any questions?

[sarah_waggy]

What would be considered a valid reason?

Would for instance say certain sports clubs only at one univeristy and not the other be a valid reason?

I phoned and asked about being at Plymouth because of the ice rink and the woman said she thought it was a very valid reason but she wasn't in charge on allocations. Then I can't remember what she said. I may write and request.

[iceman_jondoe]

i just want to go to exeter!

[Andy S]

I didn't know that rebound tenderness was on the way out. I thought guarding was a bit general that could be present in many causes of abdo pain???

Rebound tenderness and guarding both have high sensitivity and similar low specificity. Guarding can be detected with minimal pain to the patient, while rebound tenderness hurts like hell! As a result they now recommend against testing for rebound tenderness. Some of the newer books, and many doctors now reflect this change, but plenty of older books and lots of doctors still use rebound tenderness!

For other readers:
Sensitivity of a test or sign: the % of people with a disease who have a +ve result to the test or sign. E.g., Lots of people have chest pain during a heart attack - highly sensitive.
Specificity of a test or sign: the % of people without a disease who have a -ve result to the test or sign. E.g., Lots of people have chest pain for many reasons! - low specificity.

Clear as mud?

[DJ004]

HI,

I was wondering how the PBL work at Peninsula.

Is it like five or seven students sit around a table and everybody claps their hands and say their name.

Can each student write their own notes rather copy the research carried out by others?

How much influence does the tutor have?

DJ

[Mattie]

Hey DJ004,

I'd say PBL is a really good method of learning. It's interactive, confidence building and dare I say it... FUN!!!

The way PBL works is probably quite hard to understand unless you actually do it yourself.
You meet 3 times during each 2 week case unit. You recieve a 'story' about someone... eg. a guy with hypertension. We tend to follow the 7 steps of PBL. Once we have read and clarified some aspects of the 'story' we think of learning objectives that arise from the case unit. This includes every aspect of it... biomed sci, public health, human science, clinical skills and professional development.

We then go away to complete these learning objectives. This allows for independent study. Part of the life science and other aspects of the course may over lap with the PBL case.

On returning after researching the case we discuss the learning objectives and what we have found. This is very good as we clarify aspects that we are not sure about and also develops skills such as time management.

The tutors I have had have both been really good. Some contribute more than others but they are mainly there to ensure that you don't miss anything major and also to help the group generally. They are not there to teach or direct the group. Occationally, if they are specialists in a certain area they will add their ideas to the conversation. In the first year, the tutors are non medics. They can be anything from educationalists to layers. In second year the tutors are GPs. I have not found having a non medic an issue at all. It almost helps in some aspects for example if we are talking about a complicated biomedical process, the tutor may say "how would you explain that to a patient/ or how does that affect your patient?" which makes you take a step back and look at the patient rather than the disease.

I'd have to ask people who do an non PBL course "do you look forward to going to lectures?". In PBL we have a laugh, it's a relaxed learning environment that is totally non threatening. I really enjoy it!

[DJ004]

thanks Mattie for the reply.

[Rake]

+1

Do all of the PBL groups study the same case at the same time?

[Mattie]

Yep. All PBL groups study the same case at the same time... even if you are on different sites. There is clearly going to be a minimal difference in the learning objectives different groups set. However, the PBL tutors have a list of vital objectives that must be covered so no group will miss anything important out.