Rationale

Problem Based Learning “PBL” is an instructional strategy that was first used in McMaster University in 1969, and now widely used in medical education. The focus of the strategy is to work with real-patient cases in small groups with facilitator assistance during the whole process.

Objective

To assess the role of the tutor in PBL sessions by medical students in two mandatory courses (Basic Clinical Integration I and II) by the application of a 25-item questionnaire proposed by Martínez-González et al.

Method

A cross-sectional, descriptive and retrospective study was performed. A 25-item Likert type scale questionnaire was applied to the students from both courses (IBC-I and II) after being working with the tutor for more than a six-month period. Four IBC-I and three IBC-II classes were included in this study. Response frequencies, mean, standard error, and questionnaire validity (Crombach's alpha) were obtained for each application.

Results

The total sample was 6,862 questionnaires (83% from each class), with a Cronbach's α value of 0.9 for each class application. The lower values were for “The tutor functions as a guide” and “Not committed with the group functioning”, which were recurrent findings.

Conclusion

PBL is the proposed learning strategy for IBC-I and IBC-II, and the role of the tutor is the support for the adequate functioning of the small groups. As there is a tendency for classical-teaching among tutors, their role in guidance should be reinforced. A modification in the PBL-workshops and tutor feedback is advised.