Student-led development, delivery, and assessment of an integrated learning activity focusing on acute myocardial infarction

BackgroundOur school adopted a new curriculum in 2009 that uses integrated, active learning sessions to help students apply concepts learned in didactic lectures. Selected fourth-year pharmacy students have the opportunity to assist in these sessions. Objective: To describe the results of a fourth-year student research project that included the design, delivery, and evaluation of a new active learning session for first-year students. Material and Methods: Using criteria provided by faculty, the student developed a patient case–based activity integrating learning objectives from three first-year courses that related to myocardial infarctions. The activity was delivered to 128 students and then evaluated using a pre/post-test design to examine change in knowledge and an attitudinal survey to evaluate student perception of learning. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The pretest was completed by 127 students (99.2% response); the post-test and survey were completed by 124 students (96.6% response). Post-test scores reflected up to a 41.5% improvement in correct responses on individual questions; a paired t-test indicated that the average score was statistically significantly higher after the activity than that on the pretest (p < 0.01). Most students agreed that the activity contributed to their learning, was relevant to pharmacy practice, improved their confidence and ability to provide pharmaceutical care, and reinforced didactic lecture material. Conclusion: An integrated, active learning exercise developed and delivered by a fourth-year pharmacy student was successful for helping first-year students reinforce and integrate didactic content related to myocardial infarctions.