Augmenting Flexnerism Via Twitterism: Need for Integrating Social Media Application in Blueprinting Pedagogical Strategies for Undergraduate Medical Education

Background Flexnerism, or “competency-based medical education,” advocates that formal analytic reasoning, the kind of rational thinking fundamental to the basic sciences, especially the natural sciences, should be the foundation of physicians’ intellectual training. The complexity of 21st century health care requires rethinking of current (medical) educational paradigms. In this “Millennial Era,” promulgation of the tenets of Flexnerism in undergraduate medical education requires a design and blueprint of innovative pedagogical strategies, as the targeted learners are millennials (designated as generation-Y medical students). Objective The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to identify the specific social media app platforms that are selectively preferred by generation-Y medical students in undergraduate medical education. In addition, we aimed to explore if these preferred social media apps can be used to design an effective pedagogical strategy in order to disseminate course learning objectives in the preclinical phase of a spiral curriculum. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted by distributing a 17-item questionnaire among the first- and second-year medical students in the preclinical phase at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Science. Results The study identified YouTube and WhatsApp as the social media app platforms preferred by generation-Y medical students in undergraduate medical education. This study also identified the differences between female and male generation-Y medical students in terms of the use of social media apps in medical education, which we believe will assist instructors in designing pedagogical strategies to integrate social media apps. In addition, we determined the perceptions of generation-Y medical students on the implementation of social media apps in medical education. The pedagogical strategy designed using social media apps and implemented in the Biochemistry course was well accepted by generation-Y medical students and can be translated to any course in the preclinical phase of the medical curriculum. Moreover, the identified limitations of this study provide an understanding of the gaps in research in the integration of social media apps in a medical curriculum catering to generation-Y medical students. Conclusions 21st century medical education requires effective use of social media app platforms to augment competency-based medical education: Augmentation of Flexnerism in the current scenario is possible only by the adaptation of Twitterism.


RESPONSE
First, we will like to thank the reviewer for the positive and stimulating comment.
The manuscript was drafted in a way such that the study observations are supported by learning theories, where ever applicable. Further, our attempt has also been to provide the reader with snippets and insights from similar studies in literature, which as the reviewer has identified "isn't a frequently covered topic". This added to the bulk of the manuscript. Therefore, we have edited specific sections of the manuscript to reduce the number of words, but in a way such that the flow, understandability and readability of the manuscript isn't affected. The previous version of the manuscript contained 8080 words in text, whereas the revised version now has 7317 words (reduction of 763 words). These edits and changes introduced in the revised version of the manuscript are indicated using track changes. We will like the manuscript to be published as a single article, without breaking it down into 2 or 3 separate articles, as in its present form the manuscript provides the reader with a comprehensive review highlighting the gaps with regards to the use of social media application (SMA) in the design of pedagogical strategies, and dissemination of knowledge in undergraduate medical education. This we believe will provide impetus for initiating new research in the domain of "SMA integrated pedagogical strategies" in medical education, concomitantly increasing the number of sites for the article.

RESPONSE
We thank the reviewer for the encouraging and motivating insight.

RESPONSE
We thank the reviewer for the comment. We do concur that the manuscript in comparison to a normal article is a bit lengthy. In the revised version we have edited specific sections of the manuscript in a way such that the flow, understandability and readability of the manuscript isn't affected. The previous version of the manuscript contained 8080 words in text, whereas the revised version now has 7317 words (reduction of 763 words). These edits and changes introduced in the revised version of the manuscript are indicated using track changes. Further as indicated in our response to GENERAL COMMENTS, in its present form the manuscript provides the reader with a comprehensive review highlighting the gaps with regards to the use of social media application (SMA) in the design of pedagogical strategies, and dissemination of knowledge in undergraduate medical education. This we believe will provide impetus for initiating new research in the domain of "SMA integrated pedagogical strategies" in medical education. This endeavor although has also added to the bulk of the manuscript, but we firmly believe will be of benefit to the medical education community.

RESPONSE
We thank the reviewer for the positive and inspiring insight.
Please do not hesitate to communicate with me, if your office requires further information or clarification The manuscript was fast-tracked for review.
Looking forward to receiving a positive response from your side at the earliest.
Thanking you for your time and Kind Consideration,

Regards and Best Wishes
Yajnavalka Banerjee Corresponding Author