Students' written reports as an essential part of a case-based learning programme in anatomy

This paper reports on second-year medical students' views and performance on the written reports for the cases that were studied in a case-based learning programme in anatomy at the University of Otago in 1988. The mean marks for the reports for the three main categories of student entry are presented. Differential performance on the written reports relative to the case-based component of the examination held at the end of the year has been determined for each student in the class and ranked in order. The proportions of students falling in the top and bottom quartiles for the class are given. The data taken together indicate that with an intensive programme of case-based learning in 1988, optimal performance in the written reports was reached at an early stage by the graduates whereas the two undergraduate categories improved their performance towards the end of the programme.