The future for medical education
BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7508.105-a (Published 07 July 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:105
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Dear editor,
I read the article by Tiago Villanueva. The author thinks that the
current education system is boring and it makes the students yawn. The
author wishes to see drastic changes in the medical education at least in
the future.
Definitely, in the near future, there will be a revolution
in the teaching of medicine. We are now equipped with satellites
and rapidly advancing information technology. The distance between
countries is decreasing that way. A day will come where the students need
not get a formal teaching by the teachers in the school. They can learn
medicine sitting at home.
I do not fully agree with the author saying
medical students don’t care about studying for the sake of studying. They want
to learn the knowledge and skills.
Actually, how many students agree with
the author’s views? In my experience, 80% of students want to PASS the
exams. Their learning is exam oriented. I see only a small percentage of
students who are really willing to learn anything more than what is asked
in the exams. Whenever there is a change in the examination pattern, or
change in curriculum, students complain that it happened only with them
and they are the experimental batch. It is nice to have a student who
wants to learn more than what is expected of him. Such student will never
be yawning in class. What makes students yawn in class is “lack of
interest” or “lack of motivation”.
I have interviewed the students who
yawned in class. The students yawn in class because 1. They didn’t
have enough sleep the previous night because they had a party. 2. They were
studying late night for a test the next day. 3. They are sick and can not
concentrate in the class 4. Something was bothering them during the class
so they couldn’t concentrate. These are all the reasons for yawning away
in class.
If there is a deep desire to learn, a student can learn on
his own even without the help of a teacher. Such a student will be a life
long learner. All others want to pass the exam and they will never study
what is not asked in the exams. Every student should realize that the
education system cannot change overnight and, even when it changes overnight, it
is not good for them. Gradually, there will be a change in the
education system based on the past experiences and future needs. Students should have open minds to accept the curriculum set by
experts.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Education is an essential investment in our future which NHS staff
and the public are often in danger of overlooking. As a 'busy' house
officer I listened to colleagues complaining about the having students in
tow, and and how they 'wouldn't do the bloods' and 'disappeared at every
opportunity'. This has not been my experience with medical students.
Perhaps this is because in the 'busy' units and on the firms where I
recently worked, we 'invested' the time into teaching relevant skills, and
made our apprentices feel part of the team. Students attached to me have
always been 'paid back' for their help with coaching geared specifically
towards whatever their next exam will be, rather than 'scraps' from
whatever I happen to be reading. Juniors have a role to play because
medical school is a recent memory. Seniors need to be imaginative and
empathic to their students' learning needs.
As far as the public are concerned, my student is 'helping me' (the
truth). Patients are very understanding, and often quite impressed when
confronted with a well-oiled team of student plus junior. We can improve
everybody's experience. On calls are much more fun (less lonely!) with
students.
Finally, a policy of making any medical student welcome (regardless
of usefullness) does foster a general environment where students will
learn that the clinical years are not 'wasted time'. My chief complaint as
a clinical student was that we sometimes travelled miles and miles to find
that teaching was cancelled and that we were in the way. However my most
inspiring teachers cultivated an ongoing learning process which seized
every learning opportunity and made it accessible if at all possible. We
should be developing an ethos of training in the UK and then the grass can
be greener here!
Competing interests:
AP is co-authoring a student revision guide for publication later in the year
Competing interests: No competing interests
Teachers: Break the monotony in the traditional marathon lecture teaching system
The future of medical education is mainly dependent on the students,
teachers, policy makers, government and the patients. A reformation in
medical students by first learning how to learn and then learn by doing1
may be gradually adopted with a change in medical education curriculum.
Medical education is experiencing a paradigm shift from the traditional
passive learning method to the innovative active learning, problem –based-
learning which prepares a medical doctor to know the art of life long
learning. Most of the time, we medical school teachers feel that, present
generation of students lack interest in their studies as indicated by
yawning or dosing in the class. Most of the time, we try to find mistakes
in our students, but factually we teachers are also partly responsible for
their lack of interest. Medical curriculum, as such is loaded with lot of
input and each medical student finds very difficult to cope up with the
pressure. We teachers, usually deliver our marathon, hour long information
based lectures wherein we don’t understand the difficulty of a student. We
may end up with one lecture but poor students in the traditional education
system has to continuously sit for four such long lectures in the morning
session itself. Most of us are known very well for our monotonous lectures
(most of the time boring) without thinking a bit for the poor student.
Break the monotony, teach your medical subject by relating bit of day-
today affairs with an ingredient of humor and see that your lecture is
free of yawning. Moreover, the present traditional system of medical
teaching should be re-looked and as many Western Universities have adopted
the problem –based –learning methodology where the student made to involve
actively in the learning session more enthusiastically. A balance between
the traditional system and problem –based-learning may add further and
fill up the gap between teacher and student. Educators and policy makers
should re- look for the challenges in reforming a need-based –reform in
medical education2 globally.
References
1.Villanueva T. The future for medical education. BMJ 2005;331:105-6.
2. Majumdaar AA, Urban JA D’Souza, Rahman S. Trends in medical education:
challenges and directions for need-based reforms of medical training in
South-East Asia. Indian J Med Sci 2004 ;58:369-80.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests