Opinion of undergraduate medical students of North Karnataka on case based learning for teaching Medical Microbiology

The present study was undertaken to observe the student's opinion regarding the case based learning for teaching medical microbiology. The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Bidar Institute of Medical sciences, Bidar, North Karnataka. 100 second, year MBBS students were included in the study. Students were exposed to case based lecture (topic-H.Pylori). After the Case based learning (CBL), the opinion of students was taken by using self administered questionnaire with 5 point likert scale. In the present study most of the student's preferred case based learning. We recommend including CBL as a part and parcel of medical microbiology curriculum for better understanding of subject and for practical applications.


INTRODUCTION
Didactic lecture (DL) is the most common teaching method used in India to teach Medical students. It totally depends on teaching skill of the teacher and sometimes may fail to motivate all students as it may not involve the students actively. [1] Case-based learning (CBL) is a long established pedagogical method, which is defined in a number of ways depending on the discipline and type of 'case' employed.
[2] In contrast Case based learning makes the student to involve actively and helps to improve learning skills of student. [3] In case based learning students will be divided into groups and cases will be presented to them which they should solve with discussing with their group. Here role of teacher is only to coordinate and facilitate only. However to implement this system to large size class room may be difficult as we need more teachers. [4] In medicine, Microbiology has its own importance as the student learn here about different types of microbes and their effects on body so that in future he can correlate the signs and symptoms of the disease with the type of microbe and can offer effective treatment. So it is very essential to train students from undergraduate level by using case based learning.
The present study was undertaken to observe the student's opinion regarding the case based learning for teaching medical microbiology.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was approved by Institutional Ethics Committee. A written, informed consent was obtained from all the participants. The study was performed in accordance with the "Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Participants, 2006" by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Declaration of Helsinki, 2008.

Study Design
The present study was a cross-sectional study

Participants, Inclusion and exclusion criteria
The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Bidar Institute of Medical sciences, Bidar. 100 second year MBBS students were included in this study. The study was approved by institutional ethical committee and free, voluntary, written informed consent was taken from all the students prior to the study. Students who are regular to the classes and willing were included in the study.

Inclusion criteria
Students of both sex and age group between 18-24.

Exclusion criteria
Unwilling students. Students were exposed to case based lecture (topic-H.Pylori) comprising presentation of the case for 10 minutes and faculty and student interaction to explain the case for 5 minutes followed by teaching basic microbiology related to case for 30 minutes and discussion to resolve case for 10 minutes. After the CBL the opinion of students were taken by using self administered questionnaire with 5 point likert scale. [4] 5=Strongly agree;4=Agree;3=neutral; 2=Disagree;1=Strongly disagree

Data analysis
Data was analyzed by using 20.0. Values are expressed in percentages.

RESULTS
Results were presented in table no 1. In the present study most of the students preferred case based learning.

DISCUSSION
Case based learning is a new approach to teach medical sciences effectively. [5] It was reported that students enjoy CBL and think that it enhances their learning. Teachers enjoy CBL, partly because it engages, and is perceived to motivate, students.
[2] previous studies reported that Significantly better acadenic performance was observed after didactic teaching. However, the students' feedback indicated that case-based teaching could be used as an alternative to lectures and may facilitate skills acquisition, which is considered to be important in professional problem-solving during nursing care. [5] Praveen R