Highlights
- •The volume of cases logged has been shown to correlate with objective measures of medical knowledge and clinical acumen in Neurology Clerkships.
- •Fewer relationships emerged correlating breadth of cases and performance on the same measures.
- •Structuring of the Outpatient Neurology Clinic experience should consider patient volume in designing the medical student experience.
Abstract
This study examined how volume in certain patient case types and breadth across patient
case types in the outpatient clinic setting are related to Neurology Clerkship student
performance. Case logs from the outpatient clinic experience of 486 students from
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, USA, participating in the 4 week Neurology Clerkship from July 2008 to June 2013 were reviewed. A total of 12,381
patient encounters were logged and then classified into 13 diagnostic categories.
How volume of cases within categories and the breadth of cases across categories relate
to the National Board of Medical Examiners Clinical Subject Examination for Neurology
and a Neurology Clerkship Objective Structured Clinical Examination was analyzed.
Volume of cases was significantly correlated with the National Board of Medical Examiners
Clinical Subject Examination for Neurology (r = .290, p < .001), the Objective Structured Clinical Examination physical examination (r = .236, p = .011), and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination patient note (r = .238, p = .010). Breadth of cases was significantly correlated with the National Board of Medical
Examiners Clinical Subject Examination for Neurology (r = .231, p = .017), however was not significantly correlated with any component of the Objective
Structured Clinical Examination. Volume of cases correlated with higher performance
on measures of specialty knowledge and clinical skill. Fewer relationships emerged
correlating breadth of cases and performance on the same measures. This study provides
guidance to educators who must decide how much emphasis to place on volume versus breadth of cases in outpatient clinic learning experiences.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 17, 2016
Accepted:
December 27,
2015
Received:
December 11,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
