In teaching of experiments for medical students, by using the isolation of mononuclear cells and identification of B lymphocytes, an experiment was developed that integrated biochemistry, cytology, and immunology techniques, from which the students performed a series of operations including spleen separation, isolating mononuclear cells, and…

Medical school education should foster creativity by enabling students to become "makers" who prototype and design. Healthcare professionals and students experience pain points on a daily basis, but are not given the tools, training, or opportunity to help solve them in new, potentially better ways. The student physician of the future…

Because jigsaw puzzles are fun, and challenging, students will endure and discover that persistence and grit are rewarded. Importantly, play and fun have a biological place just like sleep and dreams. Students also feel a sense of accomplishment when they have completed a puzzle. Importantly, the reward of mastering a challenge builds confidence…

Students are naturally curious and inquisitive with powerful intrinsic motives to probe, learn, and understand their world. Accordingly, class activities must capitalize on this inherently energetic and curious nature so that learning becomes a lifelong activity where students take initiative for learning, are skilled in learning, and want to…

The teaching of bioethics and its importance in clinical relationships is to a certain extent complicated when we address students of medicine, young people who are more used to dealing with and solving strictly clinical problems. Informed Consent is one of the aspects of professional practice that is generally and widely accepted in Western…

A course in system dynamics has been included in the first year of our university's six-year medical curriculum. System Dynamics is a discipline that facilitates the modelling, simulation and analysis of a wide range of problems in terms of two fundamental concepts viz. rates and levels. Many topics encountered in the medical school curriculum,…

A primary driver for pursuing the development of technology based adaptive tutoring is an attempt to replicate the effects of one-to-one tutoring with human tutors (Bloom, 1984). This paper situates the discussion of adaptive tutoring in the context of a theory-driven approach to the design of specific cognitive tools. Different methods exist to…

This paper describes a tutorial programme developed at the University of Western Australia (UWA) to enhance medical students' learning processes within problem-based learning contexts. The programme encourages students to use more effective learning approaches by scaffolding the development of effective problem-solving strategies, and by reducing…

The development of generic capabilities or graduate attributes in communication, teamwork, critical analysis of information, problem solving and ethical practice is widely recognised as a desired outcome of higher education. This emphasis on generic capabilities has emerged despite ongoing debates about the concept and development of such…

This paper describes the design and development of an instructional planner for an intelligent tutoring system for cardiovascular physiology that assists medical students to learn the causal relationships between the parameters of the circulatory system, to understand how a negative feedback system works, and to solve problems involving…

Bayes' theorem in the diagnostic context is reviewed, and a cognitive bias reported subsequent to Detmer's review is described, along with a demonstration of this bias with advanced medical students. Some of the implications for teaching of diagnosis are explored. (Author/MLW)

A clinical decision-making simulation that helps students understand the relationship between psychosocial factors and medical problem-solving is described. A group of medical students and one faculty member comprise a selection committee to agree on the order in which four patients will be selected for renal dialysis. (MLW)

The structure and the development of an internal medicine clerkship designed to promote proficiency in the process of clinical reasoning is described. A "student ward" offers a structured environment where the emphasis is on in-depth clinical exposure and the acquisition of clinical knowledge. (Author/MLW)

Two methods of assessing medical students' problem-solving skills were compared in actual use: a modified essay question and a structured oral examination based on it. The reliability and validity of each were found to be similar. (MSE)

A course in therapeutic decision-making, designed by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is described. Goals were to introduce the student to a rational method of making therapeutic decisions and to give the student experience in formulating therapeutic plans. (MLW)