Case Based Learning
What is CBL and why do we use it?
Case Based Learning (CBL) forms the core of our MBChB curriculum through all 4 years at Warwick Medical School. CBL is similar to Problem Based Learning (PBL) and known to be an effective and efficient method of learning, especially in courses where students are required to learn and understand a vast amount of information.
During CBL sessions in addition to learning many curricular topics, medical students develop skills needed to be good doctors. These essential skills include clinical reasoning, how to approach the unknown (such as new clinical situations), the ability to present and discuss patients to colleagues, to teach peers, and collaborate with a team in a professional manner. In other words, the students learn how to think like doctors.
How do CBL sessions work?
Each CBL group of around 9-10 students have a facilitator who does not teach, but supports the group to learn and work together, occasionally prompting the group if needed. The students lead the learning in CBL sessions using fictional but authentic patient cases based on common and important clinical conditions relevant to the stage of medical school. The cases are designed to enable the students to cover as many course topics as possible. In contrast to cases discussed in the clinical setting where learners are expected to rapidly narrow down the differential diagnoses and form management plans, CBL encourages students to discuss the contents of the case in breadth and depth, unpacking each topic using the case as a framework. The students use knowledge, experience and perspectives from all members of the group, critically evaluate resources and make connections between the topics in the case and learning in MBChB blocks and themes.
Who is in the CBL group?
Our graduate entry medical students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, bringing unique and essential skills, experience, perspectives and knowledge to each patient case during CBL. CBL groups have the same 9-10 students during each year and include students from science, non-science and clinical backgrounds. One of the great strengths of our WMS CBL is that the whole group learns far more than one person learning on their own.
For example:
- English literature and history graduates who understand human stories and uncertainty;
- performing artists experienced in how to interpret emotions and empathy;
- pharmacists with in-depth knowledge of pharmacology,
- health professionals who understand the NHS and to provide expert care for patients;
- biologists and chemists who can explain difficult scientific concepts and processes;
- mathematicians with the ability to understand complex concepts and statistics,
- previous business owners and managers who know how a team works;
- physicists and engineers who can communicate the complexities of human circulatory, musculoskeletal and nervous systems;
- geographers who can consider the world and human interactions.