Relevance of Educational Theories in Medical Education

Abstract

In modern times, learning in the medical profession is taking place on a large scale in various settings such as classroom, patient’s bedside, simulation laboratory and community. It is important for a teacher to understand how learning can take place in these settings and ensure that the desired learning outcomes are achieved. The purpose of the present article is to review the explanations of the various ways the learning can take place in various settings and explore where and how educational theories can help us in planning the student learning. The understanding of educational theories has implications for session planning, planning an educational research and programme evaluation. Thus, the teachers’ subject knowledge and their assumptions on how learning could take place, forms the base for effective student learning, educational evaluation and research. These theories were developed over the period of years and there is no single theory which alone can explain the process of learning in all the situations. Hence, the teachers should be able to make a choice of educational theory to explain the learning process for the given teaching-learning activity. The faculty should develop the practice of considering educational theories while planning their teaching assignment and educational research.

Keywords

• medical education
• theory
• student
• learning