Learning styles and the prospective surgeon.

There has recently been a surge of interest in medical education and specialty training. For many years, medical school curricula and residencies were guided mainly by tradition. Educators have now begun to reassess their methods in order to improve teaching efficiency and to better meet the needs of the trainee. Social psychologists and industry have led the way in mapping out the specific needs and learning styles of the adult student. Following this lead, many medical schools and training programs are adapting some of these techniques to evaluate the learning styles and needs of their students and residents. Learning style refers to the way one acquires and uses information. Application of the data may point out ways to better match the learning environment to the individual learning needs. This review outlines briefly the experimental learning theories of Kolb. It reviews current available data on learning styles in prospective surgeons and finally makes some correlation between these two fields of study. We hope to provide an introduction to learning style theories in relation to the surgical trainee that will stimulate further active pursuit of this important topic.