A number of medical schools use PBL, but the way it's implemented differs significantly from school to school. At HYMS, we use the 'guided discovery' model, which means you always have the guidance of an experienced tutor to make sure you're learning the right information at the right depth and breadth.
- PBL groups: You'll meet at the start of the week with a group of about eight other students plus your facilitator, sharing a room as your workbase. This same group will work together every week for the whole year, which means that you'll get to know each other and understand how to work effectively together. Each week, all the PBL groups in your year will be working on the same cases.
- Virtual patients: With guidance from your facilitator, you'll tackle problems raised by 'virtual patients' in a fictional medical setting. Each new topic will be introduced to your group through these virtual patients. For instance, starting work on the respiratory and circulatory systems, you'll meet Harry Flemming, a heavy smoker with a persistent, hacking cough, and Hilary Jones, a student whose voice has become hoarse.
- Exploring the problem: The aim of your first session won't be to solve these patients' problems, but rather to find out what you need to know to understand the problem fully. You'll work as a group to identify all the issues or learning outcomes that each problem raises. Then, for most of the rest of the week, you'll explore these issues through plenary sessions, resource sessions, clinical skills teaching, clinical placement and your own individual study -- all closely related to the topic you're working on.
- Consolidating what you've learned: Later in the week, your group will meet again with your facilitator to share and discuss what each of you has discovered, consolidating the key information.
PBL at HYMS is led by specialist facilitators. Each facilitator works with the same group throughout the year, getting to know you and guiding your learning. Our facilitators are all experienced clinicians who will offer you excellent support and guidance as you adapt to new ways of learning at university.
Your PBL facilitator will also be your personal tutor, so you'll always have a familiar face to turn to for advice about any issues which arise -- personal, academic or professional.
Your learning each week will be supported by plenaries (lectures), workshops and resource sessions, all integrated closely with clinical skills sessions and clinical placements in both hospitals and general practice. You will also be guided by our detailed course materials, including a detailed study guide for each topic you cover.
Medical education has changed significantly over the past twenty years, and this is reflected in the design of our course.
- Skills for ongoing learning: Since scientific knowledge continues to expand at enormous speed, keeping pace with this is a huge challenge for today's medical professionals at all stages of their career. So clinical reasoning, critical thinking and ongoing self-directed learning skills will be crucial to your success as a doctor. PBL helps you to develop all these skills.
- Integrated clinical context: Because your learning is contextualised around patients and clinical issues from the very beginning, you'll always know exactly what you're learning and why it's relevant. Traditional subject boundaries are removed, allowing you to apply your knowledge right from the outset and integrate your studies with your clinical experience too.
- Enjoyable: PBL is challenging, engaging, sociable and fun! Because you'll be learning actively throughout the year, you'll find yourself more easily recalling what you've studied -- so there should be no nasty shocks when the exams come around.