Poster 4: Reformulated Medical Student Physiatry Clerkship: Impact on Knowledge About Physiatry and Desire to Pursue Physiatry Residency Training

Article Outline

• Disclosures
• Objective
• Design
• Setting
• Participants
• Interventions
• Main Outcome Measures
• Results
• Conclusions
• Copyright

Keywords: Education, Clerkship, Student, Training

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Disclosures 

D. Weiss, None.

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Objective 

To assess the impact of an intensive goal-focused medical student physiatry clerkship upon knowledge about physiatry and desire to pursue physiatry residency training.

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Design 

Medical students participated in a month-long immersive clinical and didactic physiatry clerkship. Principles of the clerkship include 1) concrete learning objectives; 2) training-level-appropriate teaching sessions and readings; 3) carefully arranged supervision and role modeling; 4) exposure to a range of subspecialties within physiatry; 5) focused longitudinal patient experiences culminating in required case presentations; and 6) timely feedback. At the end of the clerkship, students provided anonymous feedback using a four-page form specifically designed to assess areas including achievement of objectives, comfort with physiatric knowledge, and change in likelihood to pursue physiatry residency training. Data were compiled for the first 5 months the clerkship was offered.

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Setting 

Free-standing academic rehabilitation hospital.

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Participants 

Thirteen medical students.

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Interventions 

Not applicable.

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Main Outcome Measures 

Achievement of pre-stated objectives, appropriateness of reading materials, comfort with physiatric knowledge, likelihood of teaching classmates about physiatry, likelihood of recommending clerkship to other medical students, likelihood of pursuing physiatry residency training.

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Results 

After the clerkship, students reported high levels of understanding about the practice of physiatry and comfort interacting with people with disabilities. They reported a high likelihood of teaching others about physiatry, recommending the clerkship to others, and pursuing physiatry residency training.

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Conclusions 

The revised clerkship promotes enhanced knowledge about and increased enthusiasm for physiatry training and interacting with people with disabilities. As the future of physiatry depends upon attracting well-informed, enthusiastic students to the field, our revised clerkship approach can be a model for teaching and recruitment.