Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes for Third-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Abstract Introduction This resource is a team-based learning (TBL) module on the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The goal is for students to be able to assess and formulate a plan of action for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. More specifically, each student should be able to define goals of glycemic control as appropriate for a given scenario, be familiar with the different classes of hypoglycemic therapies, and choose a specific therapeutic plan. Methods Included are a student presession document, a readiness assurance test, a group application exercise, and an instructor guide. The session lasts for 1.5 hours. The group of students divides into six teams of six to seven students each. This case was designed to be used in a standard TBL format, which consists of repeating sequences of three phases. Phase 1 is the individual preclass preparation of the contents to be later discussed in class; phase 2 is the individual readiness assurance testing that assesses the knowledge acquired by students in phase 1 and also includes group readiness tests, discussion with the instructor, and appeals; phase 3 involves a higher level of learning: applying course concepts using small-group assignments. Results Evaluation of this resource showed that medical students were highly satisfied with the course and the teaching approach and that their performance on prescription writing and formulary development improved. Discussion We originally asked teams to report their prescriptions orally, but the process was not very efficient. So, we shifted to simultaneous reporting on charts on the wall. The reading material is time sensitive; thus, one needs to regularly update it and, accordingly, update the test answers.

Keywords

• Therapeutics
• TBL
• Team-Based Learning
• Diabetes Mellitus