In medical education, behaviorism plays a crucial role in skill acquisition and clinical training since behaviorism focuses on observable behaviors.
During clerkship and internship , it often relies on behaviorist principles when teaching clinical skills, where repetition and feedback are essential. For example, in learning to perform physical examinations, students practice procedures repeatedly under supervision. Positive reinforcement (e.g., praise or passing assessments) encourages them to refine their skills.
Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are a direct application of behaviorism in medical education. Students are assessed on their performance of specific tasks (e.g., history taking, patient counseling), and they receive immediate feedback on their behavior and technique.
While in cognitivism, focus are internal mental processes and knowledgr organization. Learning method is through active participation, problem solving with critical thinking.
Case-based learning (CBL) and Problem-based learning (PBL) are approaches grounded in cognitivism, where students are presented with real-life clinical cases and must apply their knowledge to solve complex medical problems. This encourages deep understanding and integration of knowledge across different subjects, such as physiology, pathology, and pharmacology.