An inexpensive patient-encounter log.

Many medical schools use patient-encounter log forms to document and improve training experiences; however, they are expensive and/or time-consuming to analyze. The patient-encounter log form developed at the University of Hawaii is a one-page form on which students in the family medicine clerkship are required to maintain a daily record of patient demographics and diagnoses. The form is reviewed throughout the clerkship, and efforts are made to ensure that students' learning is supplemented to cover any gaps discovered with the log forms. The simple paper log form can be visually analyzed in less than a minute. During the initial implementation period, 44 students completed the forms. Twelve of these students also returned an end-of-year survey, which indicated that updating the logs required less than one minute per patient. The information obtained from the log forms was used to document and improve the consistency of the educational experience and to establish clinical curriculum guidelines for the clerkship. This form can easily be reproduced and adapted to other settings.