A Scoping Review of the Relation Between Problem-based Learning and Professional Identity Development in Medical Education

There is a substantial amount of research pointing to the benefits of pedagogical approaches such as problem-based learning (PBL) and the importance of developing professional identity as a physician in medical education. The aim of this review is to investigate the existing literature concerned with the relation between PBL and professional identity development in undergraduate medical students. We performed a scoping review of six electronic databases to map out how the relation between PBL and professional identity development in undergraduate medical students is presented in the existing literature. Eight peer-reviewed full text articles were retrieved as eligible for review. The most important conclusion from our work is that even though the topic of professional identity development in medical education has been studied quite extensively, there is a lack of knowledge about how new types of pedagogical approaches such as how a PBL curriculum influences medical students’ professional identity development.