problem based vs traditional teaching structures in medicine

'... analyzing the difference between diagnoses made by McGill and McMaster medical students, she discovered that while problem-based learning helped students to relate science to their clinical activities, it hindered their ability to generalize. "It was too context-based," she explains. Diagnoses were "hypothesis-driven": students were learning, but not asserting their knowledge. In contrast, McGill students could make confident "data-driven" diagnoses in the manner of expert physicians.

"What this means," explains Patel, "is that the problem-based strategy provides a good environment for learning, but doctors also need the professional confidence to come to closure. In medical schools we're certifying competence; patients want diagnoses." '