Objective

2

To investigate the application effect of situational simulation combined with the debriefing-gather-analyze-summarize (GAS) method in the teaching of prenatal genetic counseling.

Methods

2

A total of 30 medical students of the five- and eight-year programs in the classes of 2017 and 2018 who received genetic counseling training in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from May 2021 to May 2022 were selected as research subjects

and situational simulation combined with the debriefing-GAS method was used for the teaching of prenatal genetic counseling. Assessment was performed by the teacher to evaluate the change in genetic counseling abilities during the teaching process

and a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the degree of satisfaction with teaching among the students. SPSS 26.0 software was used for data analysis; normally distributed continuous data were expressed as mean±standard deviation

non-normally distributed continuous data were expressed as

M(min-max)

and categorical data were expressed as frequency and rate; the paired samples

t

-test was used for comparison of assessment scores before and after teaching.

Results

2

After teaching

there were significant increases in the assessment scores of genetic counseling (74.5±18.6 points vs. 87.2±14.5 points

t

=4.10

P

<

0.001) and comprehensive abilities such as clinical ability (35.4±9.6 points vs. 41.1±6.9 points

t

=3.72

P

=0.001)

doctor-patient communication (17.5±4.6 points vs. 20.8±3.8 points

t

=4.34

P

<

0.001)

professional literacy (11.0±2.5 points vs. 12.5±2.3 points

t

=2.89

P

=0.007)

teamwork (3.5±1.0 points vs. 4.2±0.8 points

t

=3.67

P

=0.001)

and organizational effectiveness (7.1±2.0 points vs. 8.3±1.7 points

t

=2.94

P

=0.006). The questionnaire survey showed that the degree of satisfaction among students was rated above satisfaction for the reasonability of the implementation process and links of genetic counseling teaching [3.0 (2.0-4.0) points]

teaching quality [3.5 (2.0-4.0) points]

whether the teaching model could effectively increase the interest and initiative in learning [4.0 (3.0-4.0) points]

the improvement in theoretical knowledge [4.0 (3.0-4.0) points]

communication skills in genetic counseling [4.0 (2.0-4.0) points]

and the understanding of related techniques and application prospect [3.0 (2.0-4.0) points]

. However

two students (6.7%) thought that this teaching model could not efficiently reach teaching objectives

since the teaching process was slightly complicated.

Conclusion

2

Situational simulation combined with the debriefing-GAS method has achieved a good effect in the teaching of prenatal genetic counseling and can help undergraduates to master the theoretical knowledge of prenatal genetic counseling and improve their comprehensive clinical abilities

with a relatively high degree of satisfaction

and therefore

it holds promise for clinical application.