Perception of Professional Competence of Medical Doctors Trained Using Innovative and Traditional Learning Methods

Background; Innovative learning also known as Problem Based Learning (PBL) is student centered whereas Traditional teaching is tutor centered. PBL is a main method of acquiring and applying knowledge and thus develop life-long learning skills. Moi University school of Medicine uses PBL whereas University of Nairobi uses traditional learning methods. Objectives; To evaluate the perceptions of professional competence among medical doctors using innovative learning methods (PBL) as contrasted to traditional teaching methods in their medical education. Methods; This was a cross-sectional study carried out on the medical doctors from Moi University and University of Nairobi. Moi University uses problem-based learning whereas University of Nairobi uses traditional methods as a learning model. A total of 92 post internship medical doctors were recruited. After the obtaining an informed consent, data was collected from the sampled respondents. Data was analyzed using STATA version 10 to obtain descriptive variables. Results; From Moi University there were 37(40.2%) and from University of Nairobi were 55(59.8%). There were 38 females (41.3%) and 54 male (58.7%). Majority of the respondents (79.3%) were in the age range of 25-29years. A total of eight competencies were assessed. In all the eight assessed competencies, the P-value for variable rating in two competencies was less than 0.05. These were; Leadership skills and Planning, organization and working independently. Conclusion; PBL curricula graduates felt that they were better prepared in leadership skills as compared to counterparts who were trained using traditional teaching methods.