Team-based learning sets physician assistant program apart

PA Program student Amelia Poplawski, talks with a Ben-Gurion University faculty member. The Israeli faculty visited Penn State College of Medicine to learn more about its use of team-based learning in the physician assistant program.

Throughout college and graduate school, Amelia Poplawski learned very efficiently from her textbooks and lectures, so the first-year student in Penn State College of Medicine’s physician assistant program was surprised when a tool she had never heard of – team-based learning – enhanced her studying.

“I am amazed at how much more enjoyable learning is,” said Poplawski, who was introduced to team-based learning when she sat in on a class during her interview process. “I could never have anticipated how much of an impact it would make.”

Sometimes referred to as “the flipped classroom,” team-based learning encourages the student to develop deep thinking and teamwork skills that are especially important in an increasingly team-based approach to medicine, according to Chris Bruce, program director and team-based learning coordinator of the PA program. In comparison to other programs nationally, Penn State’s program devotes significant classroom hours weekly to true team-based learning.

Read more about team-based learning in this Penn State Medicine article.

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