Students perceive skills learned in pre-clerkship PBL valuable in core clinical rotations

Purpose: Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method widely used by medical educators that promotes an environment in which students effectively learn the foundational knowledge and skills that are prerequisites for graduation. This study evaluated medical students' perceptions of the helpfulness of skills acquired in PBL to core clerkship rotations.Methods: A 25-item survey was designed to assess students' perceptions of skills learned in PBL that were helpful on core clerkships and transferable to the clinical setting. A random sample of students with at least 8 months of clerkship experience were invited to complete the survey.Results: Of 68 students, 35 (52%) returned questionnaires. Results suggest a clustering of themes based on their perceived value. Skills learned in PBL that students rated most highly as helpful or very helpful during core clinical rotations include: comfort discussing concepts, identifying key information, presentation skills, interpersonal skills, diagnostic thinking, finding information, self-awareness, and organizing information. Other items rated highly included: forming questions, time management, primary literature (engaging with published original research articles), and leadership. The skills acquired in PBL were associated with multiple competency domains.Conclusions: Although conditions of the pre-clerkship curriculum are substantially different from the learning environment of clerkship rotations, skills learned in PBL are perceived as applicable to authentic clinical training.