Educating medical students

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Abstract
& nbsp ; Creating a true continuum of medical education from admission to medical school throughout a lifetime of professional learning is easier said than done . To do so , the various components on the continuum must be explored to determine where appropriate links might be made . The author considers selected concepts and evidence from the theory and practice underlying continuing medical education ( CME ) and continuing professional education ( CPE ) insofar as CME and CPE can inform undergraduate medical curricula , including its current innovations . Five conceptual and empirical approaches from CME and CPE are discussed in detail : social learning theory , how physicians learn and change , competence in business and the professions , how professionals learn in practice , and lifelong self-directed learning . Then the author describes the implications of these approaches for the ongoing development of undergraduate medical education . ( 1 ) The entire learning environment , and not merely discrete aspects such as curriculum content , must be examined and fully utilized to benefit learning . ( 2 ) The importance of the contexts in which learning occurs must be emphasized in several ways . ( 3 ) Learning should be centered around clinical problems . ( 4 ) The many benefits of small-group learning and other ways of learning from colleagues should be emphasized . ( 5 ) The undergraduate curriculum should emphasize the development of students ' feelings of self-efficacy to ensure that students become physicians who are confident about their abilities . ( 6 ) CME research and CPE research reinforce the efforts in undergraduate medical education to emphasize the early development of students ' process skills as well as content mastery .

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