Cognitive learning in the health sciences: a case for self-instruction.

The health professions are faced today as never before with the need to find more effective ways of acquiring a growing volume of biomedical knowledge and of addressing the urgent concerns about learning processes--namely, the continued dependence on outmoded techniques of cognitive transfer. The author believes that greater incentives should be given for faculty and students to experiment with innovative approaches to cognitive learning while recognizing the need for increased emphasis on problem-solving skills in medical care. Proven self-learning techniques demand greater attention in curriculum and course design efforts. Finally, the author states that the process of educational planning must be viewed as continuous, dynamic, and never-ending if it is to best serve the needs of individual students, educational institutions, and the society to which both are ultimately accountable and committed to serve.