The state of the clerkship: a survey of emergency medicine clerkship directors.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
An emergency medicine (EM) clerkship can provide a medical student with a unique educational experience. The authors sought to describe the current experiential curriculum of the EM clerkship, along with methods of evaluation, feedback, and grading.

METHODS:
A descriptive survey was utilized. Clerkship directors at EM residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education completed an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS:
Ninety-two (70%) of 132 EM clerkship directors completed the survey. Sixty institutions (65%) accepted only fourth-year medical students, and 35% accepted both third- and fourth-year students. The median number of didactic lecture hours provided during each rotation block for students was ten (interquartile range [IQR], 6-16). The average length of a student's clinical shift was eight hours, while the median number of clinical shifts reported per rotation was 15 (IQR, 14-16). The median number of hours worked weekly by a medical student was 40 (IQR, 35-43). Fifty-four EM clerkship directors (59%) incorporated the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education six core competencies into their evaluation process. Seventy-one clerkship directors (77%) used a shift evaluation card to evaluate the clinical performance of medical students. Fifty-four (59%) incorporated an end-of-rotation written examination to determine the final rotation grade for a medical student.

CONCLUSIONS:
Medical students are exposed to a variety of didactic lectures and procedure labs but have similar experiences regarding shift length and work hours. Methods of evaluation of clinical performance vary across clinical sites.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Wald, David A (DA); Manthey, David E (DE); Kruus, Linda (L); Tripp, Matthew (M); Barrett, Jeffrey (J); Amoroso, Bobby (B);

Affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. waldda(-atsign-)tuhs.temple.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (Acad Emerg Med), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jul; vol 14 (issue 7) : pp 629-34

Dates: Created 2007/06/27; Completed 2007/07/17;

PMID: 17488948, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Clinical Clerkship - organization & administration
Curriculum
Emergency Medicine - education
Health Care Surveys

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

Longitudinal small-group learning during the first clinical year. 30 Dec 2003
The next frontier: medical student education. 28 Feb 2004
The emergency medicine rotation: a unique experience for medical students. 30 Mar 2002
Antemortem care in an afternoon: a successful four-hour curriculum for third-year medical students. 30 Aug 2002
Integrating the art and science of medical practice: innovations in teaching medical communication skills. 30 Dec 2003
Undergraduate medical education for the 21st century: leadership and teamwork. 30 Dec 2003
Practicing effectively in today's health system: teaching systems-based care. 30 Dec 2003
UME-21 local evaluation initiatives: contributions and challenges. 30 Dec 2003
Evaluation of the UME-21 initiative at 18 medical schools between 1999 and 2001. 30 Dec 2003
Lessons learned-UME-21 project. 30 Dec 2003

See 100+ related articles.