Undergraduate Dermatology Medical Education: Results of a Large-Scale Patient Viewing Program

Delivering quality dermatologic instruction to medical students can be difficult; time constraints, limited clinical teachers, and a lack of standardization pose challenges. The literature suggests that many trainees and primary care physicians could benefit from increased clinical dermatology teaching.

We sought to deliver and analyze the results of a large-scale patient-viewing undergraduate dermatology education program.

A total of 250 third-year medical students participated in a 32-station patient-viewing program. Voluntary pre- and posttest surveys were administered to evaluate knowledge and self-perceived abilities in dermatology. The identical tests were composed of 20 multiple-choice and 5 self-perception questions.

The response rate for completion of pre- and posttests was 24% (N = 59). Pre- and postknowledge test score means were 69.0% and 93.20%, respectively. Pre- and post-self-perception test score means were 3.95/10 and 7.25/10, respectively. Positive student feedback was received on the patient-viewing educational experience.

Improvements in knowledge scores and self-assessment scores support the potential integration of structured patient-viewing teaching into undergraduate dermatology medical education curricula.