Problem-based learning: an approach toward reforming allied health education.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is presented as a useful way to educate allied health practitioners for the future. The essential characteristics of problem-based learning include: curricular organization around problems rather than disciplines; an integrated curriculum rather than one separated into clinical and theoretical components; and an inherent emphasis on cognitive skills as well as on knowledge. Long-term advocates of PBL stress that it is the only known method for preparing future professionals to be able to adapt to change, learning how to reason critically, enabling a holistic approach to health, and attaining integrated, cumulative learning.