title: Developing students' cognitive skills in a problem-based surgery clerkship.
abstract: In 1989-90, 57 students in a new program for the third-year surgery clerkship at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine participated either in a control group (22 students) receiving a traditional method of instruction (Socratic instruction, SI) or in an experimental group (35 students) taking part in problem-based learning (PBL) sessions. The two groups' performances on six evaluative instruments designed to test either their factual knowledge or their knowledge application (i.e., clinical problem-solving skills) were compared. The measures of factual knowledge were associated with higher scores for the SI group on two quizzes; scores were not significantly different on another quiz and on a cumulative final examination. The measures of knowledge application (administered at the end of the clerkship) were associated with higher scores for the PBL group: scores were significantly higher on a modified essay examination and approached significance on a standardized-patient examination. The authors conclude that their results (1) have important similarities to those of previous research suggesting that a PBL format is essentially equivalent to a traditional curricular format in improving students' factual knowledge and (2) support the hypothesis that PBL is superior in improving clinical problem-solving skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000379:methods*; D003071:Cognition; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D007629:Kentucky; D007858:Learning; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*