PROBLEM BASED LEARNING APPLIED TO PRACTICE IN MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN BRAZIL: A MINI-SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

ABSTRACT Background Active learning is a well-established educational methodology in medical schools worldwide, although its implementation in Brazilian clinical settings is quite challenging. The objective of this study is to review the literature in a systematic manner to find and conduct a reflective analysis of how problem-based learning (PBL) has been applied to clinical teaching in medical schools in Brazil. Material & methods A systematic literature search was conducted in three databases. A total of 250 papers related to PBL in Brazilian medical schools were identified through the database searches. Four studies were finally selected for the review. Results Four fields of medicine were explored on the four selected papers: gynecology/family medicine, medical semiology, psychiatry, and pediatrics. Overall, all the papers reported some level of strategic adaptability of the original PBL methodology to be applied in the Brazilian medical school’s curricula and to the peculiar characteristics specific to Brazil. Conclusion PBL application in Brazilian medical schools require some level of alteration from the original format, to better adapt to the characteristics of Brazilian students’ maturity, health system priorities and the medical labor market.