Abstract:

The integrated curriculum, while no longer a novelty in medical education, continues to present significant challenges for many medical schools. A key issue is ensuring that no subjects or topics are omitted when teaching or assessing, particularly in the complex process of integrated assessment. This challenge is exacerbated when practical sessions involve large groups of students, making quality maintenance difficult and driving up the cost of programs.

In the digital age, the new generation is less receptive to traditional medical education, which relies on passive learning with teachers delivering lectures and students passively absorbing information for later testing. Flipped Classroom (FC) and Case-based Learning (CBL) approaches provide students with greater autonomy, helping to cultivate essential skills for doctors, such as clinical reasoning, self-directed learning, and lifelong learning.

Thus, the goal of medical education extends beyond imparting specific clinical knowledge. It is also about equipping students with the ability to search for new, previously unstudied information, analyze and integrate it into their existing knowledge, and apply it in both theoretical and practical clinical tasks. FC and CBL are particularly suited to developing these competencies, yet teachers often face difficult choices between these methods due to limited classroom time.

In light of these challenges, our research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of FC and CBL in integrated medical education and to determine the optimal student group size for practical sessions. The study was conducted at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of BAU International University, Batumi. Through analysis of student performance in in-class activities and feedback from student surveys, we sought to identify the strengths and weaknesses of FC and CBL, comparing their effectiveness across groups with varying student numbers.

The results gathered were quite intriguing, as students from both groups responded positively to the teaching methods of Flipped Classroom (FC) and Case-based Learning (CBL). All groups agreed that these methods enhance teamwork, offer opportunities to develop leadership skills, make learning more engaging and interactive, and reinforce the principle of lifelong learning. However, in smaller groups, students rated FC higher than CBL. Conversely, in larger groups, CBL was favored more. These findings were also supported by teachers' evaluations of students during seminars.

Additionally, all participants expressed a desire to see these methods continue throughout their medical education. Based on these findings, we recommend that educators in higher medical institutions incorporate both methods. FC is best suited for smaller groups for optimal results, while CBL proves effective in both large and small-group settings.

Keywords:

Flipped classroom, Case Based Learning, Integrated learning, Teaching methods in medical education.