To assess whether a practical workshop would enhance a cohort of first year medical students’ competency in comprehension and interpretation of Gram stain’s results, subjects were tested using a quiz, and mean score performances were compared to other cohorts of students taking a traditional lecture or small focus group discussion (Fig 2). On average, the workshop cohort demonstrated a significantly higher score (mean: 9.33; range: 7–11) than the discussion (mean: 7.57; range: 6–10) (P < 0.01) and lecture (mean: 7.4; range: 5–9) (P < 0.01) cohorts. There was no difference in score between the discussion and lecture groups. Notably, in the workshop group, there were 5 students with ≥ 10 correct questions whereas only 1 student in the discussion and none in the lecture groups had a similar number of correct questions.