MedEdPORTAL (Jun 2013)
Mrs. Wrubel's Wobbly Gait
Abstract
Abstract Introduction This is a problem-based-learning (PBL) tutorial teaching case regarding the extremities intended for first-year medical school human gross anatomy students during the course of anatomical dissection and discussion sessions. The resource begins as a case with a patient in need of a total knee arthroplasty and ends with brain injury and end-of-life issues. Thus, the focus of this case includes anatomy of the lower extremity and knee, and to a lesser extent, anatomy of the brain. This case can also be used for second-, third-, and fourth-year medical students as well as residents because of its clinical content. Methods The case is divided into three, 2-hour sessions during the same week, wherein information is handed out and discussed by the group and where learning issues, hypotheses, and tests are generated. Images are accessed for discussion, wherever indicated within the case and prior to discussion of subsequent pages. The tutor may verbalize the guiding questions located in the included Tutor Guide to assist the PBL group in the process of the case. Sessions two and three begin with a discussion of knowledge obtained via research of learning issues from prior sessions, and a sharing of knowledge and resource materials. The case ends with students being supplied with case objectives/vocabulary terms. Results This case was reviewed for appropriate clinical and basic science content by two physicians and by the senior director of the Zimmer Institute with respect to content on procedures, hardware, training, and patient care. This case was also pilot tested on 26 medical students who were divided into four PBL groups and led by four faculty members. Students and faculty were highly satisfied with the case, and students suggested several guiding questions as well as a few learning issues and objectives that were not in our initial draft of this manuscript. These suggestions were integrated into subsequent drafts formulating the text of the manuscript presently submitted. Discussion On successful completion of this resource, each participant will be able to answer the case's objectives, guiding questions, and have mastered the vocabulary. The ultimate goal is not diagnosis, but the understanding and application of basic sciences (human gross anatomy, histology, embryology and radiology, as well as pathology and some pharmacology) to an actual clinical case designed to reinforce material learned in laboratory and discussion sessions.
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