BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite the move toward integrated 4-year medical school curricula, many medical schools still offer a "2+2" curriculum divided into preclinical and clinical phases. These phases represent distinct learning environments that require different learning skills. To prepare students for learning in the clinical environment of the second 2 years, many medical schools offer transitional experiences before the third-year clerkships. Few of these transitional courses have published evaluations, and there is no consensus on the ideal content. In this paper, we provide evaluation and content validity data on a 2-week intensive clinical transition course for beginning third-year medical students. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team designed, implemented, and evaluated a 2-week transition course. Students indicated through surveys how prepared they felt for 18 clinical skills. We analyzed pre- and post-survey data using a Wilcoxen rank sum test and compared current to prior students using a chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Students felt more prepared for 16 of 18 skills after the transitional course and for 14 of 18 skills compared to historical controls. CONCLUSIONS: A transitional course based on common skills is relevant to students' clerkship experiences and can increase students' self-reported preparedness for the clinical years of medical school.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite the move toward integrated 4-year medical school curricula, many medical schools still offer a "2+2" curriculum divided into preclinical and clinical phases. These phases represent distinct learning environments that require different learning skills. To prepare students for learning in the clinical environment of the second 2 years, many medical schools offer transitional experiences before the third-year clerkships. Few of these transitional courses have published evaluations, and there is no consensus on the ideal content. In this paper, we provide evaluation and content validity data on a 2-week intensive clinical transition course for beginning third-year medical students. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team designed, implemented, and evaluated a 2-week transition course. Students indicated through surveys how prepared they felt for 18 clinical skills. We analyzed pre- and post-survey data using a Wilcoxen rank sum test and compared current to prior students using a chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Students felt more prepared for 16 of 18 skills after the transitional course and for 14 of 18 skills compared to historical controls. CONCLUSIONS: A transitional course based on common skills is relevant to students' clerkship experiences and can increase students' self-reported preparedness for the clinical years of medical school.
Authors: K Magnier; R Wang; V H M Dale; R Murphy; R A Hammond; L Mossop; S L Freeman; C Anderson; M J Pead Journal: Vet Rec Date: 2011-11-16 Impact factor: 2.695
Authors: V K Nahar; A H Wilkerson; G Ghafari; B Martin; W H Black; J F Boyas; M Savoy; G Bawa; F C Stafford; M Scott; T B Grigsby; Z Gromley; J M Grant-Kels; R T Brodell Journal: Int J Womens Dermatol Date: 2018-03-14