Flexner 3.0--Democratization of Medical Knowledge for the 21st Century: Teaching Medical Science Using K-12 General Pathology as a Gateway Course

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ronald S. Weinstein, University of Arizona; Elizabeth Krupinski, Emory University; John B. Weinstein, Bard High School Early College; Anna R. Graham, University of Arizona; Gail P. Barker, University of Arizona; Kristine A. Erps, University of Arizona; Angelette L. Holtrust, University of Arizona; Michael J. Holcomb, University of Arizona
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-03-15
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2016
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2374289516636132
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Academic Pathology
• ISSN: 2374-2895
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 0
• Grant/Funding Information: The planning, construction and testing of the T-Health Amphitheater at the T-Health Institute, in Phoenix (eg, ATP “e-Classroom-of-the-Future” program) was funded, in part, by contracts from the United States Department of Defense through their Medical Advanced Technology program. Institute for Advanced Telemedicine and Telehealth (THealth) (PI) Department of Defense, Medical Advance Technology.
• Keywords: K-12 schools; medical science; pathology coursework; health literacy; Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice; Flexner Report; STEM curriculum; whole slide images; medical education
• Research Categories: Education, General; Education, Curriculum and Instruction

Abstract

A medical school general pathology course has been reformatted into a K-12 general pathology course. This new course has been implemented at a series of 7 to 12 grade levels and the student outcomes compared. Typically, topics covered mirrored those in a medical school general pathology course serving as an introduction to the mechanisms of diseases. Assessment of student performance was based on their score on a multiple-choice final examination modeled after an examination given to medical students. Two Tucson area schools, in a charter school network, participated in the study. Statistical analysis of examination performances showed that there were no significant differences as a function of school (F = 0.258, P = .6128), with students at school A having an average test scores of 87.03 (standard deviation = 8.99) and school B 86.00 (standard deviation = 8.18; F = 0.258, P = .6128). Analysis of variance was also conducted on the test scores as a function of gender and class grade. There were no significant differences as a function of gender (F = 0.608, P = .4382), with females having an average score of 87.18 (standard deviation = 7.24) and males 85.61 (standard deviation = 9.85). There were also no significant differences as a function of grade level (F = 0.627, P = .6003), with 7th graders having an average of 85.10 (standard deviation = 8.90), 8th graders 86.00 (standard deviation = 9.95), 9th graders 89.67 (standard deviation = 5.52), and 12th graders 86.90 (standard deviation = 7.52). The results demonstrated that middle and upper school students performed equally well in K-12 general pathology. Student course evaluations showed that the course met the student’s expectations. One class voted K-12 general pathology their “elective course-of-the-year.”