GCU News Bureau
GCU alumni Thomas Varkey, John Varkey and Zachary Merhavy are co-authors of a paper, “Learning or Memorization: Self-Directed Medical School Curriculum and the Dangers of Overemphasizing Student-Selected Ancillary Resources,” in the March 1 issue of the Galician Medical Journal.
It is a response to an opinion article that addresses the decrease in students attending lectures and engaging in standard curriculum at medical institutions. The opinion article suggests incorporating student-developed didactic resources instead of continuing to use standard curriculum.
The response paper suggests, instead, that lectures should be modified to encourage attendance by increasing useful “clinical pearls” and hints on how to best understand the material and provide practice problems or other self-directed testing methodology to increase student learning and retention.
Thomas Varkey, a 2017 GCU biology/pre-med graduate, is a GCU adjunct professor and a medical student at the University of Texas Dell Medical School in Austin.
John Varkey graduated from GCU in 2020 with a degree in electrical/electronics engineering and is a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame.
Merhavy, a 2018 GCU biology/pre-med graduate, is a medical student at the Ross University School of Medicine, based in Barbados.
