Photo Credit: Liudmila Chernetska
The following is a summary of “Learning by Clinical Reasoning versus Interactive Lecture: An Analytical and Experimental Study of Teaching Urological Emergencies,” published in the September 2024 issue of Urology by Ouanes et al.
This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Clinical Reasoning-Based Learning (CRBL) compared to interactive lectures (IL) in enhancing clinical reasoning and theoretical knowledge among medical students. The study was conducted from November 15, 2021, to May 7, 2022, and involved second-year medical students in the latter part of their curriculum.
Researchers focused on four urologic emergency scenarios—nephritic colic, macroscopic hematuria, acute scrotal pain, and urinary incontinence in men—each addressed through targeted teaching sessions. The experimental design included four groups of 14 students each, totaling 56 participants. Each student experienced one CRBL session and three IL sessions on different urology topics. Following the instruction, participants completed a 10-point evaluative test comprising multiple-choice questions and clinical scenarios. In total, 224 tests were administered.
The median score for CRBL sessions was significantly higher at 8/10 (range 4-10) compared to the IL sessions, which had a median score of 6/10 (range 3-10), with this difference being statistically significant (p < 0.001). These results suggest that CRBL sessions substantially outperformed ILs in improving clinical reasoning and theoretical knowledge of urologic emergencies. Consequently, incorporating CRBL methods into medical education may enhance the depth of understanding and application of clinical concepts in this domain.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009042952400788X
