Teaching pathology in the 21st Century

: Medical school teaching undergoes major changes in predictable cycles. Up until the present day, all previous reforms have focused on the improvement of various teaching aspects. Future reforms, however, will be different since they will be based on a different philosophy. That philosophy will be one in which there will no longer be the "teaching aspect" at the center of attention but the "learning aspect". Students will better be prepared how to learn during their medical school education and throughout their entire careers. Worldwide, various models to reform teaching and learning in medical school have been tried. Problem-oriented teaching has gained considerable interest. The recently reformed medical school curriculum in Basel focuses on tutorial based problem-oriented teaching and hands-on "problem-oriented learning" in private practice groups as well as various practical courses. Our 3-year experience with this new type of curriculum is very positive. However, at present it is too early to know whether our positive "initial" impression is reflected in improved examinations scores. Experience made in other institutions suggests that such a new type of curriculum is not necessarily accompanied by better test results. Only time will tell. A final critical evaluation of our new "problem-oriented" curriculum can only be made after many years. In case we succeed and students grasp the concept that life-long learning is not only a necessary obligation in medicine but also a natural part of life, all of our efforts will be worthwhile.