Spiralling Pre-clerkship Concepts into the Clinical Phase: Augmenting Knowledge Transfer Using Innovative...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cognitive Psychology
• E-learning

Background:

• Clerkship presents a challenging transition for medical students, integrating pre-clinical knowledge into clinical practice.
• Current clerkship structures are often fragmented, lacking seamless knowledge transfer.
• Developments in cognitive psychology and learning environments drive the need for better integration in medical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance knowledge transfer in the Family Medicine clerkship.
• To develop an e-learning pathway integrating pre-clerkship problem-based learning (PBL) cases into clinical scenarios.

Main Methods:

• A parallel-convergent mixed methods evaluation was employed.
• Learning outcomes were assessed via exit exams and knowledge check quizzes.
• Qualitative analysis of student and faculty perceptions was conducted.

Main Results:

• No significant difference was found in exit exam scores between intervention and pre-intervention groups (p=0.30).
• Statistically significant improvements were observed in mean quiz scores throughout the rotation (p=0.0001).
• Both students and faculty perceived the e-learning components as facilitating knowledge transfer.

Conclusions:

• The novel e-learning pathway effectively anchored Family Medicine clerkship learning.
• This approach better prepares students to optimize their clinical learning experiences.