Medical Students and Peer Learning – Some Thoughts

Medical Students and Peer Learning – Some Thoughts

As a child, in the 1960s, I had learnt the dance form Bharatanatyam for a few years. I used to go with some of my schoolmates for our evening classes. The dance master was a moody person - some days strict and almost angry; some days in a good mood. But one thing was sure - he was a great teacher. An interesting thing he did was - as new students joined the classes, he made the senior students (yours truly and some more) - teach them. Then he would make them perform and observe. Not only would he be…
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Do not wait any longer!

Do not wait any longer!

Everything is at one's finger tips today. Getting literature is easy, appraisal is the tough task. Search PubMed - you get all medical literature These are perceptions of a large number of health professionals - and these are "facts" they tell students. At the receiving end, students who (obviously) accept everything that a senior says, believe these statements. And many often wonder if they are "unique" - in their inability to search and find results easily. Worse still - are the statements - There are several tutorials on the net - on searching PubMed. In fact, the PubMed site itself…
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Getting ready a generation of students who are better prepared for their PG thesis

Getting ready a generation of students who are better prepared for their PG thesis

Approximately about a decade ago when we started teaching literature searching, I used to say that this should be taught to all PG students. A niece of mine - who had just started her BDS, one day told me that we should seriously consider starting at the UG level. She emphasized - "When we start our PG program, we start seeing patients. We want to be practitioners. And our days are filled. As for medical graduates it is probably even more hectic for them. You teach UG students - they are at the learning stage - and will absorb anything…
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