Undergraduate medical students are expected to follow a vast curriculum, which requires time management and specific abilities.Certain subjects studied in medical school seem to be challenging, both for medical students and the teacher.

Students must find a method to understand and operate with the new information, which is apparently without obvious connection with the rest of the subjects in the curriculum. The teacher is supposed to deliver technical/ non-medical information to young students who possess little knowledge in medical area, but are enthusiastic and very willing to "play doctor".

Adapting biostatistics for the freshmen is not an easy task, therefore making use of their enthusiasm could be a successful teaching method. 

One way to do so is to engage them in a competition, the prizes being not only the confirmation and the recognize of the students value but also added to the final grade

Students enrolled in 2014 in the first year at the Faculty of Medicine studied biostatistics for a semester, wich was followed by multiple choice questions evaluation. After experiencing a month of the classic teaching method, students were introduced to the new study tool. Moodle was used to create a platform intended to serve as an auxiliary tool to facilitate the study of biostatistics. It was made attractive by presenting it as a contest. Students could enroll in the competition by submitting pairs of questions and their answers (Q&A) on biostatistics course topics. The teacher’s role was to evaluate the Q&A: if correct, the pair was published on the platform and earned it’s author one point. If not eligible, the teacher responded the student, indicating the mistake. The publishers’ ranking was available until the end of the competition, thus stimulating competitivity and providing additional motivation. Top ranking students were promised bonus points at the final exam.

36.7% of the students used the platform for preparing the final exam. We were interested to see if there was a difference between the final exam grades of the students who used the platform and those who did not use it.

     Mean = 6.8; SD = 1.62                               Mean = 8.1; SD = 1.3  

p<0.05

The mean of the grades of the students who participated in the competition was 9 (SD =1.3). The mean of the grades of the students who only use the platform for preparing the exam was 7.8 (SD= 1.22)

The method seems to prove useful, highest ranking students in the Q&A competition were also the ones to receive the maximal mark in the exam.

The competition increased student motivation, but further encouragement is needed, in order to increase active participation.

The method seems to improve student performance and aid study, the results allowing us to recommend the application of the platform in all areas of medical curriculum.

The current study is part of the graduation thesis of Teodora Adam, which will be defended in 2016. There are no conflicts of interests. For more details contact Dr. Tudor Calinici – tcalinici@umfcluj.ro

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