Abstract:
Background: Establishing innovative teaching programs in biomedical education involves dealing with several
national and supra-national (i.e. European) regulations as well as with new pedagogical and demographic demands.
We aimed to develop and validate a suitable instrument to integrate activities across preclinical years in all Health
Science Degrees while meeting requirements of national quality agencies.
Methods: The new approach was conceived at two different levels: first, we identified potentially integrative units
from different fields according to national learning goals established for each preclinical year (national quality
agency regulations). Secondly, we implemented a new instrument that combines active methodologies in Work
Station Learning Activities (WSLA), using clinical scenarios as a guiding common thread to instruct students from an
integrated perspective. We evaluated students’ perception through a Likert-type survey of a total of 118 students
enrolled in the first year of the Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine.
Results: Our model of integrated activities through WSLA is feasible, scalable and manageable with large groups of
students and a minimum number of instructors...