About the association of different methods of learning in the training of medical students in a Pathology Lab

Every year, we receive in our Department of Pathology 7 groups of medical students in the third year of medical study who try to achieve the educational targets specified in their portofolios. In our department, we use many educational methods varying from traditional to new pedagological ones based on the reflexive view. We targeted to evaluate the efficacy of associating different learning methods in order to achieve the different educational targets. We performed a questionary-based study. The questionary in represented in Table 1 and is fulfilled by the students the last day of their training. The questionary contained 10 questions with 8 rating questions and 2 open ones. A descriptive analysis was performed. The repartition of answers was calculated in numbers for rating questions. Open questions were analyzed using a qualitative method. We anaylsed the pedagological method according to 2 criteria, their educational impact and their acceptability. This study is about 14 students in the third year of medical studies who pursued their training during the period from January 2013 to March 2014. We based our results on 2 criteria: the educational impact of the pedagological means and their acceptibility. Five students prefered the e-portfolio as a pedagological mean and 9 patients prefered the session of clinical reflection and asked for more sessions. All the students encountered difficulties in fulfilling the items of the e-portfolio despite of the explications of the tutor. All the students appreciated the traditional pedagological means. Only 6 students used individually the e-portfolio. The other students used the e-portfolio with the tutor. All the students appreciated the session of clinical reflection and the resolution of problems. All the students understood the methodology of the e-portfolio but only 10% were able to explain it clearly. Six students justified their lack of motivation by the dichotomy caused by the training in the Department and the courses attended in the university. In conclusion, even if we included small number of students, our results highlight the utility of associating different tools of learning in order to increase the reflective potential of the students, to maintain their motivation and to achieve the different educational objectives especially in a based science speciality like the pathology.