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Summary: Summary. Recent graduates (1989-1990) of a traditional school of Chinese medicine were assessed by observers using a 10-item scale for professional behaviour in the non-cognitive realm. Overall, 10.7% of the graduates had low ratings on this scale. Of those who scored in the top two quartiles on this scale, 71.4% reported that ‘Professional ethics’ was the key determinant of their professional behaviour, whereas legal concerns were the prime motivator for only 3.6% of the top scorers. It was also found that students' scores in the medical ethics course correlated with their professional behaviour score to a statistically significant degree.

The way in which students approach their learning is dependent on a variety of factors including the characteristics of the departments and teaching to which they are exposed. These factors appear to influence whether the students adopt a surface, deep or strategic approach. In order to explore further the relationship between educational context and approach to learning, a comparison was made between students attending a traditional medical school and those attending a problem-based medical school. The results showed marked differences, with the problem-based school being higher on deep approach and lower on surface approach than the traditional school. This study provides one of the first pieces of evidence of a difference between students in the two types of medical school which can be directly attributed to the educational environment. Students in the problem-based school appear to have an approach to learning which more closely approximates the aims of most medical schools. The results provide support for the philosophies and strategies of the problem-based schools.

The interests, attitudes and motivations of two groups of first-year medical undergraduates, one group from an innovative medical school and one group from a more traditional school were compared. Differences were found between the two groups in their reasons for studying medicine, their attitudes to medical education, and the role of the medical profession. The students from the innovative school placed more emphasis on the interpersonal and practical aspects of medicine as well as a sense of responsibility to the community. Reasons for these differences were discussed.

The author visited McMaster Medical School as a fourth-year medical student in 1984 and took part in a 12-week unit 3 course. The present investigation on implementation of the educational principles of the MD programme was performed as an elective. A sample of 30 students out of 100 unit 3 all completed a questionnaire. Only 5 of 18 student groups used the 'cold', i.e. unprepared, approach to problem-solving during tutorials and 15 of 30 practised self-learning related to the last problem. The others spent most time on general reading. From unit 1 to unit 3 a declining number of groups used peer evaluation (less than 50%) and evaluation of groups (greater than 50%). The students felt that the performance of tutors should be improved. Most students attended lectures. It is suggested that tutor and group function may benefit from releasing the tutor from grading students. Despite its implementation problems, the author found the McMaster approach to education more beneficial than that of his own traditional school.