Improving oral presentation skills with a clinical reasoning curriculum: a prospective controlled study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Skills Training

Background:

• Oral case presentations are crucial in clinical medicine.
• Teaching effective presentation skills, reliant on data processing and clinical reasoning, remains challenging for medical students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare a clinical reasoning curriculum against standard ward instruction for enhancing medical students' presentation skills and clinical performance.

Main Methods:

• 62 third-year medical students participated in a 4-week study comparing a clinical reasoning curriculum (n=27) with standard instruction (n=35).
• The curriculum included group sessions and individual videotaped instruction focused on clinical reasoning principles.
• Student oral presentations of standardized cases were videotaped and evaluated for quality and efficiency by blinded evaluators.

Main Results:

• The clinical reasoning group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in presentation time (4 minutes difference) and a significant improvement in presentation quality scores (4 points difference) compared to the control group.
• Baseline presentation times and quality scores were similar between groups, indicating the curriculum's direct impact.

Conclusions:

• A clinical reasoning curriculum, enhanced by video-based instruction, effectively improves the efficiency and quality of medical students' oral case presentations.
• This approach holds potential for augmenting overall clinical performance in medical trainees.