Comic relief: Cartoons help medicos learn better

Chennai: Quirky cartoons of immune and tumour cells, with a splash of colour and a touch of humour, boosted the learning experience for medical students, a study by All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Madurai and city-based Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science and Research (PGIMSR) in KK Nagar has shown.The study published in peer-reviewed medical journal Cureus, showed that students exposed to the cartoons displayed a significant improvement in their understanding of the study material compared to their counterparts who were taught using traditional methods. During the anonymous feedback survey, 88.3% of students who participated in the study agreed that cartoons improved their understanding of complex topics, 92.2% felt that cartoons aided in memory retention, and similar proportions believed cartoons should be extended to other complex topics in pathology and medical subjects. While 90.3% of students found cartoon-based learning to be fun, 53.4% students expressed interest in creating their educational cartoons. “These responses indicate a statistically significant preference for cartoon-based teaching,” co-author Dr Sathish Selvakumar from ESIC KK Nagar said in the study.For the study, scientists chose the first two “challenging” chapters — immunology and neoplasia — from general pathology. Of the 106 second-year MBBS students who took part in the study, 53 were randomly allotted to learn in the traditional manner — interactive large-group teaching. The remaining 53 students in the combination group received cartoon-based teaching in addition to the traditional learning process. The cartoon for this study was designed by the study’s principal investigator Dr Rajeswari Kathiah using Microsoft PowerPoint with animation features.Both groups learnt the first chapter, immunology, for six session sessions in July 2022. Post-learning assessment was conducted with 50 MCQs. Analysis of their performance showed the combination group had a significant advantage with a mean difference of 8.6 marks. The mean score for the group was 38.9 ± 4.9, with scores ranging from 22 to 50. In contrast, the traditional group scored a mean of 30.20 ± 5.6, with a range of 12 to 43.For the second chapter (neoplasia), who were allotted the combination group switched to traditional learning and vice-versa. After eight sessions in August 2022, students took the second post-learning assessment with 50 MCQs. Here again, the combination group outperformed the traditional group with a mean difference of 7.19 points. The combination group maintained a high performance with a mean score of 38.7 ± 5.7, with scores ranging from 23 to 50, while the traditional group scored a mean of 31.5 ± 4.9 (range 12 to 47). Three students were absent for one or both assessments and were consequently excluded, leaving 103 students including 53 women in the final analysis of the study.The authors admit that the sample size and duration of the study is small to generalise, but the study indicates lively cartoons are emerging as a powerful addition to rote medical education.