Regular scientific paper reading as an approach to improve the outcome of bioinformatics teaching to graduate students of medical majors

Since the elucidation of the double helix structure of DNA molecule and its role of coding for genetic information, rapid progress of biomedical science including the sequencing of macromolecules in the living system has been witnessed. The technique has allowed the study field to evolve from single genes to genome in species. With demand of deposit and analysis of data obtained, a new science bioinformatics has been formed by integration of computer science and biology. Bioinformatics has found wide application in research of different disciplinary in medical science. To facilitate the grasp of its basic theory and practical application by the postgraduate students at the medical school, regular reading of relevant publications has been proposed as an approach to improve the quality of teaching, and its outcome has been evaluated by comparing the scores earned from the identical test papers. The students acquired the designed intervention had higher score in average statistically with p<0.01.