik Langenau, chief academic technology officer at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“I think there’s a lack of leadership in terms of bringing online and blended learning into medical education, so I think that’s changing,” Langenau says. “And that’s changing pretty quickly.”
[Discoverhow online education differs in various graduate school disciplines.]
Starting last fall, Harvard Medical School reformed its curriculum to better integrate interactive learning into classes, starting with first-year students, says Randall King, a Harvard Medical School professor of cell biology.
For many 80-minute class sessions, students complete a few hours ‘ worth of studying online, King says. Then, during class, professors focus on having students demonstrate their understanding of the material by presenting them with different questions or clinical cases related to what they watched.
“The first stage of basic knowledge acquisition is happening independently,” King says. A professor’s time in this kind of flipped classroom, he says, is best spent working with students to “apply, interpret, consolidate material.”
In some courses at the University of Miami’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, students — primarily those in their first two years — watch videos and answer assessment questions online, so faculty can tailor in-class sessions to areas where students might be struggling, says Alex J. Mechaber, the school’s senior associate dean for undergraduate medical education.
In addition, a blended approach to teaching medicine generally increases student engagement, says Charles Prober, senior associate dean for medical education at the School of Medicine at Stanford University, where some classes also incorporate the flipped classroom model.
“When they come to the interactive sessions, all they need to bring is an open mind,” says Prober. “And then in the session, it’s carrying on a conversation and thinking together as a group.”
At some medical schools such as the Yale University School of Medicine, blended learning is incorporated into clerkships in addition to lectures.
“Sometimes, just seeing a skill and having it explained to them on video really gives the students a greater confidence in what they’re doing when they actually have to do it themselves,” says Michael Schwartz, associate dean for curriculum at Yale’s medical school.
[Avoidcommon mistakes as a first-year medical student.]
While it has its benefits, blended learning can present challenges for faculty, especially as they must step out of their comfort zones and spend considerable time and effort redesigning courses and developing new teaching methods.
“There’s ‘this is how I’ve always taught, it’s worked just fine; there’s no reason to change anything.’ You get some of that,” says David Green, senior instructional designer at the University of Miami’s medical school.
For medical students, taking greater ownership of learning is also a big change, experts say — something that prospective students should keep in mind when deciding whether blended learning is right for them.
“Students need to determine what the best learning strategy for them is, if they know,” says Prober, of Stanford, “and try to match themselves into a school that plays into that learning strategy.”
Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankings of Best Medical Schools.
More from U.S. News
How to Decide Between an M.D. and a D.O.
Avoid 4 Medical School Admissions Myths
Choose the Right Undergraduate Major for Medical School
Blended Learning Options Rise at Medical Schools originally appeared on usnews.com
