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As a pilot project, senior German programme medical students at the University of Pécs organised a signal transduction workshop for their younger peers to make the complex topic of signal transduction accessible in an illustrative, interactive, and memorable way. Encouraged by the initiative’s success, they plan to hold similar sessions in the future, possibly also in English, Hungarian, and German.
The workshop titled “Cellular WhatsApp: From Ligand to Response,” held on March 10, focused on understanding the basic mechanisms of intercellular communication. Signal transduction is fundamental to numerous physiological and pathophysiological processes; the goal of the workshop was to provide participants with comprehensive, practical knowledge of this field.
The session, held in German, was designed to fill a gap in the curriculum. As we learned from the organisers, signal transduction is a central topic in medical studies, running through the entire curriculum from cell biology in the first year, through biochemistry in the second year, all the way to pharmacology in the fourth year. However, many students are unaware of its significance, and they often study the topic solely to pass the molecular cell biology exam, frequently under time pressure and not effectively enough. In later semesters, this basic knowledge is assumed, and students are expected to build upon it with additional medical concepts, which can easily lead to academic overload. The goal was therefore to reinforce or review the basics, thereby helping students successfully complete the semester.
The programme began with a structured theoretical introduction held by Dr. Balázs Radnai, senior lecturer in the UPMS Department of Pathobiochemistry. After clarifying the basic concepts, the students continued working in small groups in stations. The various types of tasks—multiple-choice quizzes, assembling signalling cascades, classifying signalling proteins, and comparing receptor types—served both to revise and actively assess knowledge.
The learning objectives included understanding the basic mechanisms of signal transduction, reviewing the main signalling pathways, applying this knowledge to clinical questions, and developing teamwork and problem-solving skills. Motivation was enhanced by a moderated knowledge competition that placed primary emphasis on collaboration.
To conclude the workshop, the main signalling pathways were linked to clinical examples, highlighting how molecular mechanisms are directly connected to diseases and therapeutic options.
Based on the feedback they received, the initiative was a success and provided students with a useful resource, so they would like to continue offering this opportunity in the coming semesters, possibly in all three languages. The plan is to expand the workshop into two 1.5-hour sessions: the first session will consist of a comprehensive revision, while the second will feature a competitive knowledge assessment.