Influence of a problem-based learning curriculum on the selection of pathology as a career: evidence from the Canadian match of 1993-2004

Residency choices by graduating medical students: why not pathology?

“…These efforts seem inadequate. Even though UBC has a higher rate of pathology recruitment than any other school in Canada [22], most of the students in these focus groups demonstrated considerable ignorance about pathology. What UBC is doing to teach these students about what pathologists do is clearly not working, and this may be true of other schools as well.…”

If not, why not? Reasons why Canadian postgraduate trainees chose—or did not choose—to become pathologists

“…Some of these efforts seem to be more successful than others: in Canada, for example, the Universities of British Columbia, Ottawa, and Alberta outperform the average in terms of generating medical graduates who want to become pathologists [2]. It is not yet clear what these "outperforming" schools are doing differently to encourage better pathologist recruitment, a difference that invites further study.…”

“…Second, approximately one third of clinical residents surveyed were graduates of the UBC, an institution that is historically more successful in recruiting medical students into pathology residencies [2], that is, 2.0% of UBC graduates choose to become pathologists, compared with the Canadian national average of approximately 1.2%. It is possible that these residents, even though they all rejected pathology, have a somewhat different perception of pathology than graduates of other, less "pathology-friendly" medical schools.…”

“…In both Canada [1,2] and the United States [3,4], pathology attracts a minority of graduating medical students, averaging approximately 1% to 3% per year. The proportions from the UK and Australia are similar [5,6].…”

Does a PBL-based medical curriculum predispose training in specific career paths? A systematic review of the literature

“…The evidence demonstrates that PBL may increase collaboration and self-directed learning [3]. The current research in PBL programme evaluation has generally focused on outcome measures such as examination scores, supervisor assessments, and student satisfaction [4]. However, there are a relatively small number of studies into how the PBL learning process predisposes students to select certain career paths.…”