Innovation in medical postgraduate education: a pilot study

Although widely criticized for its didactical inadequacy, the accepted form for medical postgraduate training is still the symposium. One of its great deficiencies is the inability for participants to put new (scientific) findings into a personal medical context by means of discussion and reflection. To meet the didactical demands an innovative approach to postgraduate education was developed and tested with gynaecologist as teachers and general practitioners as participants. The first results with five courses are very positive: in comparison to the symposium, the new approach stimulates internalisation of provided knowledge much more, information retention is much higher and the reactions of participants are overwhelmingly enthusiastic. A short outline of the didactic model and its procedures is provided.