IMPACT OF CASE BASED DISCUSSION AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL ON THE ANNUAL EXAMINATION RESULTS IN OPHTHALMOLOGY FOR FOURTH YEAR UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS

Case Based Discussion

Abstract

Objective: Determine the effectiveness of case-based discussion (CbD) in terms of annual professional
ophthalmology examination performances (scores) at undergraduate level involving students.
Study Design: Quasi experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study: FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry for under graduate 4th year MBBS class in
Ophthalmology (13 months‟ duration), from Dec 2013 to Dec 2014.
Material and Methods: After approval from the IRB, scores of the historical control group, consisting of all
4th year MBBS students from previous four years included (64, 89, 96 and 85 respectively) were collected, who
underwent traditional teaching. A total of 113 students were enrolled using non-probability convenience
sampling technique in the interventional group of the study, who were exposed to CbD. Their scores in the
annual university examination were collected in the subject of ophthalmology. The data was analyzed for its
normalcy and Mann Whitney test was applied for comparison. Scores of both groups were correlated using
pearson‟s coefficient of correlation to determine similarity of constructs measured through traditional assessment
method and CbD.
Results: There was statistically insignificant difference (p-value 0.087) between scores obtained by historical
controls and those who received intervention (CbD). There was insignificant negative correlation in (-0.028)
between scores obtained through traditional assessment and CbD.
Conclusion: CbD fosters higher order thinking among undergraduate students in Ophthalmology. However,
traditional assessment methods do not measure constructs that should be evaluated among undergraduate
students, urging formal evaluation of the assessment items for further improvement.