@article{ref1,
title="The effectiveness of functional exercises for teaching method disaster medicine to medical students",
journal="Curēus",
year="2021",
author="Chou, Wei-Kuo and Cheng, Ming-Tai and Lin, Chien-Hao and Shih, Fuh-Yuan",
volume="13",
number="5",
pages="e15151-e15151",
abstract="Introduction Functional exercises are effective for testing disaster management training. Previously, we found that functional exercises promote student engagement and improve the perception of learning after exercise. <br><br>OBJECTIVE The study objective is to investigate whether functional exercise is effective for teaching disaster medicine. <br><br>METHODS Students who partook in a two-day course of disaster medicine were recruited. The course consisted of lectures and workshops followed by a half-day functional exercise and was designed based on four core competency domains which included major disaster medicine concepts. After the lectures and workshops, participants completed a test to assess their knowledge of the core competency domains and a questionnaire to evaluate their willingness to pursue further training and participate in a disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) and their interest in disaster exercises. The functional exercise involved the scenario of an earthquake and mass-casualty incident and participants acted as DMAT members in the exercise. A post-exercise debrief was conducted by the evaluators to discuss performance and evaluate the results of the exercise. Participants then completed the same tests and questionnaires as before the exercise. <br><br>RESULTS Ninety-seven students were recruited, 72 of which were medical students. Pre- and post-exercise tests and questionnaires were completed by 48. We found disaster scene safety knowledge to be significantly improved after the functional exercise. Students' willingness for further training and participation in a DMAT as well as their interest in disaster training was high before and after the exercise. <br><br>CONCLUSION Disaster scene safety is a vital element of disaster medicine training but it is difficult to teach. Functional exercises represent a good tool for this purpose and can maintain enthusiasm for learning and participating in disaster medicine-related activities.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2168-8184",
doi="10.7759/cureus.15151",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.15151"
}