Use of a systematic literature review to support problem-based learning and clinical professional skills at a public medical university in the Brazilian Amazon

Introduction

The systematic review critically evaluates the evidence available in the literature on a given topic. It is extremely useful in the practice of evidence-based medicine. When it comes to teaching medical sciences, based on a guiding question, a structured literature review can be used to identify, compile, and analyze the available evidence, helping the teaching–learning process in healthcare. In this context, the medical schools in the Brazilian Amazon have been undergoing changes in the way their pedagogical policy projects are constructed, as a result of the need to respond to the health demands of the local community, allowing them to open up to teaching–learning methodologies that are more focused on the student. Therefore, this study aimed to verify the impact of using systematic literature research to support problem-based learning (PBL) and the teaching of clinical professional skills (CPS) in the healthcare axis of the medical course at a university in the Brazilian Amazon.

Materials and methods

Eight groups from different semesters of the medical course took part in the study. The students were instructed on the guidelines for systematic literature research according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies.

Results

The systematic literature review proved to be an excellent tool for articulating the different medical sciences, since the students were able to construct their own learning using a relational approach of the knowledge acquired actively through PBL and CPS with the evidence from the scientific literature versus the regional reality of the health-disease process. The results of the different literature reviews within the healthcare axis were published in the form of scientific articles.

Conclusion

The systematic literature review showed the applicability of evidence-based medicine by students at a public university in the Brazilian Amazon region, who became more motivated and aware of the teaching–learning process applied to healthcare focused on the reality of the region in which they live.