Sixteen educators, about equally divided between Microbiologists and Immunologists, participated in the round table discussion. The participants focused on solutions to educationally related issues common to the group. The issues raised and solutions offered are discussed below. How do we impart to students the richness of Microbiology without teaching the “bug parade”? Implicit in that question is the issue of deciding which information is necessary for medical students to know. Several individuals offered ideas including: Requests from residents for additional microbiology lectures indicate clinically useful areas on which to focus How can we make our courses more interesting and interactive? A lively discussion followed this topic, with individuals sharing various techniques they use in classroom, discussion group and laboratory teaching. Suggestions included the use of topic-based discussion groups, case-based discussion groups, concept mapping, videos and animations and other strategies to enhance student learning. Interest was expressed by the participants, in developing a link on the IAMSE web site for sharing teaching strategies. The session leader will investigate this possibility. Are wet labs necessary in medical education? This question generated much discussion with apposing views expressed. The use of wet labs varied among the institutions represented. Some schools had extensive wet labs complete with identification of bacterial unknowns; other schools had no Microbiology laboratories. Many participants thought wet labs were valuable because they enabled students to interpret laboratory data and make better clinical decisions. Virtual labs were suggested as an alternative to wet labs. Virtual laboratories for Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases were developed by Paul Gulig and David Brumbaugh from the University of Florida School of Medicine, and can be viewed at : http://www.mgm.ufl.edu/~gulig/mmid/mmid-lab/index.htm **** **** **** |
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