Dataset Information

Describing Failure in a Clinical Clerkship: Implications for Identification, Assessment and Remediation for Struggling Learners.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In addition to training future members of the profession, medical schools perform the critical role of identifying students who are failing to meet minimum standards in core competencies.

Objective

To better understand reasons for failure in an internal medicine clerkship.

Design

A qualitative content analysis of letters describing reasons for students' failure.

Participants

Forty-three students (31 men) who failed the internal medicine clerkship at the University of Minnesota Medical School, 2002-2013.

Approach

We conducted a qualitative content analysis of the 43 letters describing reasons for students' failure. We coded critical deficiencies and mapped them to the Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS) competency domains and classified them into two categories: conduct (unprofessional behaviors) and knowledge and skills specific to the practice of medicine. We then calculated the frequency of each critical deficiency. We statistically tested for relationships between gender and critical deficiencies in each of the competency domains.

Key results

We coded 50 critical deficiencies with all codes mapping to a PCRS competency domain. The most frequently cited deficiencies were "insufficient knowledge" (79 % of students) and "inadequate patient presentation skills" (74 %). Students exhibited critical deficiencies in all eight competency domains, with the highest concentrations in Knowledge for Practice (98 %) and Interpersonal and Communication Skills (91 %). All students demonstrated deficiencies in multiple competencies, with 98 % having deficiencies in three or more. All 43 students demonstrated deficits in the knowledge and skills category, and 81 % had concurrent conduct issues. There were no statistically significant relationships between gender and critical deficiencies in any competency domain.

Conclusions

This study highlights both the diversity and commonality of reasons that students fail a clinical clerkship. Knowing the range of areas where students struggle, as well as the most likely areas of difficulty, may aid faculty in identifying students who are failing and in developing remediation strategies.

SUBMITTER: Nixon LJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5023608 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Describing Failure in a Clinical Clerkship: Implications for Identification, Assessment and Remediation for Struggling Learners.

Nixon L James LJ Gladding Sophia P SP Duffy Briar L BL

Journal of general internal medicine 20160606 10

<h4>Background</h4>In addition to training future members of the profession, medical schools perform the critical role of identifying students who are failing to meet minimum standards in core competencies.<h4>Objective</h4>To better understand reasons for failure in an internal medicine clerkship.<h4>Design</h4>A qualitative content analysis of letters describing reasons for students' failure.<h4>Participants</h4>Forty-three students (31 men) who failed the internal medicine clerkship at the Un ...[more]

PMID: 27271729

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Project description:Multiple experts in clinical skills remediation recommend early identification to support struggling learners, but there is minimal documentation on implementation of these programs. We share one school's outcomes-based research utilizing the formative assessment for learning model to early-identify pre-clerkship students struggling with clinical skills using formative OSCEs (F-OSCE). Student scores were monitored over longitudinal F-OSCE experiences as part of a curricular innovation. Points towards early identification accumulated when a student's score fell below the 80% threshold for each section of an OSCE. Students who accumulated enough points were advised of the need for intervention, and coaching was recommended. Students were surveyed about their experiences with the program. The objective was to explore whether this early identification program and coaching intervention had a positive impact on subsequent OSCE performance. Of 184 students in 2 cohorts who completed F-OSCEs, 38 (20.7%) were flagged for early identification. Of these, 17 (44.7%) sought additional help by voluntarily participating in the coaching program. Students who participated in extra clinical skills coaching demonstrated statistically significant improvements in performance on subsequent FOSCEs, as did the early identified students who did not participate in extra coaching. The greatest impact of coaching intervention was noted in the physical examination domain. This program was effective in identifying students struggling with clinical skills on formative OSCEs. Early identified students demonstrated improvements in subsequent OSCE performance, with those who sought coaching faring slightly better. Development of robust early identification programs as formative assessments of clinical skills and follow-up coaching programs to guide skills development are important implications of this work. Monitoring short- and long-term results for students identified through this approach to see if improvement is sustained is planned.

Project description:IntroductionAssessment of medical students' clinical skills (CS) remains a challenge. Little is known about early predictors of future CS performance. This study examines the relationship between students' pre-clerkship clinical skills (PCCS) performance and year 3 clerkship performance measures.MethodsThe authors performed a retrospective analysis of four medical student cohorts who matriculated between 2014 and 2017 and participated in a longitudinal pre-clerkship CS curriculum. A total of 440 students were included in the analyses. Students' clinical skills were assessed through a series of PCCS exams, each consisting of a single standardized patient encounter. First-year PCCS exams assessed history taking, physical examination, professionalism, and communication skills; second-year PCCS exams also assessed clinical documentation and clinical reasoning skills. Evaluators assigned a grade of "satisfactory," "borderline," or "unsatisfactory" for each skill set. Regression analyses compared year 3 performance outcomes between students with one or more "unsatisfactory" or "borderline" PCCS skill set grades and students assessed as "satisfactory" for all PCCS skill set assessments.ResultsThirty-two percent (n = 140) of the 440 students had at least one borderline or unsatisfactory (US) PCCS skill set grade. These students performed significantly worse on year 3 National Board of Medical Examiner subject exams, workplace-based clinical performance evaluations, and overall year 3 performance compared to students who passed all PCCS exam components. In addition, a higher percentage of students with PCCS performance deficiencies failed the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 CS exam on the first attempt versus students who passed all PCCS exam components.ConclusionsPCCS exam performance at our institution aligned with future student performance on multiple year 3 clerkship outcome measures. This pre-clerkship performance data can be used to identify at-risk students who would benefit from additional resources to achieve competency in the clerkship environment and future medical training.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01519-8.

Dataset Information

Describing Failure in a Clinical Clerkship: Implications for Identification, Assessment and Remediation for Struggling Learners.

Background

Objective

Design

Participants

Approach

Key results

Conclusions

Publications

Describing Failure in a Clinical Clerkship: Implications for Identification, Assessment and Remediation for Struggling Learners.

Similar Datasets

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