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Journal of Medical Education

F. I. Achike

Abstract

The astronomical growth in technology and medical information of the last century brought with it innovations in medical education, such as the problem-based learning (PBL) which emphasizes the integration of basic and clinical sciences. The clinical skills unit (CSU) is a major facility for promoting these principles in the PBL-based curriculum of the International Medical University (IMU) which exposes students to clinical scenarios early in their training. The teaching of clinical skills is systems-based, but also holistic. From the first semester through the fifth, students are taught interviewing skills, history taking, physical examination and nursing procedures. After semester 5 they graduate into the clinical years in either a partner medical school (PMS) or our own clinical school where the CSU continues to play a role, such as providing opportunities to practice clinical procedures on models before doing so on patients. The teaching facilities include 21 CSU rooms with models, a medical museum, a 50-seat briefing room, a teaching hospital and peripheral healthcare centres. Teaching is by part-time and full-time teachers who demonstrate on simulated/real patients and on various models. Assessment is continuous and is largely formative, including student to teacher, teacher to student, PMS-, and alumni feedbacks. Summative assessment, mainly by the objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE), is done at the ends of semesters 3 and 5 and it is portfolio type and criterion-referenced.

First Page

351

Last Page

356

DOI

10.6145/jme.200612_10(4).0010

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