Knowledge of transfusion medicine by medical students is limited. Transfusion medicine physicians developed, implemented, and evaluated a half-day elective on transfusion medicine for fourth-year medical students.
The course included a didactic lecture with integrated audience response questions and role-playing, as well as a "Jeopardy"-style game to review the material. The same 10-question knowledge quiz was administered before and after the elective.
Both knowledge quizzes were taken by 102 students. An average score of 3.3 was obtained on the initial quiz, with only three (3%) students having a passing score (≥6 correct questions). The average score after the elective was 6.6, with 83 (81%) students having a passing score. Students found the elective was informative (62 students, 60.8%), very useful (56, 54.9%), and practical (51, 50%), although some thought it was challenging (22, 21.6%).
A short course for medical students that allowed repetition of concepts using several teaching modalities improved their knowledge in transfusion medicine.