Research in medical education: three decades of progress
BMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7353.1560 (Published 29 June 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:1560
- Geoff Norman (norman@mcmaster.ca), professor
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 3Z5
- Correspondence to: G Norman
The specialty of research in medical education began just over three decades ago with a small group of clinicians and educational researchers at the medical school in Buffalo, New York. Since that time it has expanded worldwide. This paper is a personal reflection on how this research has informed our understanding of learning, teaching, and assessment in medicine.
Summary points
Research in medical education has contributed substantially to understanding the learning process
The educational community is becoming aware of the importance of evidence in educational decision making
Areas of major development include basic research on the nature of medical expertise, problem based learning, performance assessment, and continuing education and assessment of practising physicians
Measuring progress
In medicine, indicators of scientific progress might be measured by objective indicators such as death from cardiovascular disease. In education such “hard” evidence may be lacking for several reasons. Firstly, paradoxically, real differences in educational strategies may not be reflected in outcomes, such as licensing examination performance, simply because students are highly motivated and are not blinded to the intervention, so will compensate for any defects in the curriculum.1–5 Secondly, a curriculum is not like a drug, which can be given at standard doses, but instead contains many components, delivered with variable quality by different teachers. Finally, the time between learning and important outcomes may be so long that the effects of the curriculum are obscured—although not always.6
Use of evidence in educational decision making
Perhaps the most important evidence of progress in the discipline is that we are now more likely than …