General structure of the blocks after Death by Studying

Now that PCMS (oy vey) is done and dusted, the subsequent blocks all follow a similar pattern. In block 2, Life on the Street, you will be introduced to some new concepts. PBL, HPD, Quantum Physics and course packs. Okay, so maybe not quantum physics, but it would have been cool though... No? Okay, maybe that's just me.

Let's start with Problem Based Learning (PBL). The term PBL, from what I could find after extensive research (i.e. Googling the words...), is a student-centered pedagogy (which means science and art, thanks again Google) in which students learn about a subject through the experience of problem solving. It's been adopted all over the world and the trend seems to be towards this kind of teaching as opposed to the old ways (whatever those may be). 

Each week you have three PBL's. The PBL's take place in PBL rooms (which make for amazing sleeping areas!). The first PBL (cleverly named PBL 1) introduces you to the case. You get the "trigger text" from the GEMP website/ SAKAI (both websites which will be introduced to you early in GEMP I). The trigger text will give you a scenario that you and your group members (your PBL group, another cleverly named entity) will have to decipher. You will have the help of a doctor called "The Facilitator" (kinda sounds like the title of Arnold Schwarzernegger's next movie). 

He or she will guide you through the process of approaching the problem in a biopsychosocial manner, taking into account all three spheres of a patient - the disease, the psychological effect and the social situation your patient lives. 

So I'll be very honest with you. I thought the whole biopsychosocial thing was pointless. I argued that I would rather have a doctor who is rude and doesn't care if I have running water at home than a sweet doctor who has no clue what the difference is between a haemorrhagic stroke and a stroke of lightning. On paper, this is a reasonable argument. But in real life? A patient would rather have a doctor holding their hand as they die than a doctor who knows exactly what's wrong with her, and she still dies, but alone... The trick is to find a perfect balance.

By the end of PBL 1 you should have an idea of what the week is all about. (Each block is divided into weekly topics)

PBL 2 you meet with your group, without the doctor, and receive test results you would have ordered for your patient. This includes urine dipstix, the full blood count, X-rays, CT scans, etc. You interpret it and answer questions around it.

PBL 3 is where you find out if your diagnosis was correct. The facilitator (am I the only one reading that with Arnie's accent?) goes through the case with you again and then you focus on the management of the patient. 

PBL is a really cool process, and can be done rather swiftly. It is meant to teach us how to approach a clinical problem. And, if done correctly, it does. The cases are really well thought out! A possible pitfall is tunnel vision. The PBL topic is Protein Energy Malnutrition, or Stroke, for example - so people focus on that and don't think laterally.

During PBL 1 you will receive what is known as the course pack (CP). The CP consists of different Learning Topics (LT's) which you need to know really, really well. TIP: I would suggest that you cover the LT's by the Wednesday of every week. If you can, read through all of them (even just briefly) on the Monday and study them in depth on the Tuesday and Wednesday. It will make the lectures way more meaningful. The CP essentially takes the place of textbooks. Some are well written, others... not so much and will require Googling (or Yahoo-ing for the hipsters) on your part.

Before this entry becomes the length of a CP, I'll stop there. In the next blog entry, I'll chat about the HPD's and the role of Wikipedia...