Melveetil S. Sreejit 1 , Kolathu P Radhika 2
ABSTRACT: CONTEXT: Anaesthesia is a branch of medicine which allows only a very narrow margin of error. Anaesthesia post-graduate (PG) teaching with problem-based learning (PBL) enhances the critical thinking and problem-solving skills among the students .Among the different problem based learning methods case based discussions (CBD) are most widely practiced out of all in anaesthesia PG teaching. METHODS AND MATERIAL: An anonymous questionnaire based, crosssectional survey among 37 anaesthesia residents from two medical institutions in North Kerala, India was conducted. The present survey was designed to assess the effectiveness of case based discussions in anaesthesia PG teaching by assessing the student’s satisfaction with CBD and the suggested modifications if any to improve the current status of teaching. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The CBD as a part of PBL in anesthesia PG teaching in our set up lacks many important aspects of PBL such as formulation of objectives, facilitation skills, communication on direction of PBL and supplementation of inadequacies. A broader, strict and organized implementation of PBL incorporating the key elements of PBL needs emphasis in PG teaching curriculum. Facilitation skill development programs needs motivation and encouragement from the perspective of the academic administrators.
