Integrating Microteaching to Enhance Cardiovascular Physiology Instruction: A Review of Strategies, Outcomes, and Future Direction

Abstract

It is essential that health professional education programs enable medical students to gain the competencies required to deliver life-saving care. Medical educators’ efficacy is a major influence on the knowledge gained by students. As such, it is indispensable for medical educators to possess sufficient knowledge and skills to effectively teach extensive and complex content. Medical students often experience difficulties understanding cardiovascular physiology, which can be attributed to how the instruction is delivered. Microteaching is one of the pedagogical approaches that can be applied to enhance cardiovascular physiology instruction by improving medical faculty’s knowledge, understanding, and competencies to deliver learning to their students. Microlearning strategies are peer feedback, reflection, iterative refinement, and incorporation of active learning approaches. The microlearning strategies enable medical educators to engage learners and improve their understanding of cardiovascular physiology. Applying microlearning supports in imparting medical educators with the competencies to create a dynamic learning environment that promotes an understanding of cardiovascular physiology. Microteaching is focused on developing teaching skills through expert modeling. The outcomes of microteaching are improved teaching skills, self-confidence, better lesson planning, and enhanced presentation, all of which result in creating better learners. In essence, microteaching is an effective approach to improving teaching skills among medical teachers. Accordingly, improved teaching skills can enable educators to effectively provide cardiovascular physiology. The future directions include the need to leverage technology integration and interdisciplinary partnerships. Integrating microteaching could improve medical educators’ competencies to teach cardiovascular physiology instruction.