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. 2021 Jun 16;31(4):1279-1282.
doi: 10.1007/s40670-021-01326-7. eCollection 2021 Aug.

PRIME Immunology: Self-directed Introduction to Medical School Immunology

Alessandra G Tomasi  1   2 , Thomas Belhorn  3 , Frank C Church  4
Affiliations

PRIME Immunology: Self-directed Introduction to Medical School Immunology

Alessandra G Tomasi et al. Med Sci Educ. .

Abstract

Introduction: Medical students find immunology difficult to understand and relate to clinically and are often frustrated by the amount of detailed material. We created PRIME Immunology: Preview or Review of Important Material for Everyone: (i) video modules, (ii) Instagram site, and (iii) vocabulary files called Immunology Language.

Methods: The self-paced modules introduced key topics in immunology for students to complete prior to their instructional block.

Results and conclusions: Use of PRIME Immunology during a 3-year period suggested that providing students with an overview of key topics before the start of their course may (i) reduce student angst about immunology and (ii) improve retention of immunology.

Keywords: Complement; Immunology; Innate and adaptive immunity; Online learning; Self-paced learning.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Components of PRIME Immunology. A brief description of the PRIME Immunology curriculum that consists of self-paced videos, Instagram site, and vocabulary files
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Assessment of the PRIME Immunology curriculum. A Student reported efficacy of PRIME Immunology curriculum. When asked to rate their satisfaction with the modules on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = “not at all effective,” 5 = “extremely effective”), 20% of students (n = 24) provided a score of 5, 45% (n = 55) a score of 4, 28% (n = 35) a score of 3, and 6% (n = 8) a score of 2. 1% of students (n = 2) did not find the modules to be effective at all. B Immunology block mean final grade (MFG) by year. Mean final grades for medical students were compared from 2015 to 2019. There was no statistically significant difference among the 5 years, and therefore, no difference in overall class performance before (2015–2016) and after (2017–2019) the introduction of PRIME Immunology. C Cumulative distribution of immunology block mean final grade (MFG) by year. Before PRIME (2015–2016, “Before”), four students did not receive a passing score (defined as ≥ 70%) for the immunology instructional block, whereas using PRIME Immunology (2017–2019, “After”), no students received a failing grade
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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