title: Facilitation of problem finding among first year medical school students undergoing problem-based learning.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adaptation to problem-based learning (PBL) is a difficult process for high school graduates who are not used to self-directed learning, especially in the freshmen year of medical school. The difficulty includes finding problems from a given case.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Evaluate the effect of an intervention to facilitate case-based problem finding among medical school freshmen undergoing a PBL tutorial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical school freshmen in 2000 (nonintervened group) and 2001 (intervened group) participated in the study. The intervened group received the modified problem-based program by (a) having briefings on the importance of problem finding, (b) encouragement by the tutors in problem finding, and (c) reinforcement using a self-assessment sheet. At the end of the year, the ability of students to extract problems from a short case was evaluated and compared with the nonintervened students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The intervened group extracted a significantly greater number of problems than the nonintervened group. When extracted problems were categorized, the intervened group was able to generate more questions in a greater number of specified categories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions to foster problem finding significantly facilitated acquisition of problem extraction skills among young medical students.
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Department of Medical Education, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan. yoshioka@research.twmu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshimasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: Taiyo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suganuma
authors.forename: Ann C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Sumie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manno
authors.forename: Tadahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kozu
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D013337:Students, Medical