Field Of Vision
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Jun 28, 2020; 8(3): 178-189
Published online Jun 28, 2020. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v8.i3.178
Learning and competence development via clinical cases – what elements should be investigated to best train good medical doctors?
Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Guoruey Wong
Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and Postgraduate Unit, Teaching Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
Guoruey Wong, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal H3T 1J4, Quebec, Canada
Author contributions: Löffler-Stastka H conceived the review and wrote the manuscript; Wong G discussed with Löffler-Stastka H international trends and proofread for English style.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Henriette Löffler-Stastka, MD, Associate Professor, Dean, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and Postgraduate Unit, Teaching Center, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria. henriette.loeffler.stastka@meduniwien.ac.at
Received: February 28, 2020
Peer-review started: February 28, 2020
First decision: May 31, 2020
Revised: June 15, 2020
Accepted: June 20, 2020
Article in press: June 20, 2020
Published online: June 28, 2020
Processing time: 129 Days and 17.7 Hours
Abstract

In European higher education, application of information technology, concentration on the learning-processes, consistent implementation, transfer learning, case-based learning, autonomous learning has been extensively studied in the last decade. Educational sciences based on neuroscientific findings use brain-based learning and teaching, including integrated thematic instructions and emotion-theory. Elements essential to this strategy, such as theory and methods for learning, competencies, attitudes, social reality, and a metadiscourse are described herein. Research on learning tends to focus on declarative knowledge, associative learning with conditional stimuli, and procedural knowledge with polythematic/crosslinking thinking. Research on competencies: In research on competencies (e.g., for clinical reasoning, decision-making), intuitive and analytical components are studied. As repeated presentation and exercising of clinical cases is crucial for an efficient learning process, the implementation of interactive scenarios including affectively involving didactics is considered. For competence-development observational methods, questionnaires/item sets or factors have to be targeted and empirically validated. Attitudes and social reality: Clinical decision-making, identification processes and attitudes (“Hidden curriculum”), as well as secondary socialization processes (integration of social norms, values, preparation of role-acquisition, occupational role) are studied via process research, conceptual research, and observational methods. With respect to social reality research, conscious and unconscious bargaining processes have to be taken into account. Methodology: Neuroscience – memory, neuronal, molecular biology, and computer science (Neurocircuits) are integrated into observational process research (e.g., affective-cognitive interface, identification processes) and conceptual research is added and studied on the meta-level, including discussion of research paradigms. This discussion provides ongoing feedback to projects in a hermeneutic circle.

Keywords: Social neuroscience; Case-based learning; Mixed-method design; Hidden curriculum; Socialization; Research

Core tip: Consequent application of evidence based didactics based on social neuroscientific findings is necessary to develop good medical doctors and therapeutic professionals. An overview of the higher education history and development throughout the past decades is given. An up to date description of the current knowledge regarding higher education and research strategies to enhance the evidence-based components to optimize teaching and learning are proposed.