Against a background of the theoretical basis for the contextual approach to medical education, this paper examines and supports the changes that are occurring in undergraduate medical education throughout the world, before putting up for discussion the suggestion that the changes have not gone far enough. Consideration is given to a model of apprenticeship learning within undergraduate medical...

Competency-based education has become central to the training and assessment of post-graduate medical trainees or residents [1]. In competency-based education, there is a strong focus on outcomes and professional performance. Typically, holistic tasks are used to train, practice and assess the defined outcomes or competencies. In residency training, these tasks are part of the day-to-day clinic...

BACKGROUND Leaders in medicine have called for transformative changes in healthcare to address systems challenges and improve the health of the public. The purpose of this study was to elicit the perspectives of students, faculty physicians and administrators regarding the knowledge and competencies necessary in an undergraduate leadership curriculum. METHODS A mixed-methods study was conduct...

Over the period of a year I have systematically recorded any episodes of continuing medical education (CME) that I have attended, and reflect on the effectiveness of this system in terms of whether it has achieved its objective, that is, has my behaviour changed, and whether the existence of the need to record CME has influenced this effect. I consider which aspects of CME have been most benefi...

In general, physicians' interest in research continues to be a challenge. The lack of research culture is more pronounced in the osteopathic medical profession, which is historically not research oriented. With increasing focus on evidence-based medicine and with the single accreditation system for graduate medical education in motion, growing research and scholarly activities among osteopathic...

The issue of mandatory continuing medical education (CME) is controversial. Traditional measures mandate only attendance, not learning, and have no measurable performance end points. There is no evidence that current approaches to CME, mandatory or voluntary, produce sustainable changes in physician practices or application of current knowledge. Ongoing educational development is an important v...

The use of performance-based assessment has been extended to postgraduate education and practising doctors, despite criticism of validity. While differences in expertise at this level are easily reflected in scores on a written test, these differences are relatively small on performance-based tests. However, scores on written tests and performance-based tests of clinical competence generally sh...

Although problem-based learning (PBL) has become one pedagogical approach to gain currency in recent decades, its foundational underpinnings have remained obscure. This investigation seeks to elucidate the theoretical framework or assumptions upon which PBL operates. We have situated core PBL principles in the larger context of health science education, which underwent dramatic changes at the b...

INTRODUCTION In mastering competencies, it is a challenge to create training sessions which acknowledge individual students' needs and are logistically feasible in the medical master's program. METHODS Symposia were implemented in the medical master's program to provide knowledge and training of skills in a number of topics, providing a positive contribution to students' competencies and pers...

As we leave the 20th century, continuing medical education faces many challenges in relation to its effectiveness, efficiency and quality. The young and promising Saudi Council for Health Specialties produces a document on accreditation of continuing medical education, which indicates its interest in this vital subject. This paper aims to enrich the approach to continuing medical education in S...