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McMaster professor wins international award

Geoff Norman wins recognition for research in training doctors

A Canadian professor is being recognized with an international award worth about $76,000 for his research in the area of finding better ways to train medical doctors.Geoff Norman, assistant dean of the program for educational research and development at McMaster University, will receive the 2008 Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education at a ceremony in Stockholm on Oct. 28, the university said Wednesday.

In a statement, Norman described it as “an astonishing recognition.”

“The prize and Karolinska Institutet are so well known in my field of work; it’s a feather in the cap for both me personally and for McMaster University,” said Norman, a professor in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

His primary research is in the area of how clinicians arrive at a diagnosis. He has also done work in the area of learning anatomy from computers and the use of simulations in clinical learning.

The university said Norman played a central role in developing the concept-based curriculum at McMaster, an evolution of the university’s emphasis on problem-based learning, which has been adopted by more than 100 medical schools around the world.

It’s only the third time the prize has been awarded. It’s intended to recognize and stimulate high-quality research in medical education.

-with a report from Canadian Press

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