TNMU Hosted “Discussion of Clinical Cases as Method of Clinical Thinking Development” Online Event

On November 28, 2023, the online event “Discussion of clinical cases as a method of clinical thinking development” was held at I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University. 76 students participated in the event. The purpose of the webinar was to acquaint 3rd-5th-year students of the Faculty of Medicine with the latest training format – Clinical Case Discussion as a method of clinical thinking development.

Clinical Case Discussions (CCDs) is an innovative format that allows students to learn from each other in the process of discussing clinical cases, because the students themselves provide the case selection, slide preparation, and organizational points. A clinician (teacher, doctor) only helps students find answers to difficult questions during the discussion.

CCDs are designed to develop and improve students’ skills in clinical thinking through discussion of clinical cases.

This meeting was organized by Diana Haliyash, a 6th-year student of TNMU, who participated in the International Clinical Case Discussion Summer School (ICDSS) 2023 with the support of TNMU Centre for Improving Pedagogical Skills. Diana shared the experience of participating in clinical discussions, which she received as part of the international summer school, and also talked about the peculiarities of this training format. The objectives of the CCD, the structure of the discussion, and examples of slides prepared for the discussion of a clinical case were also presented.

The webinar was joined by Kilian Lischeid, a student at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) (Munich), the organizer of ICDSS 2023. Kilian presented the specifics of the implementation of CCD at his university, as well as the case construction framework for the discussion of a clinical case.

Natalia Bohutska, Associate Professor of the Department of Paediatrics and Children’s Infectious Diseases of Bukovyna State Medical University, spoke about the experience of implementing the method of discussing clinical cases in Ukraine. Assoc. Prof. Natalia Bohutska also shared the results of a survey of students participating in clinical discussions at BSMU about the experience they gained.

Another speaker of the event was Kateryna Herush, a sixth-year student at BSMU. Kateryna shared her own experience of participating in ICDSS 2023, outlined the main advantages and disadvantages of such clinical discussions.

The “Clinical Case Discussion” student club is planned to be launched in January 2024. Watch for announcements!

The information was provided by Diana Haliyash.

Photographs by the author.