Medical Student Comfort With Procedural Skills Performance Based on Elective Experience and Career Interest

Abstract

IntroductionDespite increased efforts, studies suggest that exposure to procedural skills in undergraduate medical training is insufficient. As medical students have low self-reported competence in many skills, a significant concern is that medical students are underprepared for a clerkship. Furthermore, pre-clerkship electives selected based on student career interests can provide students with additional skills learning opportunities. The impact of career interest and elective choice on student comfort with procedural skills is unclear. This study examines the relationship between student procedural skills comfort, career interest, and elective choices. Materials and methodsAn evidence-based questionnaire was synthesized following a literature search using PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar. Surveys were completed by second-year medical students. A Likert scale was used to evaluate students' exposure, comfort, and motivation to learn common procedural skills. Descriptive, Pearson's chi-square and Spearman's rho correlation coefficient analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between career interests, elective exposure, and procedural skills. ResultsMedical students (>60%) reported poor comfort levels for most skills, despite >80% of students displaying high motivation to learn. Elective choice impacted student comfort levels as students who completed electives in anesthesiology were more comfortable with performing intubation (23% vs 10%, p = 0.026) and IV insertion (38% vs 13%, p = 0.002). Those with surgical career interests were less comfortable performing Foley catheter insertion in males (7% vs 5%, p = 0.033) and in females (7% vs 5%, p = 0.008). ConclusionsThis study supports that medical students feel low levels of comfort with performing procedural skills despite high motivation for learning. Comfort was influenced by both career interest and elective experience. Programs aiming to increase students' comfort levels in performing procedural skills should adapt curricula toward increasing early exposure to these skills.

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The Need for More Learning Opportunities in Real-Time Ultrasonography for Undergraduate Medical Students: A Call for Pre-clerkship Electives

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“…We see pre-clerkship electives as alternative short-term solutions that offer students with valuable learning opportunities to supplement the existing core curriculum. A previous study demonstrated that students who complete electives in procedural skills report being more comfortable with and demonstrate improved skills in performing procedures by the end of the course [12]. It also provides institutions with an incubator in which they can create, test, and optimize different content and modalities of delivery-before offering it to the larger population of medical students through the core curriculum.…”