Modified Socratic Method (planned and executed by Takada) for medical education: Grade II Acute Cholecystitis of Tokyo Guidelines 2018 as an example case

BACKGROUND Socratic method, which is an educational method to promote critical thinking through a dialogue, has never been practiced in a large number of people at the academic societies. METHODS Modified Socratic method was performed for the first time as an educational seminar using an example case of moderate acute cholecystitis based on the evidence described in Tokyo Guidelines 2018. We adopted a method that Takada had been modifying for many years: the instructor first knows the degree of recognition of the audience, then the instructor gives a lecture in an easy-to-understand manner and receives questions from the audience, followed by repeated questions and answers toward a common recognition. RESULTS Using slides, video, and an answer pad, 281 participants including the audience, instructors and moderators came together to repeatedly ask and answer questions in the five sessions related to the case scenario. The recognition rate of the topic of Critical View of Safety increased significantly before vs after this method (53.0% vs 90.3%). The seminar had been successfully performed by receiving a lot of praise from the participants. CONCLUSION This educational method is considered to be adopted by many academic societies in the future as an effective educational method.