Problem-based Learning in Medical Schools: A new approach

Abstract

Problem-based learning offers many advantages. The technique, however, has not been widely adopted because of barriers to its acceptance. These barriers have been overcome in a traditional medical school and in a circumscribed subject in the curriculum—namely physiology. The intellectual skills involved in clinical problem-solving have been specified and the students have been made aware of the process. Clinical gathering of data and treatment have been excluded from the problem-solving. A feature of the approach is that problems have been created which become progressively more difficult and more complex. It is concluded that the teacher should not be daunted by the introduction of problem-based learning: the process is not complex, is feasible and the results are rewarding.