Support for core concept teaching in an integrated medical school curriculum: student perception and transfer of physiology understanding

Core concept teaching has been celebrated in the physiology education community as a strategy to help increase student depth of understanding and ability to transfer knowledge to newly encountered contexts. We previously implemented core concept teaching into our integrated, flipped classroom, clinically oriented Phase 1 medical school curriculum. This was done through the creation of introductory core concept videocasts in our initial Principles of Medicine block as well as Physio Vitals, supplemental resources which reinforce the application of core concepts to new physiology topics, throughout the Phase 1 curriculum. Now, we present data on student perception of the core concept teaching materials and assessment of student ability to transfer conceptual understanding. An anonymous survey was distributed to the MD Class of 2028 during their 3 rd semester of Phase 1, once they had completed all the curricular blocks which included core concepts materials. The survey contained questions related to student perception as well as clinical scenario questions designed to assess transfer of conceptual understanding. Results demonstrated a generally positive student perception of core concept teaching materials with considerable support for the extension of core concept materials into the clinical phases of medical school. Analysis of transfer testing suggested a weakly positive, though not statistically significant, trend for increasing transfer score with increased use of core concept learning materials. These findings contribute to the growing body of assessment and outcomes data of the physiology core concept field.