Pages: 9-17

Abstract

Effective relationship between education and practice is of great importance for medical graduate students. Obviously, graduates of medical sciences should be familiar with the practical application of theoretical knowledge, clinical actions and encounter with patients. Along this, continuing medical education (CME) programs are introduced and implemented in the field of medical education throughout the world. Continuing medical education includes activities aimed at preserving and developing the knowledge, skills and professional performance of medical team members being in line with providing better services to patients, community or profession. The ultimate goal of continuing medical education programs is to improve the quality of patient care through professional training. However, improving the quality of learner’s education is not possible without the transformation of methods and teaching techniques. The use of innovative educational methods in the process of continuing education in different countries leads to favorable outcomes which can be very effective for other countries. In this research, the common and effective methods of medical education are introduced by reviewing the contexts of medical sciences. These methods include lectures, collaborative patterns, group discussions, problem solving, e-learning, clinical education, evidence-based medicine, and medical-based simulations. According to the aforementioned methods, three methods of clinical education, evidence-based medicine and medical-based simulations are specific to medical science, and the rest of the methods are common with other disciplines.