A study of the characteristics and beliefs of medical college faculty undertaking problem-based, small-group teaching methods found (1) adoption of the innovation was influenced by perceived need for change and perceived benefits of that change, (2) adopters tended toward institutional collegiality, and (3) colleague contacts were influential.…

A series of simulated patient experiences were presented to two groups of five students concurrently with a regularly scheduled integrated course in neuroscience. Results showed increased motivation, problem solving, and self-study skills in the experimental groups as compared to the control groups, which were also enrolled in the neuroscience…

The Portable Patient Problem Pack (P4), a method of simulating a patient's problem in a card deck format, is designed to develop the student's problem-solving or diagnostic skills in a manner consistent with the skills of the practicing clinician. Its effectiveness at McMaster University is reported. (LBH)

Dartmouth Medical School offers a problem-based internal medicine clerkship structured to give students an opportunity to think critically through real patient cases with unknown diagnoses and allow faculty to evaluate students' problem-solving skills, clinical judgments, and reasoning without the influence of residents. (MSE)

A study using problem-based, small-group techniques drawing on adult learning theories suggests this is a feasible approach to continuing medical education. Physicians use current and previous experience in the learning process and integrate new information with peer support, while the teacher facilitates learning and monitors the group process.…

A problem-based continuing medical education program to improve the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism by primary care physicians used a computer-simulated patient, individualized feedback, and a follow-up reading. Participating physicians felt the program improved their performance, but the results could not be substantiated. (MSE)

Fifteen studies comparing various educational outcomes of problem-based, community-oriented medical curricula with those of conventional programs are reviewed. The problems inherent in comparative research at the curriculum level are discussed. (MSE)

A required fourth-year course integrating the social sciences and humanities into the required clinical medical curriculum at Dartmouth Medical School is intended to prepare students to deal with the social and humanistic issues involved in medical practice, including law, ethics, economics, and social anthropology. (MSE)

The key faculty teaching skills needed at McMaster University are those of facilitating problem-based, self-directed learning in small groups. A series of interdisciplinary workshops, offered to the school's medical faculty and to faculty from other health sciences centers to help them improve their skills, allows for direct observation, practice,…