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| BOOK REVIEW |
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| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 45
| Issue : 4 | Page : 419 |
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Principles of Medical Education
Medha A Joshi
Department of Pharmacology, International Medical School and Head, Quality Assurance Unit, Health Sciences, Gokula Education Foundation (Medical), Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| Date of Web Publication | 15-Jul-2013 |
Correspondence Address:
Medha A Joshi
Department of Pharmacology, International Medical School and Head, Quality Assurance Unit, Health Sciences, Gokula Education Foundation (Medical), Bangalore, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
How to cite this article:
Joshi MA. Principles of Medical Education. Indian J Pharmacol 2013;45:419 |
 Tejinder Singh, Piyush Gupta, Daljit Singh
Publishers: IAP National Publication House,
Gwalior,
Jaypee,
pp. 205.
Price: Rs. 300
An ever increasing number of medical colleges in India has increased the demand for quality medical educators. The Medical Council of India has made it mandatory for every teacher to undergo the basic training in teaching learning methodology for a short period of 3 days. The teacher ends in getting a glimpse of various aspects of his/her role as an educator. Many of the concepts heard during the training are entirely new and for the teacher to adopt these concepts in his/her daily working needs reinforcement after the training is completed. Most faculty need to first unlearn the older concepts and techniques and then learn the newer teaching learning methods, and assessment methods to perform as a facilitator and a mentor instead of a mere teacher. This fourth edition of "Principles of Medical Education" includes all the basic topics and much more that a medical educator needs to know to carry out the role of an educator, mentor and a facilitator. Use of simple language, inclusion of practical examples rather than just "theory and narratives" makes this an interesting and must read for all teachers who wish to hone their skills in medical education.
In this edition, new chapters have been added; the number has increased to 30. The newer topics that are included are : s0 ystems approach to instruction, integrated teaching, group dynamics, teaching clinical skills, workplace based assessment, assessment of non-cognitive abilities and faculty development. The inclusion of these newer topics adds to the value of the book as it truly reflects the need of the hour. The other chapters related to curriculum, teaching learning methods, assessment, coaching and mentoring, newer methodologies in medical education, faculty evaluation have been revised along with the addition of tables and figures for better understanding. Furthermore, two appendices give additional information. The first is a very practical guide to teach your students how to study and the second one is a brief account of theories of learning. As in the earlier editions, in this edition too, each chapter begins with learning objectives that gives clear directions to the content covered. Many chapters are introduced with short snippets drawing similarities between everyday activities and medical education activities, though sometimes it is difficult to see the connection. The language used is simple and the conversational style simplifies the difficult concepts. Suitable examples simplify the difficult concepts.
Media in medical education covers commonly used media, with a great detailing about PowerPoint presentations as seen in the earlier version of Microsoft PowerPoint. It would have been better to state the basics of good presentation instead of going in depth regarding each aspect such as animation, transition and effects as these are likely to change with the change in the version of Microsoft Windows. The section on Internet deserves little more attention given the ever increasing ways it could be used for learning.
The chapters on assessment include most aspects of assessment from knowledge assessment to clinical and workplace-based assessment. The chapter on objective type questions is very well written with suitable items to exemplify each point. Examples given for other types of multiple choice questions make the unfamiliar types of objective type questions easy to understand. Though simulations are included in the newer methodologies in medical education, it could have been dealt a little more in depth both as a teaching learning as well as for assessment tool.
For those who wish to get additional information, references, web resources and journal articles are included in the bibliography. Overall this book is an excellent resource to introduce medical teachers to the art and science of teaching.
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