K T Pham1, P Blumberg. 1. Public Health Practive, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA. kim.pham@yale.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Medical training traditionally focuses on disease diagnosis and management. The need to incorporate preventive medicine, economics, and health promotion is increasingly apparent. Because problem-based learning (PBL) encourages multidisciplinary thinking, it is ideal for linking traditional medical education and population-oriented training. Although use of PBL has grown in medical education, cases typically focus upon patho-physiology, diagnosis, and therapy of individuals. Even when cases are intended to integrate multidisciplinary topics such as behavioral sciences or prevention, the biological aspects are emphasized. PURPOSE: To describe approaches to case design that emphasize population perspectives of health. DESCRIPTION: Specific examples drawn from actual cases we have used illustrate how five basic components of a case--namely, title, context, intrigue, indicators of problem resolution, and tight structure--facilitate discussion of, and enhance concern for, population issues. CONCLUSION: The literature indicates that health professional students tend to favor biological over population content in clinical cases. We illustrate how population content can be represented in specifically designed cases.
BACKGROUND: Medical training traditionally focuses on disease diagnosis and management. The need to incorporate preventive medicine, economics, and health promotion is increasingly apparent. Because problem-based learning (PBL) encourages multidisciplinary thinking, it is ideal for linking traditional medical education and population-oriented training. Although use of PBL has grown in medical education, cases typically focus upon patho-physiology, diagnosis, and therapy of individuals. Even when cases are intended to integrate multidisciplinary topics such as behavioral sciences or prevention, the biological aspects are emphasized. PURPOSE: To describe approaches to case design that emphasize population perspectives of health. DESCRIPTION: Specific examples drawn from actual cases we have used illustrate how five basic components of a case--namely, title, context, intrigue, indicators of problem resolution, and tight structure--facilitate discussion of, and enhance concern for, population issues. CONCLUSION: The literature indicates that health professional students tend to favor biological over population content in clinical cases. We illustrate how population content can be represented in specifically designed cases.