Notes Comparative Trial of Problem-Based Learning Versus Didactic Lectures on Clerkship Performance

With the advent of pharmaceutical care and a tumultuous health care environment, there is a need for pharmacy educators to produce pharmacists that not only possess knowledge but the skills necessary to adapt to the changes and challenges that the future holds for the profession. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method that has been used in medical and pharmacy school curricula that gives students knowledge through an active learning process which requires students to problem solve, make decisions, and communicate effectively. PBL offers an advantage over the traditional didactic lecture (DL) where students learn through a passive rote method. Drawbacks of PBL include the fact that the approach is time and labor intensive, not well described in the literature, and controversy exists as to the potential benefits of PBL over conventional DL curricula. In this study, grade point average (GPA) in clerkship rotations was used as measure of practice capability to compare students who were taught using PBL versus DL before the rotations. The study group consisted of 118 students who graduated from a four-year PharmD program. All students went through similar course work for the first two years of the curriculum and then were randomly assigned to one of two groups which were taught by PBL or DL in the third year. The students then all completed six clerkships (four required and two elective) in the final year of the program. There were 58 students in the PBL group and 60 students in the DL group. The results demonstrated that the average GPA for both required and elective clerkship rotations in the PBL group was significantly higher (P<0.05) than the average GPA in the DL group