Nuevas estrategias docentes en Histología. Más aprendizaje y menos enseñanza: Uso de microscopios virtuales e Historrelatos.

Current teaching at the University needs novel methodologies to increase students’ motivation. Here, we present two approaches to engage the student body to Human Histology subject at the University of Malaga. Virtual teaching was propelled by the COVID-19 crisis and confinement. The software for the study of histological/histopathological samples has become a valuable tool. Moreover, digital competences are in high demand within the biomedical field but students usually do not receive sufficient training. For these reasons, we have implemented the use of virtual microscopy (VM, Olympus), sharing 66 digitalized slides accessible under a username/password. VM provides real-time dynamic microscopy and offers an innovative experience at exceptionally high resolution. VM allows students to explore the samples online from anywhere, favoring autonomy and self-learning. Moreover, VM enables capturing specific tissue areas using these pictures to ask specific questions. On the other hand, transversal competences such as reading and writing skills, along with synthesis capability can be underdeveloped in our students. We initiated the activity of writing stories about histology contents (Histostories). Professional graphic designers from a webpage of scientific divulgation (masscience.com) illustrated the first story about erythrocytes. We conducted a survey among medical students to analyze the impact of this narration on their learning. Most of them welcome the initiative, considering it as an appropriate and enjoyable instrument for summarizing and revising the concepts. Immunity was among the topics more demanded between the students. Finally, we encouraged our students to write their own Histostories mentored by our teaching staff. These stories are shared through the virtual campus and on masscience website. So far, two medical students are collaborating with us in this experimental project that we expect it will bring more benefits to both readers and participants.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

New teaching strategies in Histology. More learning and less teaching

Las transformaciones de la educación Médica conciernen a la Histología, ocasionando reducciones en la carga docente y asignación de créditos, redefinición de competencias y objetivos de aprendizaje, así como una creciente orientación médica de sus contenidos y una disminución de las clases magistrales. Por ello se hace necesario el empleo de nuevos métodos que se aproximen más al aprendizaje que a la enseñanza, pero que no supongan ni un aumento de la carga docente del alumnado ni un incremento de los ya hipertrofiados planes de estudios. En la Facultad de Medicina de Málaga hemos implementado nuevas metodologías docentes: orientación médica , clase inversa, ABP, microscopia virtual, HistolCasts), HistolWord, Instagram, Historrelatos), y evaluación continua . Sobre estas actividades los estudiantes han mostrado un alto grado de participación y satisfacción, estimulando su interés y motivación por la Histología y mejorando el rendimiento académico. Adicionalmente, muchas de estas estrategias se pueden extrapolar a otras áreas de la educación médica, tanto para estudiantes como para residentes y formación continuada. Algunas de estas metodologías ya han sido ya presentadas y otras lo serán por algunos de mis compañeros. Me voy a referir a continuación al HistolWord. Se trata de una actividad de gamificación basada en el juego del pasapalabra, empleando términos histológicos. Se formaron 32 equipos de 5 estudiantes que compitieron en un sistema de eliminatorias desde dieciseisavos de final, confeccionándose 70 roscos de palabras. Todo se desarrollaba en un aula con casi 200 estudiantes, donde se leían las preguntas y se proyectaba el rosco, de manera que no solo participaban los dos equipos que se enfrentaban en ese momento, sino todos los presentes. Los estudiantes indicaron la utilidad de HistolWord como motivación para el estudio, complemento de las clases, revisión y aplicaciones médicas, existiendo una correlación positiva con las calificaciones.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Microbiome alterations and Alzheimer's Disease: modeling strategies with transgenic mice.

In the last decade, the role of the microbiota-gut-brain axis has been gaining momentum in the context of many neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and diabetes, respectively. Notably, a balanced gut microbiota contributes to the epithelial intestinal barrier maintenance, modulates the host immune system, and releases neurotransmitters and/or neuroprotective short-chain fatty acids. However, dysbiosis may provoke immune dysregulation, impacting neuroinflammation through peripheral-central immune communication. Moreover, lipopolysaccharide or detrimental microbial end-products can cross the blood-brain barrier and induce or at least potentiate the neuropathological progression of AD. Thus, after repeated failure to find a cure for this dementia, a necessary paradigmatic shift towards considering AD as a systemic disorder has occurred. Here, we present an overview of the use of germ-free and/or transgenic animal models as valid tools to unravel the connection between dysbiosis, metabolic diseases, and AD, and to investigate novel therapeutical targets. Given the high impact of dietary habits, not only on the microbiota but also on other well-established AD risk factors such as diabetes or obesity, consistent changes of lifestyle along with microbiome-based therapies should be considered as complementary approaches.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBU

Nuevas estrategias docentes en Histología Instagram como herramienta para mejorar el aprendizaje de la Histología Humana.

En dicha comunicación oral realizada al congreso de Histodocencia 2023 se muestra la experiencia docente realizada durante el curso 2022/2023 para los alumnos de 2º curso del Grado de Medicina en la asignatura de Histología 2.Current university students have grown up in a world completely ruled by new technologies and social media (SoMe). Many of them, such as Instagram or Facebook, are used as additional tools during the educational process of many university degrees, especially for image-based disciplines including radiology, anatomy and pathology, among others. Nevertheless, the role of SoMe during learning processes in basic subjects such as Human Histology has not been deeply studied, with very few reports in the bibliography. The aim of this work was to develop an Instagram account only accessible for second-year medical students from the University of Malaga. This account was used to propose a series of voluntary educational activities as a complement to traditional classroom teaching. The proposal included multiple-choice based-image questionnaires, description of histological images, and schematic diagrams about the subject contents. Furthermore, a section where students can share their own images taken during the laboratory practices and interact with their classmates was included. 85.6% of the students enrolled in Human Histology 2 agreed to participate in the platform. Most of them (99.5%) welcome the initiative and considered it as an appropriate instrument for improving their final marks. Specifically, 68% of the student body regarded the multiple-choice questionnaires as the most useful activity. Comparing the marks of the final exam (without considering other evaluation activities), the differences between those students who participated in the activity and those who did not were statistically significant (p<0001). There were no significant differences according to the degree of participation. These results evidence that Instagram may be considered as a very useful, easy and accessible tool to improve students’ learning of the Human Histology subject of the medical degree.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

New teaching strategies in Histology. How to stimulate students' interest and learning capacity?

Teaching, in general and specifically in medical schools, is exposed to the use of new methodologies adapted to current times offering diverse possibilities to meet the students needs. Virtual environments, artificial intelligence (AI) and countless digital content open up the possibilities of establishing new teaching strategies. Nevertheless, there are many other tools to arouse students’ interest and find a direct and attractive application of the contents. Histology is an extensive subject that students generally find arid and do not associate with applicability in their future professional development. In order to motivate the student body, our area included a novel section during the development of the classes that connected the theoretical contents to clinical aspects: “From Histology to Medicine”. In this section, we associate histological alterations with specific clinical cases of diseases. Moreover, clinical cases are introduced whenever there is a need to highlight the basic aspects of histological structures in order to diagnose functional alterations that justify the appearance and/or the disease development. We also consider the need to update the evaluation systems, emphasizing that final test should not define the evaluation of knowledge acquisition by the students.. Ideally, the students should become aware of their learning process as a continuum as well. To this aim, we have implemented activities for the continuous evaluation of students, including both face-to-face (theoretical classes, practices and seminars) and remote tests carried out through the virtual campus. Among all these evaluation activities, we have included tests designed to work in groups of 4-5 students that have to debate and agree on the questions raised. In addition, we encourage the students to express their doubts about the contents. Finally, we proceed to a reasoned correction with all the participants to make them completely aware of their own learning process.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech