PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that many older adults can share in the potential benefits of using a personal digital assistant (PDA), including using the device as a memory aid for addresses and appointments, to improve medication adherence, and as a useful organizational tool and communication ...

The authors investigated whether a new type of medical school curriculum-with problem-based learning, integrated preclinical and clinical phases, and increased levels of contact between students, patients and teachers--is associated with lower levels of students' negative attitudes towards medical training than is a traditional medical school curriculum. This association was found, ...

This paper describes further progress by the Northern Universities SSC Consortium in achieving consensus on the contribution of the Student Selected Components (SSCs) to undergraduate medical courses. Following the identification of common purposes and outcomes, the group has matched these to assessable key tasks which students may undertake in order ...

A major problem for curriculum and course planners is coping simultaneously with the expanding knowledge base and having less time to teach. A widely used solution is to include huge amounts of information in the curriculum. A better solution is to identify a manageable core of relevant knowledge. One way ...

For almost four decades, problem-based learning (PBL) has been the stated cornerstone of learning in many medical schools. Proponents of PBL cite the open nature of the learning experience where students are free to study in depth, unencumbered by the burdens of broad courses based on the memorization of facts; ...

The rapid and effective response to a bioterrorist event requires the coordinated efforts of trained personnel from different agencies. This article describes the design and implementation of a 1-week cross-disciplinary course employing problem-based learning (PBL) for professionals with backgrounds in public health, fire/emergency medical services (EMS), law enforcement, emergency management, ...

This study investigates the effect of curricular change on knowledge integration and reasoning processes during problem-solving by medical students. The curricular change involved the introduction of problem-based, small group tutorials into a conventional health science curriculum (CC). Students at three levels of training were asked to provide diagnostic explanations of ...

In 2000, the Florida State University (FSU) College of Medicine was founded, becoming the first new allopathic medical school in the United States in over 20 years. The new medical school was to use community-based clinical training for the education of its students, create a technology-rich environment, and address primary ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the integrated problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum of the third year medical students of KSU at the Al-Qaseem campus with the traditional discipline-based teaching curriculum of students of Riyadh campus. DESIGN: A comparative cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Al-Qaseem and campuses of King Saud University (KSU). ...

BACKGROUND: A competency based approach to the education of rheumatologists in musculoskeletal ultrasonography (MSK US) ensures standards are documented, transparent, accountable, and defensible, with clear benefit to all stakeholders. Specific competency outcomes will facilitate informed development of a common curriculum and structured programme of training and assessment. OBJECTIVE: To determine ...

OBJECTIVES: Today a great many medical schools have turned to a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching. While PBL has many strengths, effective PBL requires the tutor to provide a high degree of personal attention to the students, which is difficult in the current academic environment of increasing demands on ...

The demand to implement clinical and educational strategies based on evidence has increased in the past two decades. Over a similar time frame, the problem-based learning (PBL) approach has been widely adopted by undergraduate medical schools, in spite of empirical reviews suggesting that its effectiveness may be limited. Students claim ...

PURPOSE: The objective of this work was to assess problem-based learning (PBL) as a method for teaching information and communication technology in medical informatics (MI) courses. A study was conducted in the Schools of Medicine of Rennes and Rouen (France) with third-year medical students. METHODS: The "PBL-in-MI" sessions included a ...

Many U.S. medical schools offer students the opportunity to undertake laboratory or clinical research or another form of scholarly project over the summer months, yet few require this as a prerequisite for graduation, and even fewer provide comprehensive didactic material in preparation for the performance of such a project as ...

Managing a medical school curriculum is a difficult challenge. The body of knowledge is large, diverse, and changing. Continuous oversight is required to ensure the proper balance of learning opportunities, to eliminate redundancies, and to fill in gaps. Within the context of the integrated problem-based learning curriculum at the University ...

When considering implementing integrated curriculum models, such as problem-based learning (PBL), concerns may be expressed about the need for increased staff resources required to deliver tutor-led small group PBL. Less staff intensive ways of supporting PBL need to be explored. We compared the outcomes of a PBL module conducted in ...

This paper describes the introduction of a new elective, "Writing About Medicine," into the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) curriculum, part of a new trend of developing humanities programs at medical schools. This paper will first survey two exemplary programs at other schools, and discuss their impact on students. ...

The evidence base for the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) has never been substantively established, although PBL is a generally accepted approach to learning in health care curricula. PBL is believed to encourage transferable skills, including problem-solving and team-working. PBL was used to deliver a postgraduate research methods module and ...

INTRODUCTION: We describe how the curriculum of community, occupational and family medicine (COFM) has evolved in response to social and educational forces and local health needs. Challenges in the teaching of the curriculum are also discussed. CURRICULUM: The COFM Department aims to produce medical undergraduates and graduates with the skills ...

BACKGROUND: Many UK medical schools have modified their curricula to meet the requirements of the General Medical Council and other external agencies. In particular, efforts have been focused on increasing integration and reducing factual overload through the definition of a core curriculum. Various approaches to curriculum change have been adopted ...

CONTEXT: Problem-based learning (PBL) is widely used in higher education. There is evidence available that students and faculty are highly satisfied with PBL. Nevertheless, in educational practice problems are often encountered, such as tutors who are too directive, problems that are too well-structured, and dysfunctional tutorial groups. PURPOSE: The aim ...

Since the introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) to North American medical education more than 30 years ago, there have been a number of analyses of its educational outcomes. Several authors have suggested that PBL may influence medical students' career choices. The balance of opinion in the pathology literature appears to ...

A case study is used to illustrate how an evaluation strategy was used to assess classroom instructional practices following a multiyear institutional curriculum revision process. From January through April of 2003, twelve faculty in medicine and three faculty in dentistry who taught in the first- and second-year basic science courses ...

To evaluate efficacy of a problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy in preclinical and clinical teaching, test scores of 234 undergraduate dental students from the conventionally taught classes of 2003 and 2004 were compared with scores of 274 dental students from the PBL classes of 2005 and 2006. Although the groups' means ...

In response to a government report, which recommended a substantial increase in the number of medical students in the United Kingdom by 2005, several new medical schools have been set up throughout the country. One such school, the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), recently opened its doors to new ...

OBJECTIVE: Medication compliance is an orphan topic. Training in the understanding and management of noncompliance does not neatly fall within the domain of psychopharmacology, nor does it clearly fit into other core curricula areas, such as clinical interviewing or psychotherapy training. The objective of this article is to increase awareness ...

OBJECTIVE: For a variety of pedagogical, political and financial reasons, there are major problems in achieving effective teaching of cutting-edge psychopharmacology for psychiatric residents. This article focuses on ways to improve the teaching/learning process, in part through the use of structured curricula. The authors review 1) attempted solutions to the ...

OBJECTIVES: To compare the academic performance of students on the previous, classical, discipline- and lecture-based, traditional curriculum with that of subsequent students who followed an innovative, problem- and community-based curriculum. METHODS: This was a retrospective study that analysed the records of students who enrolled on the doctor training programme between ...

Most medical schools now include some component of professionalism in their curriculum, ranging from "white coat" ceremonies to didactic and small-group, case-based discussions. Often this format does not provide a context for the course content nor does it necessarily make the curricular themes relevant to population groups and communities most ...

The aim was to find how to use information and communication technology to present the clinical skills content of an undergraduate medical curriculum. Rapid application design was used to develop the product, and technical action research was used to evaluate the development process. A clinician-educator, two medical students, two computing ...

To identify the content of a psoriasis curriculum for medical students. Literature review and modified Delphi technique. Primary and secondary care in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. 19 dermatologists (7 teaching hospital consultants; 6 consultants in district general hospitals; 6 registrars); 2 general practitioner senior house officers working in dermatology, 5 dermatology ...

In the problem-based learning (PBL) approach to medical education, students are expected to be trained more by applying processes of reasoning than by memorization of facts. In a PBL curriculum, as with others, it is necessary to match the assessment to the learning process. A detailed description of the testing ...

The authors reviewed the content, methods, and overall quality of 21 curricula used in abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Only materials designed for use in middle school grades (fifth to eighth) or with middle school-aged audiences (9-13 years of age), which presented the abstinence message in at least 40% of their content, were ...

BACKGROUND: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a widely acclaimed student-centred learning method. However, there are few reports of its use in the traditional lecture-practical-tutorial model of learning. We used PBL for teaching one module of Physiology to first-year medical undergraduate students who had no prior exposure to PBL. METHODS: One hundred ...

The author discusses an approach to successful curriculum revision that provides faculty with a renewed sense of individual and collective ownership of curriculum change. The framework for curriculum revision includes the components of commitment, change, collaboration, collegiality, consensus, communication, closure, and celebration, and the processes used to actualize these concepts.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to compare the knowledge scores of medical students in Problem-based Learning and traditional curriculum on public health topics. METHODS: We planned a cross-sectional study including the fifth and sixth year medical students of Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey. The fifth year students (PBL ...

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) recognized the impending crisis--a vast nurse leader shortage, especially at the strategic level. UPMC's new development model establishes a dependable leadership pipeline. The model identifies high-potential individuals, verifies required competencies, assesses participants' strengths, and provides a didactic and experiential learning curriculum. Within 2 ...

CONTEXT: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a method of teaching and learning that is used increasingly in medical and health care curricula worldwide. The literature on PBL is considerable and continues to develop. One important aspect of PBL is that students and tutors spend a lot of time together and this ...

Genetic Education for Native Americans (GENA) was a National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)/Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI)-funded educational intervention designed to provide a unique genetics education program for Native American college and university students. A curriculum was developed and implemented in workshops in geographically diverse settings throughout the ...

While Biomedical Engineering Education is thus far undergoing advancement in leading institutions worldwide [1-3], there are many areas of the globe where it is still absent. This article depicts the experience behind the development of a premier comprehensive undergraduate program in Biomedical Engineering in Lebanon and conceivably the Arab world. ...

BACKGROUND: Problem-based learning (PBL) approach for medical education has been in use in Western countries for more than 30 years, but its use in Asian countries is quite recent. Because of cultural differences, the perception of a good tutor from the perspectives of students may be different. DESCRIPTION: Students from ...

The need for physicians to have patient-centered communication skills is reflected in the educational objectives of numerous medical schools' curricula and in the competencies required by groups such as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. An innovative method for teaching communications skills has been developed at the University of ...

Pharmacology is one of the core subjects for further graduation in both preclinical and clinical area. Medical education is being performed either in the "classical" way (lecture based learning--LBL) or in a more advanced form, such as problem based learning (PBL). According to the Medline database, the interest in PBL ...

PURPOSE: The "hidden curriculum" has a powerful influence in shaping medical students' attitudes and behaviors toward patient care. The purpose of this project was to develop and test a tool (the C(3) Instrument) to help educators characterize and understand the hidden curriculum at their own institutions. METHOD: In 2000, the ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a livestock ethics curriculum developed for high school students in agricultural education classes. The curriculum was developed in response to numerous unethical occurrences at major livestock shows in recent years. These have included drug violations, physical alteration of animals, ...

The author, a novice problem-based learning (PBL) advocate in China and a young faculty member of the School of Stomatology at Wuhan University, joined a PBL tutorial group as an observer during his two-month visit at McMaster University. He describes his observations and thoughts as they relate to the current ...

Problem Based Learning (PBL) has been adopted in educational programs in a variety of disciplines, including veterinary medicine. There is a voluminous literature on the subject, but it often remains unclear just what is being done in the name of PBL, and different accounts highlight different, often contradictory, positions on ...

This study considers the measurement of Statistical Literacy understanding that goes beyond the basic chance and data skills and knowledge in the mathematics curriculum. This understanding requires application of mathematical skills in a range of contextual situations and draws on aspects of statistics, such as variation and inference, which may ...

This article reviews the development of problem-based learning (PBL) over the past decade within the context of physiotherapy practice. Although there is an emerging literature in physiotherapy, the research is primarily from medical education. Some of the original claims of superiority of PBL in developing problem-solving and self-directed learning skills ...

OBJECTIVE: To address the need for women's health education by designing, implementing, and evaluating a self-study, web-based women's health curriculum. DESIGN: Cohort of students enrolled in the ambulatory portion of the medicine clerkship with comparison group of students who had not yet completed this rotation. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Third- and fourth-year medical ...