Learning in practice
BMJ 2004;329:92-94 (10 July),
Learning in practiceReform of undergraduate medical teaching in the United Kingdom: a triumph of evangelism over common sense
Gareth Williams, dean1, Alice Lau, fourth year medical student1
1 Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH
Correspondence to: G Williams Gareth.Williams@bris.ac.uk There is an urgent need to test whether the current reforms in training of doctors are the right answer to the shortcomings of traditional training
The past decade has seen concerted attempts to revolutionise undergraduate medical training in the United Kingdom. Advocates for change have claimed that traditional teaching is old fashioned and too detailed and produces doctors with poor interpersonal skills (box). Key reforms, endorsed by the UK General Medical Council (GMC), included the deliberate reduction of factual knowledge and the replacement of didactic teaching with problem based learning (PBL) directed by the students themselves.1 About a third of UK medical schools have now embraced these principles.
This strategy is entirely untested in UK medical students, and no evidence exists that it will produce better doctors. Here, we argue that the "new" ideology may actually damage medical training in this country and that educational reform is being driven by enthusiasm for change rather than by rational responses to the shortcomings of traditional curriculums.
By 2030, the number of deaths resulting from tobacco use will reach 7 million a year in the developing world, the authors of a review in Thorax have estimated (2004;59:623-30). (more in the hyperlink)
Learning in practiceReform of undergraduate medical teaching in the United Kingdom: a triumph of evangelism over common sense
Gareth Williams, dean1, Alice Lau, fourth year medical student1
1 Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH
Correspondence to: G Williams Gareth.Williams@bris.ac.uk There is an urgent need to test whether the current reforms in training of doctors are the right answer to the shortcomings of traditional training
The past decade has seen concerted attempts to revolutionise undergraduate medical training in the United Kingdom. Advocates for change have claimed that traditional teaching is old fashioned and too detailed and produces doctors with poor interpersonal skills (box). Key reforms, endorsed by the UK General Medical Council (GMC), included the deliberate reduction of factual knowledge and the replacement of didactic teaching with problem based learning (PBL) directed by the students themselves.1 About a third of UK medical schools have now embraced these principles.
This strategy is entirely untested in UK medical students, and no evidence exists that it will produce better doctors. Here, we argue that the "new" ideology may actually damage medical training in this country and that educational reform is being driven by enthusiasm for change rather than by rational responses to the shortcomings of traditional curriculums.
By 2030, the number of deaths resulting from tobacco use will reach 7 million a year in the developing world, the authors of a review in Thorax have estimated (2004;59:623-30). (more in the hyperlink)
posted by Aloyzio Achutti | 4:52 PM
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