Evaluating Physician Associate (PA) students’ perceptions of an Online Team Based Learning (TBL) session on Stroke Medicine

Abstract

Abstract TBL is an effective, active learning strategy that has been validated and used in Medical schools (Wiener et al., 2009). It consists of 3 phases; preparation, readiness assurance tests and application exercise (Reimschisel et al., 2017). It follows a ‘flipped classroom’ model where assessment takes place at the beginning and encourages team discussions that emulate clinical practice. We explored the perceptions of a Stroke TBL session among Physician Associate students in a UK PA programme. The study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic therefore due to restrictions, TBL was implemented virtually using online video conferencing platforms. The students perceptions were then analysed using anonymous online questionnaires sent to them shortly after the session. The questionnaire included specific questions comparing TBL to other teaching methods such as PBL. Overall, the students felt that TBL was an effective teaching method that was better than other methods such as lectures and PBL. We encourage further use of this strategy to teach medical curricula with further studies in this area.