Breaking down barriers and building up facilitators of lecture free curriculum in medical education: An interpretive structural modeling

Abstract

Introduction

The field of medical education has seen a growing interest in lecture free curriculum. However, it comes with its own set of challenges and obstacles. In this article, we aim to identify the prerequisites, facilitators, challenges, and barriers of lecture-free curriculum in medical education and examine their interrelationships using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) technique.

Methods

In this mixed-method study initially, we performed a scoping review and semi-structured interviews and determined the main prerequisites, facilitators, challenges, and barriers of lecture-free curriculum in medical education using qualitative content analysis approach. The interrelationships among these components were investigated using ISM. Therefore, self-interactive structural matrices were formed, initial and final reachability matrices were achieved, and MICMAC analysis was conducted to classify the factors.

Results

Finally, two ISM models of prerequisites and facilitators with 27 factors in 10 levels and challenges and obstacles with 25 factors in eight levels were developed. Each of the models was divided into three parts: key, strategic, and dependent factors. ‘Providing relevant evidence regarding lecture free curriculum’ emerged as the most important prerequisite and facilitator, and ‘insufficient support from the university’ was identified as the most critical barrier and challenge.

Conclusions

The study highlights the significant importance of lecture-free curriculum in medical education and provides insights into its prerequisites, facilitators, challenges, and barriers. The findings can be utilized by educational managers and decision-makers to implement necessary changes in the design and implementation of lecture-free in medical education, leading to more effective improvements in the quality and success of education.

Keywords:

• Active learning
• lecture-free curriculum
• interpretive structural modeling
• medical education

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to all participants for their time and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Sahar Karami

Sahar Karami, Ph.D. Student of Medical Education, Medical Education Department, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Mohammad Shariati

Mohammad Shariati, MD, Department of Medical Education and Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Dean Parmelee

Dean Parmelee, MD, Medical Education, Psychiatry & Pediatrics, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, OH, USA.

Hooman Shahsavari

Hooman Shahsavari, Ph.D., Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS).

Akram Sadeghian

Akram Sadeghian, Ph.D. Education Development Office (EDO), School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

Roberto Baelo Alvarez

Roberto Baelo Alvarez, Ph.D., Department of General and Specifics Didactics and Educational Theory, Faculty of Education, Universidad de León.

Abir Zitouni

Abir Zitouni, Ph.D. Student, Department of General and Specifics Didactics and Educational Theory, Faculty of Education, Universidad de León.

Maryam Alizadeh

Maryam Alizadeh, Ph.D., Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine and Health Professions Education Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.