Making Outbreak Investigations Real to Learners

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Hands-on outbreak investigation training is crucial, especially given frequent outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Traditional methods may not adequately prepare medical students for real-world public health challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a combined experiential, competency-based, and team-based learning activity for teaching outbreak investigations.
• To evaluate the competencies gained by first-year medical students (M1) and their perceptions of the activity's utility.

Main Methods:

• Two prospective cohorts of 84 M1 students participated in an interactive learning endeavor in 2019 and 2020.
• Competencies were evaluated through team presentations, student perceptions, and activity utility assessments.

Main Results:

• Students demonstrated strong competency gains, particularly in clinical skills related to outbreak investigation.
• Areas needing improvement include outbreak detection, epidemic curve classification, and hypothesis-driven study design.
• A majority of students (65% and 51% in respective cohorts) found the activity useful for developing necessary outbreak investigation skills.

Conclusions:

• Experiential learning effectively engages medical students in both clinical and non-clinical aspects of outbreak investigation.
• This approach can gauge mastery and identify deficiencies in competencies, offering an alternative to formal evaluations.