Simulated patient videos to supplement integrated teaching in competency-based undergraduate medical curriculum

The competency-based undergraduate medical curriculum in the preclinical years requires clinical topics to be taught using a linker clinical case for students to appreciate the clinical application of basic sciences. The objective of this study was to evaluate student and faculty satisfaction regarding the construct and delivery of an aligned and integrated curriculum that involved the use of linker clinical cases. We aimed at evaluating the perceptions and performance of students when paper cases were supplemented with a simulated patient (SP) video. This interventional study was conducted by inviting 250 medical students from the first professional phase from the 2020-2021 batch. Integrated modules were prepared for two clinical conditions: myocardial infarction (MI) and nephrotic syndrome (NS). The topic NS was taught with a paper-based case while the topic MI was supplemented with an SP video. Feedback from students and faculty was collected using a newly developed and validated questionnaire and focused group discussions. The students performed significantly better in the assessment conducted after the topic MI compared to NS. The majority of the students (80%) expressed a preference for the video to understand the clinical relevance when compared to the paper case. Overall, the students (83-87%) expressed satisfaction with integrated teaching sessions using clinical cases. Using linker clinical cases in an aligned and integrated preclinical curriculum allowed students to interrelate the subjects and apply them to clinical contexts. The SP videos prepared from an authentic setting facilitated learner engagement with a better understanding of the clinical relevance of the basic sciences.NOTE & NOTEWORTHY In this study, we have introduced linker cases to teach clinical correlation of basic sciences for integrated modules in the competency-based undergraduate medical curriculum. The novelty of our study is the inclusion of simulated patient video that was internally prepared and validated to supplement linker clinical paper cases in integrated modules.