Efficacy of Case-Based Learning in Anatomy

Introduction In the present Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME), learning is more student-centered where the students take the responsibility for their learning. Anatomy is an important basic science that lays the foundation for clinical courses in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) curriculum. To make it interesting and clinically useful, several innovative teaching-learning methods like case-based learning (CBL) and problem-based learning (PBL) are introduced. The present study was taken up to know the effectiveness of CBL as a teaching-learning method in Anatomy in improving the knowledge and retention of acquired knowledge. Material and Methods This was an interventional cross-over study carried out at NFU Medical College and General Hospital, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Two hundred students studying in first-year MBBS were included in the study and divided into two batches. The batches - A and B - were exposed to CBL and didactic lecture, respectively, in the first month for Topic I, and then cross-over was done in the second month for Topic II. The knowledge of the students before and after the sessions was assessed by pre-session and post-session multiple-choice question (MCQ) tests. Knowledge retention was assessed by another MCQ test conducted four weeks after the post-session test. Results The average difference of the scores between pre-session and post-session tests in the CBL group for Topics I and 11 (4.01 +/- 1.17 and 3.8 +/- 1.6) are significantly more compared to the didactic lecture method (3.3 +/- 1.3 and 1.9 +/- 1.2). The average difference of the scores between the post-session tests and retention-tests in the CBL group (0.122 +/- 1.05 and 0.18 +/- 1.04) were further compared to the lecture method (0.016 +/- 0.95 and 0.09 +/- 0.8) for Topics I and II, respectively. There was a significant increase in the proportion of students with scores above 50% in the post-session test and retention test in the CBL group compared to the didactic lecture group. Conclusion Results from the pre-session tests, post-session tests, and retention tests for both the topics indicate that CBL as a teaching-learning method in Anatomy is a more effective method for improving and retention of knowledge.