Variability in knowledge retention of medical students: repeated and recently learned basic science topics

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Basic science knowledge is crucial for medical students' clinical reasoning.
• Students often exhibit significant knowledge loss after initial learning.
• Individual variability in knowledge retention is a key concern.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess medical students' knowledge retention in physiology and microbiology.
• To analyze individual variability in knowledge retention.
• To explore alternative measures of knowledge retention beyond simple retention rates.

Main Methods:

• Third- and fourth-year medical students repeated physiology and microbiology exams after a 16-week interval.
• Exams included multiple-choice questions, incorporating spaced repetition elements.
• Retention rates, consistently correct/incorrect answers, and GPA correlations were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Significant score declines observed: physiology (70.4% to 53.5%), microbiology (72.1% to 57.3%).
• Retention rates varied widely (54.5% to 97.2%).
• Consistently correct answers correlated positively with GPA; consistently incorrect answers correlated negatively.

Conclusions:

• Substantial knowledge loss and high individual variability necessitate further research into long-term retention factors.
• Microbiology showed better retention, possibly due to spaced repetition.
• Consistently correct/incorrect answers appear to be more robust indicators of stable knowledge than retention rates.