INTEGRATED TEACHING: A NEW APPROACH IN MEDICAL TEACHING

INTRODUCTION: Today's medical education system aims at imbibing new teachinglearning methods so as to keep up with the requirements of and to match the international standards. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to compare integrated teaching with traditional lecture method for First MBBS students in our institution. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Out of 100 students 70 students participated in the study voluntarily. Two study groups each of 35 students were formed. Group I was exposed to integrated teaching and Group II to traditional lecture method. A test was conducted subsequently and the data was analyzed using students unpaired t test. Feedback questionnaire form was obtained from students and teachers. Evaluation of the face and content validity was performed by asking 15 students and 5 lecturers to evaluate the clarity and plenitude/ representativeness of the questions regarding the assessment. Evaluation of the construct validity of the questionnaire was performed by factor analysis. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Statistically significant difference in the marks was obtained and the integrated teaching was found to be more effective than the traditional lecture method. Teachers' and students' feedback was positive towards the integrated teaching method. Cronbach Alpha coefficient indicates a high consistency of the questions (Cronbach's a> 0.8). The questionnaire proved to be a valid and reliable instrument of needs of the present study. Thereby it was concluded that integrated teaching is a better method that needs to be implemented on a wider scale in medical education.