Active Learning Methodologies in the Teaching of Surgical Principles

Active learning methodologies has been studied as an alternative to the passive transmission of the knowledge. Healthcare assistants have an essential role in the dynamics of the operation room. The work of the healthcare assistant in the operation room has become more and more complex over the years. In this context, training and improvement of healthcare assistance staff is essential, to prepare them to perform the different functions assigned within the routines of the operating room. To that effect, an extension project was developed to contribute to healthcare assistant’s training in surgical principles, using specially developed material and active learning methodologies, such as roleplays, simulations, questions and clinical case studies for group discussions. There were 23 students that participated to the project. A test was applied before and after the project to evaluate the effectiveness of the method. The activities happened twice a week over four months. The mean of the correct answers in the exam applied before the project was 9,69±1,51, out of a total of 20 questions. In the exam applied after the four months of project, the mean of the correct answers was 12,43±1,52, p<0,001. There was an average increase of 2,74 correct answers in the post-test compared to the pre-test, representing an increase of 28.27% in the grade obtained by the students. Active learning methodology has obtained great results in the absorption and fixation of the knowledge.

Keywords: Active-learning, Surgical Principles, Graduation.