Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18166729›Full record

SynthesisCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2008

The effects of problem-based learning during medical school on physician competency: a systematic review.

Gerald Choon-Huat Koh, Hoon Eng Khoo, Mee Lian Wong, David Koh

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 131 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
131citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
26.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

131 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 647 citations in OpenAlex.

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71 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Gerald Choon-Huat KohDepartment of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore. cofkohch@nus.edu.sg
Hoon Eng Khoo
Mee Lian Wong
David Koh
National University of Singapore · SG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSystematic reviews on the effects of problem-based learning have been limited to knowledge competency either during medical school or postgraduate training. We conducted a systematic review of evidence of the effects that problem-based learning during medical school had on physician competencies after graduation.

methodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Databases, and the tables of contents of 5 major medical education journals from earliest available date through Oct. 31, 2006. We included studies in our review if they met the following criteria: problem-based learning was a teaching method in medical school, physician competencies were assessed after graduation and a control group of graduates of traditional curricula was used. We developed a scoring system to assess the quality of the studies, categorized competencies into 8 thematic dimensions and used a second system to determine the level of evidence for each competency assessed.

resultsOur search yielded 102 articles, of which 15 met inclusion criteria after full text review. Only 13 studies entered final systematic analysis because 2 studies reported their findings in 2 articles. According to self-assessments, 8 of 37 competencies had strong evidence in support of problem-based learning. Observed assessments had 7 competencies with strong evidence. In both groups, most of these competencies were in the social and cognitive dimensions. Only 4 competencies had moderate to strong levels of evidence in support of problem-based learning for both self-and observed assessments: coping with uncertainty (strong), appreciation of legal and ethical aspects of health care (strong), communication skills (moderate and strong respectively) and self-directed continuing learning (moderate).

interpretationProblem-based learning during medical school has positive effects on physician competency after graduation, mainly in social and cognitive dimensions.

Indexed as

Problem-Based LearningClinical CompetenceCurriculumEducation, Medical, UndergraduateHumansSchools, Medical

Identifiers

PMID18166729
PMCPMC2151117
OpenAlexW2145936815

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.