Book Description

In the next century, society will demand doctors with different competencies and skills. For example, doctors will be expected to cope efficiently with the information overload, to take advantage of new technologies including information technology, to work in a multiracial community, and always to work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Modern insights into the nature of teaching and learning and the results from experiments with new instructional methods and approaches are now implemented in medical education to meet these demands. With reference to a conference organised by the Faculty of Medicine of Maastricht University, this book provides a better insight into the possibilities of new educational methods (in particular Problem-Based Learning) appropriate for the training of new doctors. Reports are presented on a number of initiatives, particularly from Europe, to change medical education. Many areas are covered, including methods and strategies for implementing change, curriculum and course development, clinical training and skills, problem-based and community-based learning, assessment and evaluation, and attitude and faculty development. Following the example developed in Canada for health professions education, the Faculty of Medicine of Maastricht University is the first school in Europe to adopt the method of Problem-Based Learning. The staff of the Faculty of Medicine developed and adjusted the Problem-Based Learning theory especially for the needs of the European labour market and has since put into practice. Since then this method has rapidly conquered the rest of the world, finding many supporters among different academic courses. In brief, this book constitutes a preliminary report of what the 21st century will bring to medical education.