Pedagogical Content Knowledge as a Lens for Transforming Teaching in Medical and Health Professions Education

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is the separate, topic-specific, specialized knowledge of educators that integrates subject matter expertise with effective teaching strategies in response to an identified learner misconception or to optimize teaching. Although PCK has been used for decades as a framework for understanding the often-tacit ability of an educator to educate well, little has been done to bring this framework into medical and health professions education. We provide examples of PCK in various contexts, including large -group lectures, problem-based learning sessions, and bedside teaching. Finally, we present a tool for capturing instances of PCK that can be used to facilitate an educator's self-reflection and development.