Abstract
Introduction
Although professional development is addressed throughout the medical school curriculum, it is particularly salient to third-year students as they become integral members of health care teams.
Aim
We present a professional development curriculum for third-year medical students.
Setting
Urban medical school.
Program Description
In 2005, our curriculum consisted of 3 large group panels, each followed by a small group, occurring after the first, third, and last clerkship. Before each small group, students prepared critical incident reports, which led to focused group reflection. The individual topics were, respectively: (1) transition to clerkship learning; (2) challenges to professional behavior; and (3) medical errors. In 2006, based on student feedback, we piloted a revised student-centered panel on professionalism that was based entirely on themes from students’ critical incident reports.
Program Evaluation
Students rated the curriculum well overall. In 2005–2006, the small groups ranged from 3.95 to 3.98 (SD 0.88) on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = poor, 5 = excellent) and the panels ranged from 3.54 to 4.41 (SD 0.9). The pilot panel in 2006 was rated 4.38 (SD 0.80). The most common professionalism themes generated from 185 critical incident reports were communication, compassionate patient care, accountability, and team collaboration.
Discussion
A professional development curriculum, consisting of panels, small groups, and critical incident reports, can promote reflection among third-year medical students.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Epstein RM, Hundert EM. Defining and assessing professional competence. JAMA. 2002;287(2):226–35.
Roberts LW, Green Hammond KA, Geppert CM, Warner TD. The positive role of professionalism and ethics training in medical education: a comparison of medical student and resident perspectives. Acad Psychiatry. 2004;28(3):170–82.
LCME. Liaison Committee of Medical Education. updated 27 July 2007. Available at: http://www.lcme.org/, 2007.
Kao A, Lim M, Spevick J, Barzansky B. Teaching and evaluating students' professionalism in US medical schools, 2002–2003. JAMA. 2003;290(9):1151–2.
Griffith CH 3rd, Wilson JF. The loss of student idealism in the 3rd-year clinical clerkships. Eval Health Prof. 2001;24(1):61–71.
Hojat M, Mangione S, Nasca TJ, et al. An empirical study of decline in empathy in medical school. Med Educ. 2004;38(9):934–41.
Cruess RL, Cruess SR. Teaching professionalism: general principles. Med Teach. 2006;28(3):205–8.
Ber R, Alroy G. Teaching professionalism with the aid of trigger films. Med Teach. 2002;24(5):528–31.
Simpson D. Critical teaching incident casebook: Advancing the scholarship of teaching through critical analyses and reflection of ACGME competency based teaching cases. Available at: http://services.aamc.org/jsp/mededportal/retrieveSubmissionDetailById.do?action=submitpdf&subId=105.
Krackov SK, Levin RI, Catanese V, et al. Medical humanities at New York University School of Medicine: an array of rich programs in diverse settings. Acad Med. 2003;78(10):977–82.
Branch WT, Jr. Use of critical incident reports in medical education. A perspective. J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20(11):1063–7.
Branch WT, Pels RJ, Harper G, et al. A new educational approach for supporting the professional development of third-year medical students. J Gen Intern Med. 1995;10(12):691–4.
Litzelman DK, Cottingham AH. The new formal competency-based curriculum and informal curriculum at Indiana University School of Medicine: overview and five-year analysis. Acad Med. 2007;82(4):410–21.
Baernstein A, Fryer-Edwards K. Promoting reflection on professionalism: a comparison trial of educational interventions for medical students. Acad Med. 2003;78(7):742–7.
Henderson E, Hogan H, Grant A, Berlin A. Conflict and coping strategies: a qualitative study of student attitudes to significant event analysis. Med Educ. 2003;37(5):438–46.
Mofidi M, Strauss , Pitner LL, Sandler ES. Dental students' reflections on their community-based experiences: the use of critical incidents. J Dent Educ. 2003;67(5):515–23.
Creswell JW. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches.. 2Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications; 2003.
Schön DA. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books; ; 1983.
Jones WS, Hanson JL, Longacre JL. An intentional modeling process to teach professional behavior: students' clinical observations of preceptors. Teach Learn Med. 2004;16(3):264–9.
Branch W, Pels RJ, Lawrence RS, Arky R. Becoming a doctor. Critical-incident reports from third-year medical students. N Engl J Med. 1993;329(15):1130–2.
Wagner P, Hendrich J, Moseley G, Hudson V. Defining medical professionalism: a qualitative study. Med Educ. 2007;41(3):288–94.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Karen Hauer MD and Jessica Muller PhD for their thoughtful manuscript review, and Helen Loeser MD, M.Sc., and Maxine Papadakis, MD, for their input and support of this curriculum and project.
Conflicts of Interest
None disclosed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hill-Sakurai, L.E., Lee, C.A., Schickedanz, A. et al. A Professional Development Course for the Clinical Clerkships: Developing a Student-Centered Curriculum. J GEN INTERN MED 23, 964–968 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0527-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0527-y