Twelve tips on how to survive PBL as a medical student

Starting medical school can be both exciting and daunting. This is particularly the case when the style of learning is different from that which has been experienced previously. For many students, their first experience of learning through a problem-based learning (PBL) approach is when they commence their medical student programme.

This article provides 12 tips on how to survive PBL as a medical student.

The tips have been based on the authors' experience of PBL and the current literature evidence base. A chronological order was used for the tips to guide the reader, whether student or PBL facilitator, through tips for the various stages of the PBL process.

These 12 tips provide students and PBL facilitators with 12 practical tips to help them to realise the learning process and rationale for PBL. The tips commence with surviving the initial PBL sessions and continue through the process, finishing with the use of PBL in the clinical setting where the written scenarios are replaced by patient case histories.

Using a PBL approach facilitates the learning of clinical and science knowledge in context through clinical scenarios, whilst working and learning together as a group. It is envisaged that these tips will be beneficial for PBL facilitators working with students that are new to PBL, and for the PBL students themselves.