Survey of Medical Students of Regarding the Effectiveness of the Implemented Program of Theoretical Courses of Skin Diseases based on the PBL Method

 Problem-based learning (PBL) has been one of the most attractive and effective teaching-learning programs during the last 40 years and is one of the newest methods of medical education. In this method, students usually work on a problem in small groups and learn the objectives of education, which include basic and clinical knowledge. The purpose of this study was to seek the opinions of dermatology department students about a viral skin diseases course delivered in a PBL style.

 The purpose of this study was to seek the opinions of dermatology department students about a viral skin diseases course delivered in a PBL style.

 This survey-type cross-sectional collected the opinions of 175 medical students (99 externs and 76 interns) at the dermatology department of Sinai Educational, Research and Treatment Center from April to July 2022. In this study, a researcher-made questionnaire with 25 questions that evaluated learning of viral skin diseases through the PBL method was utilized for data collection. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts.

 The collected opinions of the students showed that this teaching method improved their learning attitude and performance, developed critical thinking skills, improved their ability to learn interactive communication and self-evaluation, and enhanced their time management capacities and motivation to learn clinical subjects.

 According to the results, the PBL method is effective in teaching theoretical courses on skin diseases, and this method can be recommended for delivering other similar courses.