A spaced-repetition approach to enhance medical student learning and engagement in medical pharmacology

Abstract

Background Pharmacology is a cornerstone of medical education as it underlies safe prescribing practices. However, medical students have reported unease regarding their perceived proficiency in medical pharmacology. Despite the significant impetus to improve student outcomes, there is little analysis available of the techniques used by medical students to learn, retain and apply medical pharmacology knowledge. Methods A mixed-methods, student-focused approach was conducted to design and evaluate specific resources developed to address gaps in pharmacology education. This methodology comprised an anonymised scoping survey, followed by semi-structured focus group interviews. We then developed a flashcard resource as an intervention to support long-term revision for academic and clinical success. This resource was released to a cohort of 100 graduate entry preclinical medical students who were invited at the end of year to evaluate the intervention via a subsequent anonymous survey. Results The scoping survey received 103 complete responses. Surveys and focus group interviews revealed that only 50% of students engage in ongoing revision. Amongst our cohort, we identified that the evidence-based technique of spaced-repetition was particularly well regarded. Hence, we developed and evaluated a bespoke resource utilising Anki™, an open-source, spaced-repetition flashcard program. A total of 1208 flashcards spanning 156 distinct classes of drugs with supplementary summary tables, diagrams and explanatory video and summary guides were created. Designed as a strategic revision tool to reinforce learning, evaluation showed students greatly appreciated the “comprehensive” and “well formatted” Anki™ resource that supported existing teaching modalities, with a global rating of 3.8 out of 5. Conclusions Strategic and personalised resources for medical pharmacology education that assist with in-semester revision and long-term retention are highly valued amongst students for examination preparation and preparedness for practice. Collectively, these results reflect a novel approach to identifying and addressing weaknesses in existing learning resources in a manner that is inclusive of, and acceptable to, medical students.

Exploring Anki Usage Among First-Year Medical Students During an Anatomy & Physiology Course: A Pilot Study

“…We believe that this amount of time may be necessary to maximize a medical students’ ability to retain information through spaced repetition and active recall. 8 Although we cannot speak to the complete spread of the resources used by heavy and intermediate Anki users, we can be sure that their utilization of at least one resource, namely Anki, was consistent during their time within the anatomy and physiology block. It can also be elucidated that students who elected to not use Anki at all had at least one fewer resource with which they studied.…”

A call for spaced repetition in medical education

“…Ideally, these flashcard decks would also highlight board-relevant content to dissuade learners from forgoing class material in favour of board preparation alone. Anki (apps.ankiweb.net) is an open-source, electronic flashcard program popular among students, 11 which uses spaced repetition to consolidate knowledge via virtual flashcard decks. At our institution, we found success in co-creating flashcard decks with Anki for our classes.…”

“…Anki (apps.ankiweb.net) is an open‐source, electronic flashcard program popular among students, 11 which uses spaced repetition to consolidate knowledge via virtual flashcard decks. At our institution, we found success in co‐creating flashcard decks with Anki for our classes.…”

Aplicación del método de repetición espaciada en el ámbito de la Ingeniería

“…En los últimos años se han publicado diversos trabajos en los que se utiliza la herramienta Anki, un software libre y de código abierto basado en el algoritmo SM2 (Anki). Además de ser un recurso muy apreciado en el estudio de idiomas extranjeros (Hanson & Brown, 2020), se ha utilizado para el aprendizaje de diversas disciplinas: desde contabilidad financiera (Chamorro et al, 2015) hasta cirugía ortopédica (Lambers & Talia, 2021), farmacología (Jape et al, 2022) y otras disciplinas médicas (Lu et al, 2021;Harris & Chiang, 2022).…”

“…En este trabajo se ha elegido la herramienta Anki por ser gratuita y de código abierto; por la diversidad en el tipo de preguntas posibles, permitiendo la elaboración de tarjetas tanto sencillas para el usuario no experto, como de diseño más complejo en html; por su versatilidad para trabajar en diferentes Manuel Bailera, Iván Bailera, Begoña Peña, Belén Zalba, Ignacio Zabalza y Sara Pascual 2022, Universitat Politècnica de València Congreso In-Red ( 2022) entornos (ordenador, dispositivos móviles), manteniendo los datos de usuario sincronizados; y por disponer de estadísticas completas y descargables para su posterior utilización en análisis docentes. Además se trata de una herramienta muy extendida, no sólo en el aprendizaje de idiomas, sino también en estudios universitarios (Chamorro et al, 2015;Lambers & Talia, 2021;Lu et al, 2021;Jape et al, 2022;Harris & Chiang, 2022).…”