The Effects of Teaching Medical Students Psychotherapy Skills in the Outpatient Department

1987 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Frank ◽  
Arthur Propst ◽  
Paul Goldhamer

A psychiatric clerkship which emphasizes a clinical exposure to the conduct of outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy is described and evaluated. Compared to more traditional inpatient based clerkships, an outpatient psychotherapy-oriented clerkship attracts significantly greater numbers of students. In addition, medical students taking such a rotation rate its educational value on its completion significantly more positively compared to other clerkship sites. Finally, students taking the psychotherapy oriented clerkship opt for psychiatry as a specialty significantly more frequently than students taking the more traditional clerkships. The impact of such a learning experience on interpersonal skills with non-psychiatric, medical patients is also discussed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_6) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Harvey ◽  
M E L Brown ◽  
M H V Byrne ◽  
J Ashcroft ◽  
J C M Wan ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Professional identity formation (PIF) is a priority of medical training. Covid-19 caused disruption to medical education. We ask how this disruption impacted PIF through the lens of the activities performed – or not performed – by medical students during the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic, and perceptions of conflicts between activities. Method A pragmatic survey was distributed in spring 2020. Thematic analysis was performed of qualitative responses to two open questions. A social constructivist approach linked participants’ comments to PIF theory. Results We analysed 928 responses. Three themes surrounding students’ activities during covid-19 and their impact on identity were constructed: Conflict arose at the intersections between these themes. Students noted lack of clinical exposure was detrimental, implicitly recognising that aspects of PIF require the clinical environment. Participants were keen to volunteer but struggled with balancing academic work. Participants worried about risk to their households and the wider community and wanted their skills to add value in the clinical environment. Volunteers felt frustrated when they were unable to perform tasks aligning with their identity as a future doctor. An exception was participants who worked as interim FY1s, aligned with the role of an FY1. Conclusions Medical students feel a duty to help during crises. Conflict arises when different aspects of their identity demand different actions. Care must be taken to nurture PIF during periods of disruption.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wurth Sophie ◽  
Sader Julia ◽  
Cerutti Bernard ◽  
Broers Barbara ◽  
Bajwa M. Nadia ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic during spring 2020 has disrupted medical education worldwide. The University of Geneva decided to shift on-site classwork to online learning; many exams were transformed from summative to formative evaluations and most clinical activities were suspended. We aimed to investigate the perceived impact of those adaptations by the students at the Faculty of Medicine. Methods We sent an online self-administered survey to medical students from years 2 to 6 of the University of Geneva, three months after the beginning of the pandemic. The survey explored students’ main activities during the first three months of the pandemic, the impact of the crisis on their personal life, on their training and on their professional identity, the level of stress they experienced and which coping strategies they developed. The survey consisted of open-ended and closed questions and was administered in French. Results A total of 58.8% of students responded (n = 467) and were homogeneously distributed across gender. At the time of the survey, two thirds of the participants were involved in COVID-19-related activities; 72.5% voluntarily participated, mainly fueled by a desire to help and feel useful. Many participants (58.8%) reported a feeling of isolation encountered since the start of the pandemic. Main coping strategies reported were physical activity and increased telecommunications with their loved ones. Most students described a negative impact of the imposed restrictions on their training, reporting decreased motivation and concentration in an unusual or distraction-prone study environment at home and missing interactions with peers and teachers. Students recruited to help at the hospital in the context of increasing staff needs reported a positive impact due to the enriched clinical exposure. Perceived stress levels were manageable across the surveyed population. If changed, the crisis had a largely positive impact on students’ professional identity; most highlighted the importance of the health care profession for society and confirmed their career choice. Conclusion Through this comprehensive picture, our study describes the perceived impact of the pandemic on University of Geneva medical students, their training and their professional identity three months after the start of the pandemic. These results allowed us to gain valuable insight that reinforced the relevance of assessing the evolution of the situation in the long run and the importance of developing institutional support tools for medical students throughout their studies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Hafer ◽  
Xibin Wu ◽  
Steven Lin

Background and Objectives: Medical scribes are an increasingly popular strategy for reducing clerical burden, but little is known about their effect on medical student education. We aimed to evaluate the impact of scribes on medical students’ self-reported learning experience. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods pilot study. Participants were medical students (third and fourth years) on a family medicine clerkship who worked with an attending physician who practiced with a scribe. Students did not work directly with scribes. Scribes charted for attending physicians during encounters that did not involve a student. Outcomes were three 7-point Likert scale questions about teaching quality and an open-ended written reflection. Qualitative data was analyzed using a constant comparative method and grounded theory approach. Results: A total of 16 medical students returned at least one questionnaire, yielding 28 completed surveys. Students reported high satisfaction with their learning experience and time spent face-to-face with their attending, and found scribes nondisruptive to their learning. Major themes of the open-ended reflections included more time for teaching and feedback, physicians who were less stressed and more attentive, appreciation for a culture of teamwork, and scribes serving as an electronic health records (EHR) resource. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating the effect of scribes on medical student education from the students’ perspective. Our findings suggest that scribes may allow for greater teaching focus, contribute to a teamwork culture, and serve as an EHR resource. Scribes appear to benefit medical students’ learning experience. Larger and more rigorous studies are needed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152692482097859
Author(s):  
Alistair J. M. Reed ◽  
Rhiannon Baldwin-Smith ◽  
James Arwyn-Jones ◽  
Simon Knight ◽  
Isabel Quiroga

Introduction: Medical students and healthcare professionals lack knowledge and confidence in organ transplantation which stems in part from a lack of exposure to transplant surgery at medical school. To address this, we developed a program that allowed students to attend organ retrievals and assessed its efficacy as an educational intervention. Methods: Students were invited to attend organ retrievals through a voluntary program. Students then completed an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire (n = 40) designed to capture the perceived educational value and emotive impact of attending an organ retrieval, and its effect on career aspirations. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed. Results: 100% of students would recommend attending an organ retrieval to a colleague. Students strongly agreed that attending an organ retrieval was a useful learning experience (87.5%) and 90% of students felt more confident discussing organ donation with patients and relatives. 50% of students were more likely to pursue a career in transplant surgery. Students recognized a number of difficulties associated with the emotive impact of organ procurement. Conclusion: An organ retrieval program for medical students offers a novel learning opportunity, and may increase knowledge and improve attitudes toward transplantation in future healthcare professionals. However, the emotive impact of exposing students to organ retrievals must also be recognized.


Author(s):  
Sarah E. Myers ◽  
Nicholas R. Bender ◽  
Marina A. Seidel ◽  
Ruth S. Weinstock

Abstract Background Traditional medical student curricula limit substantial clinical experiences until the third and fourth years of medical school. This delay in valuable experiences hinders the ability of some medical students to choose a specialty to pursue, delays the formation of meaningful longitudinal mentorship relationships, and limits the development of important clinical acumen. Furthermore, the use of medical students in preclinical years may help to improve patient care and outcomes. Approach The novel preclinical Diabetes SPECIAL (Students Providing Education on Chronic Illness and Lifestyle) elective was designed to introduce first year medical students to the field of endocrinology, promote the development of a professional identity, improve medical student communication skills, and raise awareness of the complexities of managing patients living with diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, and novel to this experience, was to measure the impact of this elective on patient outcomes. Evaluation Students attended patient appointments, communicated with their assigned patients regularly, relayed important health information to the attending endocrinologist, and attended monthly didactic sessions. The elective outcomes were evaluated via completed surveys by patients, students, and attending physicians as well as medical record review for pre- and post-elective hemoglobin A1C levels. Reflection Students, faculty, and patients who participated in this elective generally reported having a positive experience. Seven out of 10 patients had a reduction in their hemoglobin A1C levels. The outcomes from the pilot of this novel preclinical elective support the importance of early clinical exposure in medical student training and highlight potential positive impacts on both medical student education and patient outcomes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjunath H ◽  
Venkatesh D ◽  
Taklikar R H ◽  
Vijayanath Vijayanath

There is greater emphasis on clinically oriented teaching and early clinical exposure for medical students. There is limitation to practice and perfect the skills on sick patients. Hence, standardized patients are used for practice of clinical skills. However non-availability of trained standardized patients, high cost of employing them poses a challenge to training medical students. The viable alternative is to use the peers for skill training. It can be a potential area of student discomfort or inappropriate behavior by classmates or tutors. Present study assesses the attitude of students towards Peer Physical Examination (PPE). Fifty three third term medical students (23 males and 30 females) were administered a structured and validated questionnaire with 15 questions to assess elements of comfort, professionalism, appropriateness and value of PPE. Students responded to questions using a five-point Likert scale, where 1 = strongly agree, and 5 = strongly disagree.The pattern of response was similar for male and female students. 81.82% were comfortable with PPE for practice of clinical skills. 32.90% were comfortable examining peers of opposite sex. 18.04% felt it was appropriate to perform breast, genital and rectal examinations on peers. 2.17% agreed to volunteer for such examination.Majority of students preferred PPE to standardized patients for practice of clinical skills. PPE was preferred as it provided valuable feedback, better learning experience, and felt examining classmates was comfortable & appropriate. However they felt inappropriate to volunteer or examine breast, inguinal, genital regions of classmate as a part of PPE.


1988 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 783-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan P. Das ◽  
Ranjith D. Chandrasena

The attitudes of medical students are important as they influence recruitment to psychiatry. In order to better understand the attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry and the impact of psychiatric clerkship, the authors administered a questionnaire eliciting information regarding demographic data, attitudes and career choices to third year medical students of the University of Ottawa, at the beginning and end of their four week psychiatric clerkship. The data suggests that the students found their clerkship experience valuable and rewarding and expressed an interest in knowing more about psychiatry. The students' perception of the various aspects of their clinical practice of psychiatry became more positive after the clerkship. The authors have identified the positive and negative experiences the students had during their clerkship and postulate that the change in attitude is directly due to their clerkship experience.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e055001
Author(s):  
Aliya Ali ◽  
Marita Staunton ◽  
Adam Quinn ◽  
Gordon Treacy ◽  
Patrick Kennelly ◽  
...  

ObjectivesIn March 2020, the WHO declared SARS-CoV-2 a pandemic. Hospitals across the world faced staff, bed and supply shortages, with some European hospitals calling on medical students to fill the staffing gaps. This study aimed to document the impact of volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ professional development, resilience and future perceived career choices.DesignThis is a retrospective, qualitative study of student reflections, using purposive sampling.The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences recruited 26 medical student volunteers to assist in pronation and supination of ventilated patients affected by SARS-CoV-2. These students were invited to complete an anonymous survey based on their experiences as volunteers. Thematic analysis was performed on these written reflections.ResultsThe results showed that volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic developed key skills from RCSI’s medical curriculum, significantly fostered medical students’ resilience and guided their career choices. Major areas of development included communication, teamwork, compassion and altruism, which are not easily developed through the formal curriculum. A further area that was highlighted was the importance of evidence-based health in a pandemic. Finally, our respondents were early stage medical students with limited clinical exposure. Some found the experience difficult to cope with and therefore supports should be established for students volunteering in such a crisis.ConclusionThese results suggest that clinical exposure is an important driver in developing students’ resilience and that volunteering during a pandemic has multiple benefits to students’ professional development and professional identity formation.


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