Lecture-based Versus Problem-Based Learning Methods in Public Health Course for Medical Students

In the present rapidly growing world, health systems should be robust enough to respond appropriately to a wide range of new challenges and threats.1 Health workforce composes the backbone of the health system; so, any flaw in terms of the human resource numbers or skills would adversely affect the performance of the system2 So, the level of knowledge and the way of acting in the system are crucial for Iranian health networks in which medical graduates are working as a health-care providers, system managements and academicians; as implied by the name "Ministry of Health and Medical Education".2 Previous studies have shown widespread diminutions in public health training for medical students and consequently health management incompetence in Iranian health system.2,3 In order to achieve the Millennium development goals (MDGs) and improve the health standards, there is a demand to reform medical schools’ curriculum and educational methods in order to enable them to provide integrated health care services.4 Therefore, medical educators are being encouraged with new learning methods to meet expanded needs.5 Problem-based learning (PBL) is possibly one of the most innovative methods in medical training which has been progressed in recent decades as an alternative to learning by the traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) method.6 LBL isn't mostly a student-base process and the emphasis is on examination oriented learning of details7, while in PBL, students play an active role in learning and are assisted to change a basic understanding of information at the knowledge and comprehension levels to a higher level of understanding.5 Totally, PBL is a studentcentered, problem-based, inquiry-based, integrated, and collaborative learning.8 Whereby, small groups of students, guided by tutors, focus on real-world case scenarios and Hossein Jabbari1,2, Fariba Bakhshian3, Mahasti Alizadeh1, Hossein Alikhah4, Mohammad Naghavi Behzad5*