Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the face-to-face meetings are delayed to an unknown date. However, the YCU School of Medicine deems international education essential for our students. As a solution to this issue, the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) kindly offered us an opportunity to hold an online “PBL Hawaii Style Workshop” on March 22nd and 24th, for the second time after the outbreak of COVID-19.

PBL (Problem Based Learning) is a learning method for promoting active learning of participants through clinical case discussion. The participants, split into small groups, try to identify learning issues that are necessary to solve clinical patient scenarios. Consequently, they are more interested and motivated to learn compared to when studying on a given topic. In the past few years before the pandemic, impressed by the effectiveness of Hawaii style PBL, we had sent our faculty members and students to Hawaii so that they could experience this method.

While we continue to collaborate with JABSOM to hold in-person PBL workshops in the future, we are pleased to hear the participants express satisfaction with the virtual PBL. YCU students were inspired a lot by JABSOM students who led the discussion. A YCU student commented that he had initially been nervous, but with the help of JABSOM students, he could eventually participate in the discussion with ease. Touched by their attitude, he noted that this kind of interaction can be important also in clinical settings. On the other hand, a JABSOM student commented that the best takeaway from the PBL was the “experience (of) teaching students about medical topics in ways that were simple and easy to understand.”

We believe that what students experienced and noticed during the PBL process will be a strong motivation for their further learning and international exchange. We sincerely hope to hold another PBL event with JABSOM in the near future.