A COMPREHENSIVE CONTINUOUS PRECLINICAL PBL TUTOR TRAINING SYSTEM

Background: Over the last 6 years, an institutional project was undert aken to define the preclinical PBL tutor role and to develop a compreh ensive tutor training system. Description: A system of tutor training accompanied the Sherbrooke School of Medicine major shift to a student -centered, PBL community-oriented curriculum which was successfully co mpleted. Purposes: Eight specific tutor tasks were identified and then validated by PBL tutors from five international schools. Thirty-four competencies related to tutor tasks were then validated by Sherbrooke tutors, as they gained experience with the Sherbrooke PBL method. A co mprehensive training system was established wherein the basic workshop , tutoring experience, weekly tutors' meeting, monitoring during the P BL unit, and yearly update workshops were all linked in a continuous s ystem of tutor competencies improvement. Evaluation: A self-assessment grid gave teachers the opportunity to appreciate their motivation and their sense of learning, and administrators a tool to tailor the tuto r training system according to the specific contextual conditions. Con clusions: The systematic and comprehensive definition of tutor tasks h as become the cornerstone of the training program. The yearly half-day update workshops have become a necessary component of PBL tutor conti nuing education. This project has demonstrated a systematic process of PBL tutor training that responds continuously to teachers' needs.