Application of the method of disease spectrum-based in dermatology teaching

Objective To explore the effect of using disease spectrum in dermatology education. Methods The disease spectrum-based teaching and the traditional teaching method were utilized to 100 undergraduate students enrolled in 2013 and 2014 and 124 postgraduate students and 50 doctoral students enrolled in 2016 majoring in clinical medicine at Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University from September to December 2017. A self-made related questionnaire was designed and distributed to these students. Then we analyzed the problems existing in the traditional method and compared the difference in the teaching effect between the disease spectrum-based teaching and the traditional one. Moreover, the suggestions for applying the teaching method of disease spectrum were also proposed by students. Results Approximately 62.0% (170/274) of the students believe that there are too many kinds of dermatoses while only a few of them were taught in the traditional method. Therefore, it is a great challenge for students or junior doctors to diagnose some dermatosis when facing a large variety of skin eruptions in clinical practice. Nearly 69.3% (190/274) of students were not familiar with the disease spectrum dermatology. Compared with the traditional teaching method, it is significantly more effective to memorize the dermatology knowledge by the disease spectrum-based method [(4.89±1.84) vs (6.75±1.75), P<0.01], and more helpful to comprehend the knowledge [(5.19± 1.99) vs (6.96±1.76), P<0.01] and to carry out clinical practice [(5.21±1.99) vs (6.89±1.88), P<0.01]. As high as 76.3% (209/274) of students believe that the method of disease spectrum has advantages in helping students to learn knowledge macroscopically and master more diseases. Conclusions The teaching efficiency of dermatology education can be improved via the disease spectrum-based method. Key words: Dermatology; Disease spectrum; Teaching method; Teaching effect