FIMA Year Book 2009 - Federation of Islamic Medical Associations

Problem Based Learningreviewed the evidence for and againstproblem based learning, (14-16) , and inspite of semantic difficulties, differentstudy designs, confounding variables,and different interpretations of theevidence, several benefits have beenidentified. The identified benefits of PBLcan be summarized as follows:• Promotes deep, rather than surface,learning• Enhances and retains self directedskills• Learning environment is morestimulating• Promotes interaction betweenstudents and staff• Promotes collaboration betweendisciplines—for example, basic andclinical scientists• More enjoyable for students andteachers• Promotes retention of knowledge• Improves motivation, (17)Some of these benefits may beindistinguishable from those relatedto other curricular innovations.Maudsley, (17) , however, considersproblem based learning to havesurvived unprecedented scrutiny. Aboveadvantages have been demonstratedseveral times , in different studiesconducted in different countrieswith differing systems of medicalinstruction, (17) . Several disadvantageshave also been identified includingthe initial costs and human resourcerequired for the start up and maintenanceof PBL systems, excessive demands onstaff time and efficiency, increased stressdue to higher learning needs on bothstudents and faculty, relatively reducedacquisition of knowledge of purebasic sciences, and implementationdifficulties when class sizes are large orwhere there is an absolute or relative lackof enthusiasm among the implementingmembers of faculty and staff for theapproach, (16) . Finucane and colleaguesprovide a balanced consideration ofthe advantages and disadvantages ofadopting a curriculum for problembased learning, (18) . There is as yet noconcrete and mutually agreed uponevidence that graduates of problembased medical instruction programsmake better, worse or exceptionalteachers or practitioners in the longterm.It is easy to gather from abovebackground information that PBL,although a very elegant and attractivephilosophy of medical instruction,nonetheless comes at a price; bothliterally and metaphorically speaking.Following is a list of pre-requisitesto the institution of PBL as the maineducational strategy compiled as aconsensus document in 1993 WorldSummit on Medical Education ofthe World Federation for MedicalEducation, (19, 20) :• Class size limited to 100 students, (20)• “Small Groups” of students with,preferably 6 students per group, (20)• Infrastructure support with tutorialrooms, computers, libraries and skill(21, 22)labs,• Faculty commitment withsubsequent integration of medicalcurriculum PRIOR to placing PBL asFIMA YearBook 200950