Effectiveness of basic clinical skills training programmes: a cross-sectional comparison of four medical schools

Abstract

Objective Training in physical diagnostic skills is an important part of undergraduate medical education. The objective of this study was to study the outcome of skills training at four medical schools.Context At the time of the study, three schools had a traditional lecture-based curriculum and one school had a problem-based learning curriculum with a longitudinal skills training programme. All schools offer extended exposure to clerkships 1 1 .Method A cross-sectional study in four medical schools was performed, using a written test of skills that has good correlation with actual student performance. The scores attained from four student groups were compared within and between the four medical schools. A total of 859 volunteer students from the later four years at each medical school participated in the study. ResultsThe mean scores in the traditional medical schools increased with the start of skill training and the hands-on experience offered during the clerkships.Students from the school with the longitudinal skills training programme and the problem-based learning approach had signi®cantly higher mean scores at the start of the clerkships, and maintained their lead in the subsequent clinical years.Conclusions Longitudinal skills training seems to offer the students a superior preparation for clerkships as well as in¯uencing the students' learning abilities during the clerkships. The effect of the problem-based learning approach, also related to the innovative philosophy of the curriculum, could not be accounted for.

The clinical skills experience of rural immersion medical students and traditional hospital placement students: A student perspective

“…Exposure to clinical environments Clinical skills in rural setting e437 does not by itself lead to improved clinical skills. Students may need a structured curriculum, with teaching and assessment in the skills they are expected to acquire (Culhane et al 1993;Remmen et al 2001;Stolarek 2007). However, equally an emphasis on self-learning supported by mentoring and or supervision may be strongly advocated.…”

Do students’ styles of learning affect how they adapt to learning methods and to the learning environment?

“…It is known that clinical skills laboratory training at an early phase diminishes the anxiety of preclinical students' related to the core clinical skills and positively influences their learning during a clerkship [21,22]. In our study, while self-test directed students using stepwise processing strategies were moderately satisfied with the content, organization and planning of the clinical skills program, the students who lack regulation and using knowledge in mental models of learning were less satisfied with the content, organization and planning of the clinical skills program.…”

“…Also they were less satisfied about acquired knowledge and skills. Clinical skills training at early stages seem to offer the students a superior preparation resource for clerkships as well as influencing the students' learning abilities during the clerkships [22]. So preclinical students prepared to patient-physician relationships and physical examination and their competency related to cognitive and affective domains improved this.…”

Teaching Procedures and Skills in Medical Schools: Gaps, Weakness, and Challenges

“…This will help students to get formal procedural training maintained skills performance superiority over subsequent years of medical school [10]. Several studies showed that clinical skills curricula have demonstrated significant improvements in medical student confidence after implementation of formal procedural skills courses [9,11,12].…”