Twelve tips for applying the science of learning to health professions education

Findings from the science of learning have clear implications for those responsible for teaching and curricular design. However, this data has been historically siloed from educators in practice, including those in health professions education. In this article, we aim to bring practical tips from the science of learning to health professions educators. We have chosen to organize the tips into six themes, highlighting strategies for 1) improving the processing of information, 2) promoting effortful learning for greater retention of knowledge over time, 3) applying learned information to new and varied contexts, 4) promoting the development of expertise, 5) harnessing the power of emotion for learning, and 6) teaching and learning in social contexts. We conclude with the importance of attending to metacognition in our learners and ourselves. Health professions education can be strengthened by incorporating these evidence-based techniques.