An Innovative Teaching Approach for the Clinical Assessments of Wounds
by Lowri Bowen
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Background
The cost of wound care and wound management in 2013 was estimated to be costing the NHS £5.1 billion.(1) Medical schools across the UK are on average providing only 4.9 hours of wound related teaching to their undergraduate medical students during their five year programmes. (2)
Aim
The aim of this study was to introduce an innovative approach to teaching the clinical assessment and diagnosis of wounds to fifth year medical students at the University of Bristol.
Method
Fifth year medical students based at Gloucestershire Academy were invited to take part in a ‘Diagnosis and Management of Wounds’ teaching session. Students were randomly assigned to the intervention group or control group. All students undertook a pre-assessment exam based upon the Bristol Clinical Data Exam to establish their baseline knowledge.
The intervention group were delivered additional teaching and were required to follow instructions to make wounds using modelling equipment provided. Following the teaching session both groups underwent further examination and were asked for qualitative feedback about the sessions.
Results
The intervention group showed an increased improvement between their pre and post assessment score of 30%, compared to only 17% in the control group. The intervention group also expressed improved self-confidence in their sport diagnosis and management of basic wounds when compared to the control group.
Conclusion
This interactive and innovative approach to teaching wounds to Undergraduate students has demonstrated an improvement in both the understanding and knowledge of wounds and an improvement in self-confidence. This study has taken a didactic teaching approach and made it more engaging and memorable for the students with beneficial results.
References
- Guest J, Ayoub N, McIlwraith T, Uchegbu I, Gerrish A, Weidlich D et al. Health Economic burden that Wounds Impose on the National Health Service in the UK. BMJ Open; 2015; Vol 5.
- Patel N, Granick M, Kankaris N, Giannoudis P, Wedin F, Rennekampff H. Comparision of wound education in medical school in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Eplasty: Jan 2008: vol 8.2,"