Transforming Medical Genetics Teaching: An Innovative Approach with Problem-Based Learning

Twenty-first century trends indicate that the central characteristic of contemporary education is the shift from an individual focus to a social, political, and ideological focus. Active teaching–learning methodologies, particularly with a problematizing approach, have been used in training and health professionals, as a strategy aimed at integrating knowledge and promoting a critical and reflective attitude towards practice. In view of this, the present study sought to build, standardize, and apply the problem-based learning (PBL) methodology in teaching the Medical Genetics discipline for the Medicine course at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), seeking to contribute to the consolidation of the study of genetic determinants of diseases and their applications in medical education and practice, in order to provide possible examples of medical conduct, given the different realities experienced by doctors. Through the application of PBL, students received a case study in the area of Genetic Counseling/Oncogenetics to apply their knowledge together with the use of different tools and software, in order to exemplify a model of medical conduct for that particular condition. The results indicate that the proposed class model was efficiently constructed, standardized, and applied to the third semester class of the UFES Medicine course, in which the students positively evaluated the application and use of the methodology in the proposed activity, highlighting its positive effects for medical training. The use of this class model based on the PBL methodology favors the development of the necessary skills, abilities, and attitudes recommended in the guiding documents for medical graduates, within the scope of Medical Genetics, in order to encourage the practice of personalized care in the formative years.