USING PROBLEM BASED LEARNING (PBL) TO TEACH BIOMEDICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERACTION IN AN UNDERGRADUATE HONORS PROGRAM. Daniel R. Richardson. Dept. of Physiology, University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, Lexington, KY.

    A PBL format was used to teach the interaction of biomedical and psychosocial components of pathophysiology within a three credit undergraduate honors course.  Each PBL case was a narrative that presented a medical condition, such as asthma, within the context of the patient's psychosocial history.  During the first class on a case, learning issues were identified and each student selected one or more to investigate.  In subsequent classes, students discussed their findings, distributed written reports and linked relevant issues by a concept map.  Each student then wrote a holistic essay integrating the various facets of the case.  Evaluation of the PBL method showed that, on a scale of 1 to 5, students felt that PBL helped them to develop self learning (4.5) and holistic thinking (4.6).  But PBL was only moderately preferred over instructor centered classes (3.7) or traditional lectures (3.7).  These results indicate that the PBL format, supplemented with didactic lectures, would be an effective means to teach biomedical and psychosocial issues of health and to foster holistic thinking in undergraduate students.  (Sponsored by University of Kentucky Honors Program.)

FASEB J. 16(5):A754, 2002.