MedEdPORTAL (Dec 2015)
Enteric Bacteria and Gastric Viruses Laboratory
Abstract
Abstract Introduction In the past, microbiology labs have been an integral component to the teaching of medical microbiology and infectious disease in the pre-clerkship years of medical school. Currently, with the nationwide restructuring of the curriculum, medical education is progressing towards modalities that deviate from the traditional laboratory experience. The purpose of the Enteric Bacteria and Gastric Viruses (EBVG) Laboratory exercise is to provide first-year students opportunities to learn about bacterial organisms and viruses known to cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. We have chosen a hybrid wet/dry microbiology laboratory approach that acknowledges the limitations of the traditional laboratory experience while preserving essential medical microbiology knowledge and skills conveyed in traditional microbiology laboratory sessions. Methods The EBGV lab is a clinical case-based lab exercise in which students have hands-on experiences with live cultures in the process of working clinical problems during a 2-hour lab experience. Students interpret biochemical tests and bacterial growth patterns on differential media and identify enteric viruses based on epidemiological data and images. We recommend that this lab be deployed as a hybrid wet/dry lab. Results The EBGV lab has been employed yearly since 2010 at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Student surveys and anecdotal comments have confirmed that this laboratory is very popular with students. Each year, student surveys show students believe that this is good way to learn the material and that they feel comfortable practicing their knowledge of the enteric pathogens in this context. The majority of students indicated they would like to see more of these microbiology labs. Discussion The purpose of this exercise is to provide first-year students opportunities to learn about bacterial organisms and viruses known to cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Some first-year students have not taken microbiology or a microbiology laboratory, and hands-on experience with bacterial cultures, differential and selective media, and biochemical tests is highly valuable. In the first implementation of microbiology laboratories at our institution, we used laminated pictures rather than live cultures and biochemical tests. Although this was reasonably effective, students reported struggling with what they were supposed to see in a two-dimensional image. This was particularly true for coagulase tube tests, catalase tests, and hemolytic reactions.
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