Patient-centred learning—back to the future

Abstract

Background: Historically, medical students learned the art and science of medicine from the patients they encountered. While students were highly motivated to learn through this approach, the serendipitous nature of real practice and the variability in the skills of their teachers proved to be liabilities for learning. This apprenticeship-style education was replaced by a more formal didactic curriculum during the twentieth century.

Description: The power of computer technology enables medical educators to recapture the authenticity of patient-centred learning (PCL) through the creation of a virtual practice populated by a panel of virtual patients. In contrast to traditional problem-based learning cases, PCL virtual patients return for multiple visits with their student-doctors, demonstrating how diseases change over time, interact with other diseases and risk factors, and are influenced by psychosocial factors.

Conclusions: New approaches to pedagogy embodied in patient-centred learning allow the curriculum to be organized around the patients, both real and simulated.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen R. Smith

STEPHEN R. SMITH, MD, MPH, is Associate Dean and Professor of Family Medicine, Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

John Cookson

JOHN COOKSON is a Professor and currently Director of the Medical Education Unit at the Hull York Medical School, one of the newest in the UK. Previously he was consultant physician and Professor of Clinical Education at the University of Leicester.

Jean Mckendree

JEAN MCKENDREE is a cognitive psychologist who has worked in industry and academe researching learning and memory. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at Hull York Medical School.

Ronald M. Harden

RONALD M. HARDEN is Director of Education for the International Virtual Medical School (IVIMEDS). He was formerly Director of the Centre for Medical Education, Postgraduate Dean and Teaching Dean at the University of Dundee, UK.