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Design Of A Problem-Based Learning Pain And Palliative Care Elective Course, Katherine Juba, Bernard P. Ricca

Pharmacy Faculty/Staff Publications

Objective

To implement and evaluate a problem-based learning (PBL) pain and palliative care elective course to develop studentsʼ pain and symptom management pharmacotherapy knowledge, clinical reasoning process, and self-directed learning skills.

Methods

Each week students received a patient case to independently develop an assessment and plan for each pain and symptom management problem. During class the students discussed their findings within small groups in preparation for a large-group discussion with the instructor. Studentsʼ course grades were based on weekly pre-class case preparation, individual case studies, and self-reflection questions. To assess knowledge gained over the semester a free-response pre- and post-course …