title: Contribution of integrated teaching in the improvement of an undergraduate ophthalmology curriculum.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Conventional medical curriculum is the rule of medical teaching in Greek Medical Schools. Medical students are often taught irrelevant details with little or no reference to their potential clinical significance. Alternatively, integrated teaching warrants that the complete teaching material is covered by each faculty member not considering areas of personal expertise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of integrated teaching in ophthalmic training.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main outcome measures of this retrospective study were a) comments and recommendations made anonymously by the fifth-year medical students in the evaluation questionnaires filled in at the end of their training, and b) scores obtained by students in their final examination at the end of their training in the 2nd Department of Ophthalmology as part of the core Curriculum of the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The latter outcome was analyzed with respect to the implementation of integrated teaching.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The score obtained by students in the final examination, which is an objective outcome measure, increased significantly after the implementation of integrated teaching. The final grade (scores out of 10) of students who were trained with the integrated system (6.17±1.67, mean ± standard deviation) was significantly higher compared to those (5.52±2.20) trained with the conventional system (P<0.001). The positive outcome of this process was evident as there was a significant increase in the number of students satisfied with the teaching process compared to previous academic years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the experience of eight academic years and as a result of interactive assessment process our department has modified its medical student teaching process from conventional to integrated; all teaching staff members are involved in the teaching process, while students are divided in small groups. In conclusion, integrated teaching in small student groups appears to be an efficient teaching method (for both theoretical and clinical skills) of ophthalmic training for medical students.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Tsinopoulos
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Chrysanthos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Symeonidis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Tsaousis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Asimina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mataftsi
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chalvatzis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Argyrios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tzamalis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Lampros P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Lamprogiannis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Stavros A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Dimitrakos
keywords: integrated teaching; medical teaching; medical training assessment