Problem-based learning in health care management: reflecting the world out there

Health care management teaching at De Montfort University focuses on the delivery and implementation of policy within the English context; this is very much directed by the government onto organisations and managers working within them. Tutors can only do so much to get across the contextual nature of the English NHS and its associated managerial issues, whilst, by contrast, pedagogic styles, such as problem-based learning (PBL), can offer students an opportunity to explore self-directed issues within a contextually defined framework, allowing them to engage in deeper learning. In addition, such a learning style mirrors the workplace by introducing students to uncertainty, independence and the need to engage with a changing political context. This paper focuses on how PBL can offer a model of learning that aims to meets students’ and employers’ needs.