Learning Assistants in Flipped-Classrooms: A New Pedagogical Strategy for Pre-Clinical Medical Education

Problem-based learning has been widely incorporated into pre-clinical medical education to increase the applicability of pre-clinical knowledge. However, studies have demonstrated increased learning burden and decreased confidence in learning when adapting to this didactic medium. To the authors' knowledge, limited interventions target these shortcomings in real time. Thus, we adapted and implemented a "Learning Assistants" (LA) program that can be deployed in pre-clinical didactic sessions. In this prospective pilot study, trained LAs were deployed in the classroom to assist students in their clinical case vignettes under instructor supervision. Learning assistants and students completed pre-session and post-session evaluation surveys to assess LA helpfulness, student confidence, and interest in study material. Paired observations were evaluated using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests, ANCOVA, and paired t-tests. Unstructured responses were evaluated using thematic analysis. A significant improvement in both student interest (p < 0.001) and confidence (p < 0.001) in the course material was observed after each surveyed session. No significant difference was observed in student-perceived LA helpfulness across the sessions (p = 0.12). Thematic analysis revealed common themes in student knowledge gaps, including challenges with understanding drug mechanisms of action and drug interactions. The results suggest that this program may consistently positively impact student interest and confidence. However, further research is needed to evaluate the impacts of this intervention on learning outcomes and standardized assessments. This study highlights the potential for such a program to bolster pre-clinical didactic sessions that utilize the problem-based learning instructional modality.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-023-01958-x.