Enhancing Learning in Outpatient Care Training: Theory Can Inform the Practice of Graduate Medical Education.

Abstract in brief

• The article discusses how outpatient care has become a crucial part of physicians' responsibilities and emphasizes the need to improve graduate medical education within this setting by using relevant learning theories.
• It reviews four specific learning theories—Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, Situated Learning Theory, Cognitive Development Theory, and Self-regulated Learning Theory—to understand how residents learn in outpatient environments, highlighting their focus on sociocultural aspects and the learner.
• The authors suggest that applying these theories can help educators identify challenges and opportunities in outpatient training, ultimately leading to the development of better programs that produce more competent physicians to meet patient and societal needs.]