I quickly posted my anonymous feedback (for now, first draft leave comments if you have questions) still at work...can't linger here too long.
On the interview feedback section? Are you actually able to go back and edit it later? I didn't realize that. If you posted it somewhere else, will you please post the link? Actually, will you post the link regardless? You know, anonymously?
Oh, I happened to see UP feedback from someone who interviewed on the 28th who commented on how seeing students running the show in IQ and facilitators mostly waiting in the wings was a negative.
I would just like to point out that that is the entire purpose of IQ. It's self-directed learning under faculty guidance. Yes, you are responsible for finding the material and discussing it with others in a coherent manner, but we're not going to hang you out to dry. That's why the facilitators are there--to nudge you in the right direction as necessary.
Our PBL* works the same way. We have tutors (now called facilitators) who are only supposed to step in if the group is going off-target. If the students are doing well and hitting all the right points, the facilitator shouldn't have to say a single word. A group where the facilitator keeps butting in is either a group that is way off and missing the objectives, or else is a group where the facilitator is new to this and doesn't realize that they're supposed to sit back and keep their mouth shut for the most part.
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As for someone saying the IQ being student run was a negative, I guess they are a prime example of some one who is not the right fit for Case.
I agree. If you don't like this kind of learning, neither Case program will be a good fit for you.
Even though it's not for everyone, there is a lot to be said for PBL-style learning. For one, it's a lot more like how you learn medicine beyond the second year of med school. In other words, when you're a third year on the wards, no one is going to hand you a packet of lecture notes and tell you to read them. You do get seminars on most rotations, but you're going to do most of your learning on your own or with your fellow students. You're going to be reading about your patients, and you are the one who has to figure out where to find the information. I think the Case students' transition to the wards is much easier than at some other schools, in part because of PBL, and in part because we get early clinical exposure.
Also, you'll be amazed at how every now and then you can bust out with something intelligent because you had a PBL case about it. Here's an example: on one of my rotations, we were talking about a patient with liver cysts and discussing the differential (list of possible diseases that could cause liver cysts). I suggested polycystic kidney disease, because we had a PBL case about that, and the patient in the PBL case had liver cysts also. It was something no one else had thought of until I suggested it. (The real patient didn't actually have polycystic kidney disease, but that's not the point!)
What really impressed me was that Case has been the first school I visited where everyone seemed to look forward to IQ (PBL-type learning). Everywhere else people were mostly like "eh... it's a pain." That was a huge selling-point for me.
I think there are several reasons why students at many other schools tend to dislike PBL. First, they have PBL tacked on to their curriculum kind of like an afterthought. Since it isn't really integrated into the curriculum, it's understandably hard for them to see the point of it. Second, many schools have curriculums that are conducive to staying home or going to Starbucks instead of going to class. Since PBL has to have mandatory attendance (it won't work if the students don't show up!), that tends to engender some resentment among students who don't want to attend. Third, students who are constantly studying for exams tend to dislike PBL because it takes time away from preparing for exams. I think that any of us can understand that objection. If you're stressed out trying to get ready for some exam and you have to prepare for PBL and attend, it's going to add to your stress. Fourth, some schools use so little PBL that students don't get a chance to gain the skills necessary to do it well. Running an effective PBL group is a lot harder than many people realize. Finally, some schools give students letter grades on their PBL performance. I don't really know how that can be done fairly, since PBL performance is not at all objective. But you can imagine that people will get upset if they're getting subjective grades for their work in a PBL group that they never wanted to do in the first place, that makes them show up for school when they want to study on their own, and that takes time away from their test preparation. I would probably hate PBL under those circumstances too.
The difference at Case is that our program and the UP's Western Reserve 2 curriculum were both designed to have PBL integrated into the system all along. I can't speak from experience as to how well the UP students think their program has done that, but from the CCLCM side, it was pretty good. Of course, some PBL groups are much better than others. I had one group that was kind of dysfunctional, in part because we had a really ineffective tutor. But I had some groups that were just amazing and taught me a lot. You guys need to understand that PBL gets better and better as you go along through the first two years. Of course the students get more skilled at the process of PBL, but also you just know more, and that makes it a lot more fun. The very best group I had was the last one of my second year. We were all on the same page to the point that we didn't even have to assign specific learning objectives. We all read on each objective, then came back and had a group discussion about each of them. I doubt that format would ever really work in a first year PBL group, but it shows how incredibly well an experienced PBL group with a good knowledge base can function.
Ok, I'll step off my soapbox now.
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*Just for the record, what both Case programs do is really more of a hybrid of CBL (
case-based learning) and
PBL rather than pure PBL. In other words, we analyze real-world cases (not problems per se) using PBL format.
SN2ed said:
Well it's finally time for me to initiate Operation Eggplant.
Which program are you interviewing at tomorrow? Good luck!
