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Year : 2017 | Volume
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| Issue : 2 | Page : 49 |
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Current scenario of problem-based learning in medical and dental education in India |
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Thorakkal Shamim
Department of Dentistry, Government Taluk Head Quarters Hospital, Malappuram, Kerala, India
Click here for correspondence address and email
Date of Web Publication | 12-Dec-2018 |
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How to cite this article: Shamim T. Current scenario of problem-based learning in medical and dental education in India. J Educ Ethics Dent 2017;7:49 |
How to cite this URL: Shamim T. Current scenario of problem-based learning in medical and dental education in India. J Educ Ethics Dent [serial online] 2017 [cited 2023 Jan 31];7:49. Available from: https://www.jeed.in/text.asp?2017/7/2/49/247344 |
Dear Sir,
This letter addresses the current scenario of problem-based learning (PBL) in medical and dental education in India. PBL is a student-friendly approach in medical and dental education which utilizes the educational technologies such as digital learning software and learning objects, interactive armamentarium, and learning management systems.[1] The apex authority (Medical Council of India [MCI]) that regulates medical education in India has incorporated PBL in medical curriculum.[2] In the dental education perspective, the apex body (Dental Council of India [DCI]) has not incorporated PBL.[3] In India, the government medical colleges and dental colleges are still following the conventional lectures as mode of teaching methods because the concerned dental and medical faculties are unable to implement PBL in teaching method due to factors such as physical workload (academic teaching along with clinical patient management), faculty training, and high number of students. However, on the other side, the medical and dental colleges working under deemed status under private sector have conducted pilot studies about the feasibility of PBL in both medical and dental education.[4],[5] The MCI and DCI should follow online medicine and dentistry integrated curriculum which integrates PBL module which was implemented by the University of British Columbia as Medicine and Dentistry Integrated Curriculum Online.[6] Moreover, the MCI and DCI should conduct an exploratory survey among medical and dental students to study the feasibility of PBL in India and should also organize workshops about PBL among medical and dental faculties to form a consortium. Moreover, it was inferred that PBL can superadd integrated teaching and demonstrates student-friendly attitude toward self-learning and applies the learned concepts of basic medical specialties to clinical problem solving, from a recent study conducted from Mangalore.[7] More recently, a study about PBL conducted in a dental school in Bengaluru revealed that students in the PBL group performed significantly better than students in conventional lecture group due to participation in group and reasoning, critical thinking, decision-making, and active and autonomous learning during the PBL sessions and students in PBL group showed better academic performance as compared with students in the conventional lecture group.[8]
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References | |  |
1. | Jin J, Bridges SM. Educational technologies in problem-based learning in health sciences education: A systematic review. J Med Internet Res 2014;16:e251. |
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4. | Joseph N, Rai S, Madi D, Bhat K, Kotian SM, Kantharaju S, et al. Problem-based learning as an effective learning tool in community medicine: Initiative in a private medical college of a developing country. Indian J Community Med 2016;41:133-40.  [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
5. | Deshpande S, Lambade D, Chahande J. Development and evaluation of learning module on clinical decision-making in prosthodontics. J Indian Prosthodont Soc 2015;15:158-61.  [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
6. | Broudo M, Walsh C. MEDICOL: Online learning in medicine and dentistry. Acad Med 2002;77:926-7. |
7. | Kumar N, Kanchan T, Unnikrishnan B, Thapar R, Mithra P, Kulkarni V, et al. Incorporating problem based learning into medical curriculum: An experience from a medical college in Mangalore. Indian J Pharmacol 2017;49:344-7.  [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
8. | Rekha K, Naganandini S, Eshwar S, Manvi S, Markose J. Problem-based learning vs. Lectures – Comparison of academic performances among dental undergraduates in India: A pilot study. World J Dent 2017;8:59-66. |

Correspondence Address: Dr. Thorakkal Shamim Department of Dentistry, Government Taluk Head Quarters Hospital, Malappuram - 676 519, Kerala India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jeed.jeed_5_18

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