Retention of basic sciences knowledge at clinical years: a single institute study from Sudan

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Basic Medical Sciences
• Clinical Reasoning

Background:

• Effective clinical reasoning relies on strong basic science knowledge.
• Medical students often struggle to apply foundational knowledge in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the level of retained basic science knowledge among undergraduate medical students.
• To identify factors influencing knowledge retention in medical training.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving medical students from the University of Kassala, Sudan (2021-2022).
• Data collected using 36 single-answer questions.
• Statistical analysis performed using SPSS version 25.

Main Results:

• 164 out of 185 invited students (88.65% response rate) participated.
• Overall average score was 57.49% ± 14.60; 19.51% scored ≤ 47%.
• Integrated questions yielded the highest average scores (63.55% ± 20.39), followed by Physiology and Biochemistry, with Anatomy scoring lowest.

Conclusions:

• Undergraduate medical students demonstrate better retention of basic medical sciences when knowledge is presented in a clinically oriented manner.
• Integrating basic sciences with clinical applications may enhance learning and retention.