THE ROLE OF HEALTH-SCIENCES LIBRARIANS IN THE TEACHING AND RETENTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ATTITUDES OF LIFELONG LEARNING

For the past decade, the medical education community has recognized li felong learning as a desirable educational outcome. Problem-based lear ning (PBL) appears to foster the requisite knowledge acquisition, skil ls, and attitudes. This paper briefly summarizes research that found n o differences in perceptions of lifelong learning between graduates of PBL curricula and traditional curricula. The paper analyzes the assum ptions that suggest such differences should exist and asserts that the se assumptions are invalid within the global context of the education process. The paper concludes by suggesting a new way of looking at the teaching and retention of knowledge, skills, and attitudes of lifelon g learning and the essential role that health sciences librarians must play in the process.