Table 1 Summary of study characteristics including demographics and outcome measures
Reference (year) | Country and school | Study design | Total number of participants | Programs compared (number in each group) | Level of training (graduation years) | Other relevant demographics/adjustment for confounding | Outcome measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ford et al. [4] | Canada. All English-language schools | Retrospective cohort | 14,370 | PBL vs non-PBLa (6391/7979) | Graduates (1993–2004) | None | Pathology residency choice |
Kaufman et al. [14] | USA. University of New Mexico School of Medicine | Retrospective cohort | 511 | Primary care (PBL) vs traditional curriculum (140/379) | Final year medical students | None | Future specialty choice |
Matsui et al. [9] | Japan. Tokyo Women’s Medical University | Retrospective cohort | 468 | PBL vs Non-PBL curriculum (248/220) | Graduates (1989–2003) | All female, aged between 25–53 | Specialty choice |
Mennin et al. [17] | USA. University of New Mexico School of Medicine | Retrospective Cohort | 120 | Conventional vs primary care (PBL) curriculum (87/33) | Graduates (1983–1986) | None | Family practice specialty |
Moore et al. [15] | USA. Harvard Medical School | Randomised controlled trial | 297 | New pathway (PBL) vs traditional curriculum (62/235) | Graduates (1989–1990) | No significant difference between groups in terms of age or gender | Residency choice |
Moore-west et al. [16] | USA. University of New Mexico School of Medicine | Cohort study | 38 | New pathway (PBL) vs traditional curriculum (19/19) | Graduates (1983–1984) | None | Residency choice |
Pearson et al. [18] | Australia. University of Newcastle and University of Sydney | Retrospective cohort | 2469 | PBL vs Non-PBLb (538/1931) | Graduates (1983–1998) | Matched for graduation year, age and gender | Specialty choice |
Peters et al. [10] | USA. Harvard Medical School | Randomised Controlled Trial | 100 | New Pathway (PBL) vs traditional curriculum (50/50) | Graduates (1989–1990) | Matched for age & gender | Specialty choice |
Tolnai et al. [20] | Canada. McMaster University and University of Ottawa | Retrospective Cohort | 342 | PBL vs Non-PBLb (156/186) | Graduates (1974–1980) | None | Family practice specialty |
Wesnes et al. [11] | Norway. all Norwegian Medical Schools | Cross-sectional | 1770 | PBL vs Non-PBLb | Graduates (2002–2005) | None | General practice specialty |
Woodward et al. [19] | Canada. McMaster University and other Canadian Universities | Retrospective cohort | 2028 | PBL vs Non-PBLb (408/1620) | Graduates (1972–1979) | Group 1: matched on year of graduation. Group 2: matched on year of graduation, sex and age | Specialty choice |