Medical Education: Are We Ready for a Transition?

Methods: A study was conducted at the A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka. The participants were post­ graduates from various medical colleges in and around Mangalore. A questionnaire was distributed among 100 randomly selected postgraduate students who came to attend the Postgraduate CME Program on scientific writing, publication and presentation skills. The students were asked to tick appropriately the teaching aids and the methods which were preferred. Results: The postgraduate students were of the opinion that problem based learning and group discussions were preferred over other teaching methods and that Powerpoint presentations were preferred by 82% of the postgraduates as their teaching visual aid, over 14% who preferred blackboard teaching and 2% the overhead projector. 60%­70%of the postgraduates preferred problem based learning. Only 36% of the students felt that it was necessary to have interactions with other departments to treat a patient. Conclusion: Definitely newer teaching methods would be more helpful than the traditional curriculum with didactic lectures. Visual aids like Power­point presentations will motivate the students to learn their subjects, thus making the learning process an enjoyable experience. AmritA ShriyAn, DevAn P. P. e d uc at io n S ec tio n