PBL-based medical curricula do not predispose students to a career in a specific specialty, with 7 of 11 studies showing no significant difference in career choice between PBL and non-PBL graduates¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2–q3
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q3 i? The majority of studies (7 of 11) showed that PBL did not predispose a student to a career in a specific specialty. → Tsigarides Jordan 2017 q3 i? Large multicentre studies found no significant differences: Ford et al. (14,370 graduates) found no significant difference for pathology residency choice, and Wesnes et al. (1,770 graduates) found specialty choice not significantly associated with curriculum type. → Tsigarides Jordan 2017 (2)

Evidence¶

Tsigarides Jordan 2017¶

Tsigarides Jordan, Wingfield Laura R., Kulendran Myutan. (2017). Does a PBL-based medical curriculum predispose training in specific career paths? A systematic review of the literature. BMC Research Notes. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5219658/

q3 · i? · review · r3

Systematic review of 11 studies comparing PBL vs non-PBL medical curricula on career choice. The review reports that "PBL did not predispose a student to a career in a specific speciality" in 7 of 11 studies (64%).

"The majority of studies showed that PBL did not predispose a student to a career in a specific speciality (n = 7 out of 11 studies, 64%)."

Tsigarides Jordan 2017 (2)¶

q2 · i? · review · r2

Retrospective cohort study using Canadian Resident Matching Service data over 1993–2004 across 13 English-language Canadian medical schools (n = 14,370). The review reports "no significant differences" for pathology residency choice between PBL and non-PBL school graduates.

"Most notably, Ford et al. [4] conducted a large study in Canada with 14,370 graduates, and this research group concluded that there were no significant differences specifically for choosing a pathology residency programme between graduates from medical schools with a predominantly PBL curriculum in comparison to those with a non-PBL curriculum."

Discussion¶

Kaufman et al. found significantly more PBL students retained or switched to an interest in primary care during medical school (P = 0.05) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Matsui et al. found more non-PBL graduates working in primary care (9% difference) with no significance reported — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Woodward et al. found no significant difference in specialty choice but PBL graduates held a greater number of certificates in family medicine — related
Three studies reported a significantly increased number of PBL graduates working in primary care compared to non-PBL graduates — reports the opposite
One study found significantly fewer PBL graduates working in primary care, with the authors suggesting medical school admission as a confounding factor — reports the opposite

Page metadata

Field	Value
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-11-01`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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