What happens to misunderstandings of biomedical concepts across a medical curriculum?

Research on the extent and nature of commonly misunderstood fundamental biomedical concepts across a medical curriculum is scarce. These misunderstandings could point toward robust misconceptions. We examined first whether common persist throughout curriculum, followed by fine-grained analysis to identify their nature. designed administered 2-tier test 987 students our with 8 questions covering respiratory cardiovascular systems, cell division, homeostatic processes. Proportions incorrect responses were computed. Four where persisted further qualitatively analyzed. A one-way ANOVA showed proportion decreased significantly students’ academic year [ F(6, 986) = 96.05, P < 0.001]. While novices end-of -first-year similar ( > 0.05), between years second 0.001). Thereafter, remained stable from final ∼35% responses. Five no decrease years, two performed marginally better than novices. Chi-square analysis, Bonferroni post hoc test, certain appeared frequently curriculum. The qualitative open-ended yielded 15 categories in all training. If educators become aware concepts, preventative measures be taken prevent