View the September 2018 Class of 2022 SCLC notes

SCLC Monthly Report

September 2018

Bloomington – Danielle Kem and Trey Embry

Human structure suggestions and concerns:

1. Idea to move lab from Friday to Wednesday or Thursday so we don’t have to stay late on Friday.
   1. Impossible due to scheduling conflicts
2. Concern that group B had longer labs in block 1
   1. This was a concern with group A last year and they tried to correct it. Dr. O’Loughlin said that it should even up from block to block
3. Difficulty level of gross lab practical
   1. Dr. O’Loughlin’s suggestions were to make sure everything is cleared out earlier so we aren’t seeing it for the first time and to spend more time with other donors during lab. Practicals will continue to be that level of difficulty.
4.    Not having enough time to review answers on practice test
   1. They are going to make sure we have at least 10 minutes after the practice tests before any pins are removed.
5. Suggestion for a short introduction at the prosection before each lab
   1. Dr. O’Loughlin really liked this idea as you can see as they have already started using it!
6. Suggestion for an introduction to the gross lab and some dissection basics before the first lab so first years aren’t being thrown into the fire on day 1
   1. They actually used to do this but stopped recently for some reason. We gave them the idea to do it during transitions. Dr. O’Loughlin definitely wants to start doing it again next year.
7. The Ipads are very difficult to use
   1. They are trying to get Thieme apps installed so we don’t have to login with our passphrase every time.
8. Lastly, Dr. O’Loughlin said they will try to give more practice questions during lab if they can.

MCT suggestions and concerns:

1. Small groups not relating well to class information
   1. Dr. Forrester told us that it is a requirement that no more than 50% of class time be spent in lecture. This is why we spend so much time in small group. In block 1, the information just doesn’t fit very well with small group learning so they seem awkward. In the coming weeks it should fit better and small group should be more useful.
2. Pre-small group quizzes are overly difficult and require too much time with pre-work
   1. Dr. Forrester agreed that some of these quizzes have had overly specific information and many of the campus course directors have already recognized the issue. They are going to try and address the issue so that the quizzes will be easy if you do the pre-work.
3. Some small groups are too long, and students lose focus and just want to finish ASAP
   1. They recognized this, especially with the prenatal diagnostic small group and are going to work on it
4. Lack of facilitator guides at the end of modules make it more difficult to study
   1. They used to give facilitator guides at the end of small groups that just contained all the questions and answers from the small group. This made it easier to study small group material. Indy stopped letting them publish these because they were worried we would pass them on to the students the next year to cheat. Dr. Forrester agreed that this isn’t likely considering the small group questions aren’t even for a grade, and he said it was not an issue in the past. He will bring it up at the next meeting with campus course directors.
5. In general Dr. Forrester agreed with all our concerns. He is going to try and address them, but a lot of the small group stuff goes through Indianapolis and other course directors, so these changes might be difficult to implement.

Indianapolis – Ibby Khan and Jessica Chiang

MCT

Small group wrap-ups: We asked that small group wrap-ups be more molecularly focused, per student request. Dr. Harrington and Dr. Sharpe explained that we use clinical cases in MCT mainly because they are good models for the molecular concepts we learn.

How to study small group: Our instructors advised us to use the ‘Session Objectives’ from each TBL to guide our studying. Normally the questions in small group are asked for a reason, and we should try to understand why/what concept the prompt is testing. It was explained that TBLs are mainly to train us how to problem solve, as STEP 1 is moving toward more integrative questions.

Consistency issues in lectures: Dr. Harrington and Dr. Sharpe will bring this issue to their meeting with all the site directors. Individual faculty members are prone to focus on the material that is in their field of study, but they still expose us to all the necessary basic concepts. Rather than focusing solely on a vocabulary list style with just surface level knowledge, we should use the basic concepts to problem solve. After an exam, the MCT course management team makes a heat map to ensure that there was not a coverage issue between campuses. They use statistics on each and every exam question to determine if a question should be thrown out.

Human Structure

We are still reviewing student feedback and will meet with Dr. Deane if necessary

Updates

For MCT, Dr. Sharpe will try to continue giving us the exact sections to read in the small group textbook pre-work (an example is the short Cytogenetics I and II TBL reading). Dr. Harrington and Dr. Sharpe will also ask the MCT team about including brief explanations in the practice exam keys. For both MCT and Human Structure, general study tips have been to preview/pre-read the lectures and to stick with one campus for lectures. 

Muncie- Sana Majid

Representative, Sana Majid. Started speaking to students in person about concerns. Sent out the anonymous feedback form. Working on scheduling meetings with each of our professors. 

Gary – Ishani Sharma

Have spoken to students about concerns they may have with each class. Will be scheduling meetings with Dr. Gupta, Dr. K, Dr. Talarico, and Dr. Mas for next week.

South Bend- Amy Fraser

MCT: Received feedback concern regarding the consistency of topics covered in lecture. Met with Dr. Scheel and was assured that all lecturers for our class have reviewed the exams prior to creating their lectures and made sure to include all of the topics we will need to know for the exams. 

West Lafayette – Hannah Inman

MCT: I met with Dr. Forney this month to address student requests for small group wrap-up slides, concerns with the consistency of lecture material statewide, and provide feedback. In response to these concerns, wrap-up slides and sessions after each small group have been provided for all of block 2 and students have been advised to focus on understanding concepts, use session objectives as a guide, and ask professors for clarification as they may provide more detail based on their fields of study. Student feedback was well received. Working on meeting with Dr. Sharpe and Dr. Leung prior to Block 2 Exam.

Human Structure: Representative met with Dr. Walker this month to address student questions prior to Block 1 Exam. Working on meeting with Dr. Walker prior to Block 2 Exam.

Terre Haute- Jonathan Alessi

MCT: I met with Dr. King and the following was discussed:

Basic Test Info- 79 questions total (4 chromosomal rearrangement questions,3 cytochrome p450 questions, 3 stem cell questions)

Dr. King apologizes for missing one of the Session outline bullet points on the Chromosomal rearrangement and recombination lecture but promises that the missed info will not appear on the block 2 exam. The session outline bullet he missed was about pseudo-autosomal regions on X and Y chromosomes. It reads, “May result in balanced/ unbalanced states, Between pseud-autosomal regions of X and Y chromosomes​.” Again, this will not appear on the test which is not to say that it’s entirely unimportant, but that we shouldn’t worry too much about it.

Dr. King’s study recommendations for this test:

1. do his book questions
2. read his PowerPoints
3. lecture recordings only if we see something we don’t remember on his PowerPoints.

No need to memorize specific chromosome numbers.

No need to memorize any specific proteins. More general protein names like topoisomerase, polymerase, helicase,… etc. are fair game

King knows people hate him saying “don’t worry about that for Block X.” That’s not a new complaint. However, it’s important for us to be exposed to that stuff early.

For small groups, I brought up one recommendation that more wrap-ups be done and he said that basically the wrap-up would be what is already embedded in the modules. If you know and understand what is said in the answers section on the module, you should be fine!

Despite variation in style, ​ALL the professors will cover ALL the material that we will be tested on.

Finally, I recommended that small groups be a reinforcement of material already presented in lecture, rather than altogether new material, and/or that the small groups be more connected to the other material in the block. He agrees with that idea, he would if he could, but his hands are tied by the LCME.