The Integrated Problems (IP) Course at Boston University School
of Medicine is a problem-based learning course taken by all first-
and second-year medical students. The students meet in groups of 6
to 8 with a faculty facilitator. Clinical cases are presented
gradually over the weeks of the course, giving students the
opportunity to learn to develop hypotheses and research different
aspects of the class.
Over the years, a number of MMS members have filled the role of
volunteer facilitators. Some are new to the experience and some
have been volunteering for six to seven years. The physicians come
from diverse medical backgrounds including internal medicine,
family practice, pediatrics, endocrinology, gastroenterology,
obstetrics and gynecology and psychiatry. And they hail from
eastern, central and western Massachusetts. The pool of volunteers
consists of retired, semi-retired or still practicing physicians.
One repeated theme is their satisfaction with this teaching program
and volunteer opportunity.
They come to it for different reasons. Some would like to
have more purpose in life. Others, remembering their medical
school days, want to enjoy the enthusiasm of the students just
starting their journey. Dr. John W. Hare responded to a notice in
an MMS newsletter because he thought it sounded similar in format
to a tutoring experience he had enjoyed in the past. Dr. Herbert L.
Cooper, who had done clinical teaching with BU students prior to
his retirement, responded because he looked forward to again
working with students.
Another common thread you hear from the volunteers is their high
praise for the students. The students inspire the physicians, are
enthusiastic and bring interesting perspectives to the classes. Dr.
Cooper finds the students "are great fun (once you get used to the
informal dress now universal among them)." Dr. Stuart Kleeman says
the "students are generally so refreshingly idealistic and anxious
to learn." And Dr. Samuel Topal is "extremely optimistic about the
future of medicine in this country."
Volunteers state the course provides instructive sessions for
them as well as the students. The students teach them about the new
molecular, genetic and biochemical techniques. And in order to
guide the students as they develop their diagnosis, the facilitator
must do his/her homework and brush up on basic scientific and
clinical knowledge to be sure he/she is positioned to guide the
students. The students benefit from the clinical knowledge these
experienced physicians are able to provide. The volunteers can
teach them about processes, such as evaluating a history and
physicals and basic lab tests, which have remained much the same
over the decades since the volunteers were students. The
volunteers can impress upon them the value of taking the patient's
history, both as a tool to gain valuable clinical knowledge and as
a way to enhance the physician-patient relationship. And, as Dr.
Topal says, "the students enjoy hearing about practicing in the
days of wooden ships." The students begin by needing some structure
and direction, and conclude by running the program.
Those who have facilitated say they recommend the course to
fellow physicians and claim in Dr. Cooper's words, "This is an
opportunity not to be missed!"
