Abstract:

Objective:
To determine whether training in Legal and Occupational Medicine based on the use of innovative teaching resources (on-line virtual patient platforms and blended learning) has satisfactory results and is attractive to students of Medicine and can help to improve their attitude to these specialties.

Material and Methods:
At the Albacete Faculty of Medicine (University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain) Legal and Occupational Medicine has, since its introduction, been taught through the use of blended learning and using a virtual patient platform developed by two European projects. To assess the satisfaction of students with this teaching methodology and the training received, a 9-item questionnaire was devised and validated prior to being administered to the undergraduated students in training (n>100) during the academic year 2017-2018. The possible change in their attitudes to Legal and Occupational Medicine was also evaluated through the administration of another questionnaire drawn up and validated as well for this purpose. This last questionnaire was given to the students before and after their course in Legal and Occupational Medicine. The response rate among them was approximately 90%.

Results:
60% of the students considered that the knowledge gained about Legal and Occupational Medicine rounded out the training they received as doctors. The same percentage reported that they were satisfied with the training they had received and had a better understanding of the relationship between work and health. A significant improvement (p>0.001) was detected in the students’ attitude to Legal and Occupational Medicine before and after the course. This positive change in attitude had already been observed in other Spanish universities, such as the University of Zaragoza, where students studied the same subject using the same virtual patient platform and the blended learning system as part of the teaching-learning process. Student satisfaction and their change of attitude towards Legal and Occupational Medicine showed greater improvements in these other studies, so it would be interesting to determine whether the difference is related to the fact that a greater number and wider range of innovative teaching techniques were used in the other centres. We can, however, certainly conclude that the use of innovative tools in the teaching of Legal and Occupational Medicine has positive results.

Conclusion:
Teaching of Legal and Occupational Medicine in undergraduated Medical students based on the use of virtual environments and blended learning contributes to a positive change in the attitude of future doctors to these specialties.

Keywords:

Innovative Teaching Methods, Virtual Platforms, Problem Based Learning, Blended Learning, University Students.