WRITING PROBLEM-BASED NEUROSCIENCE CASES: A COLLABORATIVE FACULTY-STUDENT APPROACH TO DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Brian S. Oommen*, Zachary Gordon, David Dean, Krishan Chandar, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, U.S.A.

Purpose

The Western Reserve₂ curriculum includes small group learning of basic neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. Eight to nine students and one facilitator meet three times a week to work through two problem-based learning (PBL) cases. Cases must drive in-depth learning and facilitate integration of material not covered in lectures or labs. Our team of two faculty and two medical students collaboratively wrote PBL neuroscience cases. This provided input from a 2^nd year student near the end of basic science instruction, a 4^th year student completing clinical rotations, and neuroscience faculty.

Methods

We selected topics to emphasize each week’s neuroscience theme. We first identified learning objectives and then wrote clinically-relevant PBL cases that include a clinical scenario, readings, radiographs, photographs, histopathology, videos, and faculty facilitator guides.

Results

We identified five topics for ten cases: Spinal Cord Disease, Motor Systems and Basal Ganglia diseases (e.g., Parkinsonism, motor neuron disease), Stroke, Headache, and Neuromuscular Junction diseases (e.g., myasthenia gravis). To date, our faculty-student team has written four cases and two are in draft.

Conclusion/Future Directions

The greatest challenge in developing PBL cases has been to design a learning experience that engages students hour to hour, day to day, and week to week. A focus on active learning has helped us select clinically relevant topics and learning objectives that facilitate basic science learning. The input of students in both the basic science and clinical years has helped to guide case writing. Ongoing review and beta testing of these cases will be crucial to their success.