Problem-based medical education: development of a theoretical foundation and a science-based professional attitude.

Problem-based learning, combined with early patient contact, integration between different subject areas, elements of multiprofessional education, and special emphasis on the development of communications skills has become the basis for the medical curriculum at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Linköping. Critics have questioned the depth of the scientific and theoretical aspects of the curriculum. Through a series of specific measures in the organization of the curriculum and examinations, and due to the pedagogical principles involved per se, our claim is that students graduating at Linköping do possess the required theoretical knowledge and a scientific attitude to the practice of medicine, at least equivalent to that obtained in a more conventional medical curriculum.