Evaluation of problem-based learning in medical students' education

In traditional medical education systems much interest is placed on the cramming of basic and clinical facts without considering their applicability in the future professional career. The aim of this study is to evaluate a novice medical training method (problem-based learning) as compared to the contemporary teacher-based medical education or traditional methods.

Selection of the study subjects was done through simple sampling and according to the division of medical students introduced from Medical Faculty to the Pediatrics Department with no personal involvement. 120 medical students were assigned to 8 groups of 15 students each. For four months, 4 groups were trained with traditional method and 4 other groups underwent problem-based learning method on selected subject materials. In each method, a pre-course test at the beginning and a post-course test at the end of each course were given to each group. The questionnaire used in this study as the instrument was composed of 39 questions, 37 multiple choice questions and two short answer questions. Three professors of pediatric gastroenterologist took part in the training. Two of these professors were responsible for solving task training method. The third professor used traditional teacher-centered methodology to eliminate any possible bias. Scores obtained from these tests were analyzed using paired t-test and independent t-test. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered as significant.

The scores of the students undergoing the traditional method were 14.70±3.03 and 21.20±4.07 in the first and second test, respectively. In problem-based learning, the scores were 15.82±3.29 in the first and 27.52±4.72 in the second test. There was a significant difference between the mean scores of post-course exams of the two groups (p=0.001), while no significant difference was observed between the mean scores of pre-course exams of the groups (p=0.550).

It may be concluded that problem-based learning method leads to a significant increase in learning and recalling output compared to the traditional method. Given the evolving medical education in the country's medical schools toward problem-based learning, it is suggested that the grounds be laid so that this change will take place based on thought, principles and problem solving.