PERCEPTION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BIOSTATISTICS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY AND THE IMPACT OF PARTICIPATORY TEACHING METHODS

Objective: Our study aimed to assess the perception of medical students about their knowledge of biostatistics and epidemiology before and after applying participatory teaching methods for teaching these topics. Materials and methods: It was a correlational study conducted at Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar, with a sample size of two hundred and ten. Using a simple random sampling technique, the students of fourth year M.B.B.S were taught the course Epidemiology and Biostatistics. The methodologies included a participatory teaching method, using a two-step approach. The first step aimed to make the students understand the basic concepts of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, with hands-on activity on how to use different websites to interpret the information. The second step involved database analysis with the production of a scientific report. In the end, a nine-item pre-validated questionnaire was used to check the difference of perception among the students, before and after the activities. Results: A significant improvement in student’s perception of their knowledge related to the taught subjects was found in certain areas which included the importance, usefulness, and basic concepts of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. The remaining items of the questionnaire didn’t show any significant difference. Conclusion: Participatory teaching had a strong impact on students’ perception of understanding Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Keywords: participatory teaching methods, biostatistics, Epidemiology