The innovative features of the M.D. program at McMaster University are problem-based learning, small-group tutorials, and the student responsibility for their own educational activities. A survey ascertained the faculty members perceptions about the program. (MLW)

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 faculty of medicine at McMaster University has an approach to medical education which includes self-directed, problem-based, and small-group tutorial learning. There is an emphasis on diagnostic evaluation, selective use of learning resources, and integrated learning and educational planning. (Editor/PG)

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 set of instructional materials for acquisition of clinical reasoning skills through independent study has been developed that uses simulation of patient encounters and addresses both medical and psychosocial issues. Small group instruction with the materials is preferred over individual use. (MSE)

The evolution of Burma's much-needed medical school curriculum for child survival and development is chronicled, including discussion of constraints on and resistance to the curriculum. (MSE)

A model developed in Australia, designed to increase the reliability and validity of traditional final year examinations for medical students, aims to provide a profile of student performance over a range of defined competence categories. The level of competence is that expected of an intern. (Author/LBH)

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 5-week family medicine clerkship is described that uses several innovative techniques: problem-based learning focusing on patient management tutorials; consultation with specialists; supervised patient care and a nursing home inpatient teaching service; and workshops on topics such as office-surgical techniques, practice management, and…

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,…