Abstract:

The Master’s program titled "Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Therapy" was initiated five years ago through collaboration between academia and a private company. Coordinated by a qualified scientist together with the administrative staff of the private company, this program addresses the scarcity of stem cell therapy knowledge in the curricula of biomedical undergraduate students. Our goal is to provide an innovative learning tool by including up-to-date stem cell reviews into the 23 chapters comprising the Master's degree, along with short videos on stem cell therapy. Thus, strategies such as the inclusion of reviews and short videos of stem cell therapy in Moodle consolidate student’s understanding of regenerative medicine. The evaluation of this Master's degree included filling in several surveys to assess the satisfaction level of the physicians upon the completion of their training. These surveys covered various aspects of stem cell biology (kind of stem cells, immunomodulation, etc.), as well as the application of Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, neurological conditions or osteoarticular lesions.

A total of 38 postgraduates Master´s students viewed JoVE videos on stem cell isolation methodology and reviews on stem cell therapy in different diseases. In the initial survey, postgraduates filled in an anonymous questionnaire, with 82% agreeing with the content of the stem cell therapy reviews and the biomedical application of mesenchymal stem cells included in the modules. In addition, 85% of postgraduates considered that, in general, their knowledge improved after reading the reviews, while the self-evaluation questionnaire confirmed the consolidation of learning in these 23 modules of the Master`s degree. Moreover, 82% of the students felt that their skills had improved, and that the use of these videos enhanced their interpretation of findings in stem cell therapy against neurological (72%), osteoarticular (92%) or cardiovascular diseases (68%). Furthermore, 92% of them strongly recommended the general content of this Master´s degree to other postgraduates (75%). Overall, they considered that these reviews improved the transfer of knowledge and promoted better integration of the different modules of the Master´s degree. Generally, 95% of them improved their understanding of stem cell biology and its translational applications in patient care.

Keywords:

Pharmacology and stem cell biology, short videos, knowledge transfer, innovative education, virtual repository, technology, creativity on stem cell therapy for postgraduates in regenerative medicine.