Article 2002

Why is evidence from ethnographic and discourse research needed in medical education: The case of problem-based learning

LW
Leung, Waiching
Medical Teacher
Journal · Vol. 24 · Issue 2 · pp. 169-172
Abstract

While the need for evidence-based medical education is widely acknowledged, it is often assumed that the 'gold standard' used in evidence-based medicine is sufficient evidence for practising evidence-based medical education. Using the introduction of a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum as an example, this paper argues that evidence from ethnography can provide valuable insight into medical education, although few such studies have been carried out. Ethnography attempts to capture the true nature of human social behaviour by going beyond what individuals say to what they actually do, and explores social and educational phenomena beyond mere mechanical products of our purported educational interventions. Applied to problem-based learning, ethnographic accounts would be valuable to help us understand the PBL process and improve our educational practice.

Keywords

Author Keywords

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Index Keywords

learning attitude to health human medical education Humans Article curriculum United Kingdom clinical practice medical school Education, Medical Problem-Based Learning social behavior education program research health behavior medical research Anthropology, Cultural Great Britain evidence based medicine Evidence-Based Medicine
Author Affiliations
Honorary Lecturer Public Hlth. Med., University of East Anglia, Norwich Medical School, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
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