Medical Students Learning from a Problem Based Learning (PBL) Style In-home Care Course: A Qualitative Analysis of the Reports / 日本プライマリ・ケア連合学会誌

ABSTRACT

<p><b>Introduction: </b>The University of Tsukuba has a one-week in-home care course combining a problem-based learning style tutorial and lectures in the comprehensive community-based learning curriculum for 2^nd year students. This study aimed to investigate what medical students are learning concretely from this course.</p><p><b>Methods: </b>We performed a qualitative date analysis of the contents of all 111 student course reports written in the free description using a modified Steps Coding and Theorization method employing the framework of patient-centered clinical method (PCCM).</p><p><b>Results: </b>Medical students learned with keen interest based on their experiences and in the framework of PCCM such as 'Exploring health, disease and the illness experience', 'Understanding the whole person'. These processes led to the awareness of responsibility as a physician.</p><p><b>Conclusion: </b>The in-home care course in the classroom may provide medical students with an opportunity to become aware of their responsibility as a physician.</p>