A critical narrative review of transfer of basic science knowledge in health professions education

Abstract

Transfer of basic science knowledge to clinical reasoning is an essential component of HPE that requires further development for implementation and scholarship.

Why Content and Cognition Matter: Integrating Conceptual Knowledge to Support Simulation-Based Procedural Skills Transfer

“…[10][11][12][13] In studying how expertise develops, researchers have found that trainees learning to make clinical diagnoses have better diagnostic skill retention and transfer when teaching involves integrating basic science and clinical knowledge. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Hence, identifying and selecting the relevant conceptual and procedural knowledge appears to be a key decision point when educators choose which content to teach.…”

The gap in transfer research

“…In many ways, transfer may, therefore, be considered the cornerstone of all medical training. Yet, transfer as a psychological concept is rarely considered by medical educators and scientists, as suggested by Castillo et al . in this issue of the journal.…”

“…However, only a handful of these studies (15 out of the 627 screened studies in Castillo et al. 's sample) have explored transfer from a conceptual and theoretical point of view. In other words, there is an abundance of publications that confirm that transfer can occur (evaluation), but few that explore when, why and how to optimise transfer from a theoretical and conceptual point of view (research).…”

“…The trajectory of research seen in other research disciplines, such as trial phases in pharmaceutical research, seems not to have been adopted in medical education research, where old ideas are often re‐branded as new at regular intervals . The concepts developed within the domain of cognitive psychology seem to have no trouble reaching basic scientists in medical education, as exemplified in the review by Castillo et al . However, there are very few good examples of transfer studies conducted in the clinical setting that have been informed by theories, concepts or ideas developed by basic scientists in medical education.…”

“…The few transfer studies reported in journals dedicated to medical education are often conducted in highly controlled simulated environments, whereas transfer studies reported in clinical journals often involve outcomes measured in real clinical settings. For example, all of the 15 studies included in the review by Castillo et al . investigated outcomes measured in controlled non‐clinical settings, involving memory tests, online quizzes, written patient cases or questionnaires, and 11 of them were published in journals dedicated to medical education.…”