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Context The University of Liverpool has always been innovative in its approach to medical education. The medical faculty's decision to switch to a full problem-based learning (PBL) medical curriculum from September 1996 represented an opportune moment for history of medicine to put a foot in the curricular door. Discussion The history of medicine component was launched with an initial team of 3 staff members, although some 16 people have been involved in its development and delivery over the 10 years since it began. This paper is an attempt to construct and discuss the history of the course over the past decade, examining both the proactive and reactive aspects of its evolution, and how it has been perceived by students, the university and staff who have taught on it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of dissection, as part of undergraduate medical education, has recently resurfaced in the public eye. This paper focuses on a number of important learning outcomes that were reported by Year 1–5 medical students in a British medical school, during the dissection sessions in the first 2 years of their training, as part of a wider qualitative research project into undergraduate medical education.A group of 29 students was selected by quota sampling, using the whole student population of the medical school as the sampling frame. Qualitative data were collected by 1 : 1 interviews with students and from formal non-participatory observations of dissection sessions.Apart from learning to cope with the overt‘emotional confrontation’ with the cadavers which assists anatomical learning, 7 additional covert learning outcomes were identified by the students: teamwork, respect for the body, familiarisation of the body, application of practical skills, integration of theory and practice, preparation for clinical work, and appreciation of the status of dissection within the history of medicine.A number of medical schools have either removed the practical, hands-on aspect of dissection in the medical undergraduate curriculum or are seriously considering such a measure, on financial and/or human resource grounds. This study highlights the fact that dissection can impart anatomical knowledge as well as offer other relevant, positive learning opportunities to enhance the skills and attitudes of future doctors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To help students in a self-directed, problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum learn from a breadth of hospital experience. Methods Clinical units were asked to identify what clinical activities they could make available to interested students on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis. A centralised, electronic system was developed that allowed students to book a fair, but not excessive, share of those learning opportunities. This web-based programme evolved into a comprehensive timetabling system that managed activities for whole classes of students as well as ‘sign-ups’ booked by individuals. Results The sign-up system offered 1792 hours/week, or 6 hours/student/week, to the hospital's 291 students of learning opportunities additional to firm-based teaching and learning. There were sign-ups in all major specialties and they included rounds, clinics, theatre/investigation sessions and conferences. Students accessed the system as commonly from outside the hospital as within it, and used it to view their timetables as well as to book learning opportunities. The system was used particularly heavily when examinations were imminent, indicating that students found it supportive to their learning. Conclusions We have developed an innovative way of providing experience that is relevant to problem-based, integrative clinical education. Students, as judged by their heavy use of it, value the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]