Teaching non-clinical topics: lessons from a public health module for medical students

Abstract

BackgroundA new public health teaching for medical students in year four was introduced. This paper evaluates the planning and implementation of the first year of delivery. MethodsKern et al's six step approach to curriculum development was used as an evaluation framework:• Problem identification• Needs assessment• Goals and objectives • Educational strategies• Implementation • Evaluation and feedbackThe delivery of the programme was assessed by direct observation of teaching and the end of year teaching review meeting, plus data from student feedback questionnaires. ResultsProblem identification was based on student feedback and gap analysis of the medical school curriculum against the standards set out in the GMC's Outcomes for Graduates. The public health learning needs of the medical students were examined from the perspectives of the students, the medical school and the NHS. Goals and objectives were chosen using the Outcomes for Graduates set out by the GMC as a basis. The module used a mixture of face-to-face and online teaching using a range of pedagogic approaches. The teaching was very interactive throughout and emphasised the links between public health and clinical medicine. Students completed anonymous feedback questionnaires which were overwhelmingly positive. The student feedback, plus feedback from the student representative, was used to inform changes in the programme implemented the following academic year. ConclusionThis new public health module has successfully integrated into the clinical curriculum. Lessons learnt from the first year of implementation are transferable to the delivery of other non-clinical topics.Keywords: Public Health, Blended learning, Curriculum development, Behavioural and Social Science BackgroundPublic health is a small sub-specialty of medicine, making up fewer than two per cent of doctors on the UK's General Medical Council (GMC) specialist register (GMC, 2016). However, the core principles of public health are relevant to all doctors, and are an important part of the undergraduate medical curriculum (GMC, 2009). In Manchester Medical School, public health is taught in years one and two via small group work, topic specific lectures and Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) incorporated into the Problem Based Learning (PBL) cases. Previous to 2014 public health was not taught as part of the core curriculum beyond year two, but a limited number of students could access public health teaching by choosing optional attachments in years three or five. In September 2014 delivery public health in year four began consisting of two days of mandatory face-to-face teaching plus on-line resources. Recommendations for the delivery of public health teaching from the literatureThe medical education literature recommends that effective public health teaching should; be based on clear ILOs, be integrated with the clinical curriculum, be interactive, include exposure to public health specialist role models and be updated in response to feedback. Clear ILOs 1.Clear ILOs help stude...