“Involve Me and I Learn”: Active Learning in a Hybrid Medical Biochemistry First Year Course on an American-Style MD Program in the UAE
Date
2022-04Type
ArticleAuthor
O’Sullivan, Siobhán
Aparecida Campos, Luciana
Constantin Baltatu, Ovidiu
Metadata
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Perceived as a subject with abstract jargon, requiring extensive memorization of complex metabolic pathways, chemical
structures, and names, students lose sight of the signifcance of biochemistry on their MD journey (Afshar M, Han Z. Teaching and learning medical biochemistry: Perspectives from a student and an educator. Med Sci Educ. 2014;24:339–41.). A
disconnect between what is taught in the classroom and its application to clinical settings arises through over emphasis on
the need to pass board exams, documented to be a poor measure of core competencies. Employing active learning strategies
with meaningful activities with clinical applications, centered around the curriculum, cognitively engages students and is a
deviation from the didactic way in which biochemistry is traditionally taught.