DIDACTIC TEACHING FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS: LECTURING ON COPD AND ASTHMA IN PAKISTAN

Introduction & Objective Retention of didactic teaching is generally lower than that of more interactive methods. Nevertheless, this is often the accepted format for medical education in developing countries. In January 2015 a lecture on COPD and asthma was presented to 15 health care workers in rural Pakistan. The purpose of this study is to investigate their retention of information one year later. Objective - to evaluate didactic medical teaching in an underserved international context, specifically regarding levels of retention. Methods A table contrasting the symptoms of COPD and asthma was developed based on current guidelines. An Urdu version of this table was the basis of a 20-minute lecture delivered to 15 health care workers explaining how to differentiate COPD from asthma. A series of brief fictional cases was then presented, in which the workers matched symptoms of each case with diagnosis. Each time a worker identified a relevant symptom, a pink sticker was attached to that symptom on the table. Workers learned to make a diagnosis based on which column (COPD or asthma) had the most symptoms with stickers. A 10-question multiple-choice exam was administered. Pre-test and post-test results from the same day as the lecture showed impressive registration and short-term retention. A follow-up exam showed excellent retention over seven days. An additional follow-up exam is issued twelve months later to assess long-term retention. Results & Conclusions The results will demonstrate how much information was retained one year after the lecture, with implications for how physicians should teach internationally to underserved populations.