im pretty patient ill wait a couple days or so and be on the look out
I was going to look up some old posts, but I think it'll be easier just to re-explain it again.
What is PBL? by Digitlnoize
PBL stands for problem based learning. There are different styles of PBL and if you really want to know more about the method, check out wikipedia or google. Basically the idea is to learn something by applying the information to a given problem.
So, here's a run down of a normal PBL week right now.
Monday: Meet as a group from 1-3. Our faculty "facilitator" gives us a patients chief complaint...let's say: "38yo WM with Chest Pain (CP) and Shortness of Breath (SOB)." We come up with a differential diagnosis...basically this part is like "House".
Next we role play for a few minutes and someone plays the doctor while someone else is the patient. This lets us practice out patient interviewing skills.
Next we get a written copy of the history, and we go through it as a group...identifying any terms that seem like someone might not know them. Let's say the patient told us that he was taking metoprolol.
Now we look up metoprolol and see what drug that is, and what it does. Is it related to his condition? How does it work? etc. etc.
Next we ask for a physical exam page. This has his vitals and the results of a physical exam, as they would be typed up in a chart (also good practice). We again note anything abnormal or weird sounding and figure out what it is or if it means anything for our case.
Now we order tests. We'll usually get a CBC, Chem-7, Chest X-ray, UA, maybe an ABG, EKG, etc etc...
We look at the results of these and see if there is anything abnormal and how it might relate to our patient.
I should add that we do this by looking up everything in our basic science books. At this point, we're mostly in physiology, biochem, path, pharm...
At this point, we're probably tapped out for the day, so we pick what things we should read about until our next meeting on Wed. Examples for this imaginary case might include: Heart Anatomy, Heart Physiology, Beta-Blocker Pharm, EKG phys...We do a quick wrap-up (how did we think the day went...did we have any problems?)
Now I go home and read/learn until our next meeting on Wed.
Wednesday: Meet. Someone presents the case as a SOAP note. We discuss what we read, and how it might relate. Hopefully we have another more advanced test to order. In this case, we suspect an MI, so we'll order a CK-MB and/or Troponin. These enzymes will tell us if there's been any heart muscle damage and help confirm our direction. If they come back negative, then we're on the "wrong" track and need to dig deeper to see what else could cause his symptoms. Luckily (for us, at least), they're elevated, so we move on with our plan. More tests, more results.
Things move at different paces for different cases, days, and groups. If a test result page is REALLY complicated, we might spend an hour trying to figure out what that page means. Other days, we can finish a case in 1 sitting.
Anyways, we pick some more chapters to read...probably more in-depth heart phys, ekg, maybe some shock (depending on his symptoms), maybe some path or biochem of how CK/troponin work. Wrap-up. Go home read, maybe review the other stuff. We also have assigned readings, so I might also work on these...
Friday: Meet. Present case SOAP note. Really we just finish the case. At this point we know what the disease is, how it works, and we've looked up how to treat it. Get more pages telling us about how we saved the patient (or he died, or whatever) and how we did it. Look up any info on those pages (usually drugs, or surgical treatments, or something of that sort). Now we pick what topics we'll be tested on from this case and we move on to the next one. Wrap up. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
The idea here, is that we're learning how to find information on our own...which is what you'll have to do in the real world. We're also applying what we're learning to an actual patient case, which helps...less boring than staring at powerpoints.
We also integrate the material in different books. Reading heart phys while reading heart anatomy really can help cement things in your brain.
You'll also return to the same topics several times. I've been tested on lung anatomy 3 times this semester...
Ok...hope that helps. You can find more info and other people's opinions a few pages back in this thread. I would recommend reading all of this thread, and maybe even the one from last year if you're really interested in the school.
One final note: Alot of schools do PBL in different ways. Some good, others bad. I personally think that we're in the "good" category...judging by our board scores, others agree.
Hope that helps!
If you are interested in some, all or any, PM me and we can talk details
I'm probably one of the few students that has had PBL as an undergrad (my chem prof literally wrote the book on undergrad PBL). So I knew going into this that LECOM-B would be a great school for me. I can truthfully say that I've probably leaned 10% of what I know in a lecture hall. The rest came from long hours in the library. That's why I was so excited to learn there was a DO school doing all PBL. 
.
