Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in a person's capability to perform a task, that being a cognitive task such as clinical reasoning or a skill such as physical examination or resuscitation. Learning amounts to encoding information in long-term memory and being able to appropriately retrieve and apply the information stored. Traditionally, learning is usually tested immediately after a study period or a course. However, permanent and sustainable learning is best demonstrated by a person's performance on retention and transfer tests, i.e. testing some time after the teaching or training, and testing application on dissimilar, but related tasks or problems. It is well-know that retention and transfer of basic science is a problem and a variety of instructional strategies such as integrated curricula and problem-based learning aims at ameliorating this problem. Yet, until now curriculum level comparisons show no dramatic advantages of these strategies and there is a concern that basic science learning will be too shallow.

In this presentation I will give some perspectives of the importance of basic science knowledge to clinical practice with examples from Anaesthesiology. Secondly I'll describe how testing can be used to enhance learning both as an intrinsic effect stimulating information retrieval and as an extrinsic driving force to ensure learning in basic science.