Problem-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning, or PBL, is a student-centered approach to learning.
Due to the independent nature of the PBL track, emphasis is determined by each group's learning issues, or LIs. By teaching each other and learning together students work collectively toward the goal of becoming self-directed and life-long learners.
But how, exactly, do you create an LI? There is a full LibGuide that will show you how!
Getting Started
You are the teacher here! You need to understand your topic well enough to teach it to the rest of your group.
Start by checking the LibGuide for that block. The LibGuides are full of evidence-based resources recommended and vetted by your facilitators and block directors. Figure out where your question would fall and start there; making a list of possibilities to check out - e-books, databases, and online companion sources.
- PBL Track Curriculum - Rowan-Virtua SOM A "one stop shop" to the PBL track pre-clerkship years at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine.
- PBL 2 - Cardiology Nephrology & Pulmonology II A guide to the PBL2 Cardiology, Nephrology, and Pulmonology block.
My first stop would be a book. Gather the background knowledge necessary to fully understand the topic from a bird's eye view and then drill down into the specifics of the question at hand. The majority of your e-books can be found using these three databases below. However, we do have access to a lot more and a simple subject search of the library's holdings can yield other options.
You can toggle between searching the entirety of the library's holdings or specify the medical e-book collection.
An example of results for the first PBL blocks:
Musculoskeletal System Hematology and Oncology
And for those who prefer print, you'll be able to find the print version of the books highlighted on the block's LibGuide, either on reserve behind the circulation desk or on the shelves. Simply ask the person staffing the desk for assistance.
- AccessMedicine This link opens in a new window Access to more than 75 medical ebooks including Harrison's Online and Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, frequently updated content, thousands of images and illustrations, interactive self-assessment, point of care tools, case files, diagnostic tools, and more. Access to the self-assessment and review questions sections may require creation of a free personal account.
- ClinicalKey This link opens in a new window Clinical Key draws from the large collection of clinical resources published by Elsevier covering every medical and surgical specialty. It includes journals, books, practice guidelines, patient education, drug information and MEDLINE citations and abstracts from PubMed, as well as multimedia. Clinical Key replaces MD Consult and First Consult which have been discontinued by Elsevier.
- LWW Health Library for Medical Education (Ebooks, Images, Cases and Procedures) This link opens in a new window The LWW Health Library for Medical Education provides access to select E-books, images, cases and procedures on many subjects and medical specialties. Also contains an extensive, customizable self-assessment section. Access to the self Assessment sections requires creation of a free personal account with LWW.
Check out the databases, both the clinical research databases (background questions - broader questions for general knowledge) and the point-of-care databases (foreground questions - specific questions/answers backed up by vetted evidence), depending on your question's focus. The medical databases can be filtered, by subject, in a drop-down to help narrow your search.
If you are unfamiliar with a platform there are tutorials available on the Medical Databases libguide.
Faculty Recommendations:
Background
- Bates' Visual Guide to Physical Examination This link opens in a new window A companion to the book Bates' Guide to Physical Examination, these videos, along with new clinical skills videos, show head to toe and systems-based physical examination techniques. Select “Access through your institution”, enter Rowan as your institution, and enter your Rowan NetID to access Bates’.
- Embase This link opens in a new window Embase is a international biomedical and pharmacological database containing bibliographic records with citations, abstracts and indexing derived from biomedical articles in peer reviewed journals, and is especially strong in its coverage of drug and pharmaceutical research.
- MEDLINE (Ovid) This link opens in a new window Ovid MEDLINE ® covers the international literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care. Information is indexed from approximately 5,400 journals published world-wide.
- PubMed This link opens in a new window PubMed comprises more than 26 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. WHILE PUBMED IS A PUBICLY AVAILABLE DATABASE YOU ARE BEING PROMPTED TO LOG-IN WITH YOUR ROWAN NETID TO AID IN ACCESSING ROWAN LIBRARIES' LICENSED JOURNAL CONTENT.
Foreground
- Cochrane Clinical Answers This link opens in a new window This point-of-care tool offers a one-to-one relationship between each Cochrane Clinical Answer (CCA) topic and the corresponding Cochrane Systematic Review(s). New Clinical answers will be added as new or updated Cochrane Reviews are published. Each CCA contains a clinical question, a short answer and the opportunity to “drill down” to the evidence from the corresponding Cochrane Review(s).
- DynaMed This link opens in a new window DynaMed is an evidence-based, primary care database for use at the point-of-care. It contains peer-reviewed summaries for over 3000 diseases, disorders, and symptoms, including information on causation, associated conditions, history and research findings, differential diagnosis and diagnostic testing, treatment, prevention, prognosis and links to patient information. (Mobile Device Compatible)
- VisualDx This link opens in a new window VisualDx is a diagnostic decision support system designed by clinicians to aid medical professionals in the diagnosis of visually identifiable diseases. As the clinician enters actual patient findings, VisualDx creates a visual differential diagnosis based on age, skin type, body location and severity to quickly provide patient specific answers. VisualDx contains over 25,000 images representing 1,200+ visually identifiable diseases, drug reactions, and infections.
Check out the web-based companion sources that may answer specific aspects of your question, or answer them in a different way.
General Resources
- Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) To accomplish their mission, CDC conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when these arise.
- Radiopaedia.org This site is targeted at medical and radiology professionals and is a radiology reference resource with with images, and quizzes
Companion sources that speak to specific topics (i.e. histology, physiology, microbiology, pathology) can be found within the block specific libguides.
Finally, you can use various exam prep or board review resources to check your group for a basic understanding of your LI.
These questions will also come in handy when studying for your block exams.
- Boards & Beyond - Rowan Log-in Use this link to log-in to Boards & Beyond. You will first be prompted to verify your Rowan affiliation by logging in with your Rowan NetID.
- Flashcards - AccessMedicine AccessMedicine offers a select set of interactive flashcard content from several specialized flashcard books, subjects include biochemistry, mcrobiology, genetics, pharmacology, and internal medicine and diagnostics. Creating a free personal account with AccessMedicine is required to access this specialized content.
- Review Questions & Study Aids Library Guide Rowan licensed and free questions banks, board prep books and resources, and specialized resources and tools that can aid students studying and preparing for exams and boards.
Board Review material should NOT be your primary source of information while studying or researching.
Review means to view again - these books should be for review purposes only.
Everything used from an outside source that is not common knowledge, including any images, must be cited within the presentation slides, and referenced at the end of the presentation!
Why we Cite...
Citations demonstrate responsible scholarship by giving credit for others' work, add authority to your work by showing you've done the research, place your work in a specific context, leave a trail for other scholars and researchers to follow, and very importantly, avoids plagiarism.
When we Cite...
Quoting - Are you quoting two or more consecutive words from a source? Then the original source must be cited and words or phrase placed in quotes.
Paraphrasing - If an idea or information comes from another source, even if you put it in your own words, you still need to credit the source.
General vs. Unfamiliar Knowledge - You don't need to cite material which is accepted as common knowledge. If in doubt always cite it.
Formats - We usually think of books and articles when citing work. However, if you use material from websites, films, music, graphs, tables, etc. you'll need to cite these as well.
How to Cite...
Facilitator Feedback: Preparation & Presentation of Learning Issues Rubric
Taken directly from the Facilitator Feedback Form.
Need Help?
Slide Template
You'll need to make a copy of the slides or download them to your computer in order to edit.