Your curriculum comprises of a number of different elements carefully integrated to promote your ability to learn effectively and succeed in your degree. In the GEM Year, your teaching consists of a series of clinically-related scenarios (Themed Case Discussions) which you will use to define your weekly learning agenda. You are expected to take the initiative and make full use of all the resources available to you; these include the library, the e-learning resources, lecture/seminars and the teaching staff.
Group work is central to the MBChB Programme. In the GEM Year, each student will be part of a PBL (problem-based learning) group. The PBL groups change mid-year to ensure you gain experience of working with different people, as in professional life. Each group has a designated academic member of staff as the facilitator. Facilitators do not have to be subject experts. There are usually 8-10 students per group. These groups form the basis for most learning activities, alongside Early Clinical Experience (ECE), seminars/lectures and consultation skills learning.
The majority of teaching will be face to face but some teaching activities in the academic year may be delivered online. In order to get the best out of these sessions, all students should refer to the Programme’s guidance:
See also: The Student Journey
Themed Case Discussions using Problem Based Learning (PBL)
You will develop your knowledge through small group teaching around clinical cases. Each group will have a PBL facilitator who is there to assist and encourage group work and to offer advice and guidance as needed. In the first PBL session of the week, you need to identify what you know and understand about the problem from the knowledge you already have and, importantly, what the deficits are in your knowledge. This process helps you to define what you need to learn to fully understand the problem.
In the GEM Year there are two timetabled PBL sessions per week, together lasting approximately 2½- 3 hours. The facilitator is always present for these sessions. The group sessions are where the cases are partly investigated. There are many other resources available whilst studying a case, these include mini learning modules, lecture presentations/ webinars, anatomy sessions, seminars, consultation skills and ECE visits.
The clinical problems presented have been determined by two main criteria:
Key concepts in science fundamental to medical practice.
Key issues of health and illness in the UK today.
A useful sequence for working though the problems is given below:
- Identify and clarify the terms in the case that are unknown to you.
- Identify the key components of the case.
- Using your cues, explore and discuss possible explanations.
- Arrange explanations into tentative solutions.
- Formulate a learning agenda based on the objectives needed to test the validity of your explanation.
- Attempt to fill the gaps in your knowledge with independent study.
- Share the results of your private study with the rest of your group.
- See how far your explanations are justified and what further knowledge is required. Cite the resources used.
You may need to re-cycle through most of these steps as necessary.
Role of the PBL Facilitator
Your PBL Facilitator has two main roles. They are responsible for overseeing and facilitating the work of the group throughout the semester. They will also keep a record of absences/lateness from the group sessions including late arrivals which are recorded as absences. In addition, they will monitor the progress of all members of the group and will provide feedback during one-to-one meetings held during the year.