Teaching medical decision making and students' clinical problem solving skills

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Decision Making
• Problem Solving Skills

Background:

• The evolving healthcare landscape necessitates explicit instruction in decision-making for medical students.
• Existing medical decision-making curricula show positive student reception and some performance impacts.
• The effect of such training on students' broader problem-solving capabilities remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a 15-hour decision-making course on medical students' general problem-solving skills.
• To assess if preclinical decision-making instruction translates to improved clinical performance in third-year clerkships.

Main Methods:

• A 15-hour decision-making course was integrated into a preclinical elective preceptorship over five years.
• Clinical supervisors rated the problem-solving skills of students who received the instruction and a comparison group.
• Ratings were collected during third-year psychiatry and internal medicine clerkships.

Main Results:

• Students who underwent the decision-making instruction did not demonstrate significantly better problem-solving ratings compared to the control group.
• The preclinical course did not yield measurable improvements in general problem-solving abilities during clinical rotations.

Conclusions:

• The current approach to teaching medical decision-making requires refinement and further investigation.
• Additional research and curriculum development are necessary to effectively enhance students' problem-solving skills through decision-making training.