Using Hand Signs to Teach HIV Medications

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Pharmacology
• Active Learning Strategies

Background:

• Effective teaching strategies are crucial for complex subjects like antiretroviral medications.
• Nucleotide/nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) present a learning challenge due to their numerous nuances.
• Traditional learning methods may not fully engage students in memorizing drug classes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate an innovative active learning technique utilizing students' hands for NRTI education.
• To assess the impact of this kinesthetic approach on knowledge retention.
• To gauge student reception and perceived effectiveness of the hand-based method.

Main Methods:

• Students wrote NRTI names on their fingers and participated in hand-sign activities.
• Focus groups with 20 students were conducted one year post-intervention.
• Knowledge-based questions assessed retention, and qualitative feedback was gathered.

Main Results:

• Students averaged 64% correct answers on knowledge questions.
• 95% of students used hand gestures to recall information, showing a significant association with correct answers.
• 70% of participants identified the "hands-on" method as most effective.

Conclusions:

• The kinesthetic, hand-based learning strategy for NRTIs was positively received by students.
• This method shows promise for improving retention of complex medication information.
• Further research is recommended to explore its applicability across different disease states and drug classes.