The relation between understanding and practice in problem-based medical education

The importance of conceptions of the soundness of medical education are considered briefly. This leads to the question of misconceptions. A pervasive misconception characterized by the separation of understanding from action and practice, illustrated by two examples from the literature on medical education, is discussed. Questions as to the soundness of medical education are usually approached in terms of empirical inquiry; this paper takes a different, complementary, approach. Five medical faculties in Australia, Sweden and the UK. Problem-based medical course staff and students. The practical effect of the separation between action and practice is illustrated in the question of problem-solving as conceived in transitional semiproblem-based curricula in common with traditional curricula, limiting the development of sound professional education. The centrality of the misconception generates a widespread approach to the curriculum, described as the 'Convenient peg' model. In contrast, the 'Growing web' model enables the design of rigorous problem-based curricula which acknowledge that action and practice are necessarily related to understanding in a way unrecognized in the 'Convenient peg' model. Consequently, rigorous problem-based curricula embody a thoroughly integrated curriculum enabling improved medical education.