Improving Student Confidence With Electronic Health Record Order Entry

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Electronic health records (EHRs) are widely used by physicians, yet medical students have limited practical experience with EHR order entry during ambulatory training.
• This study addresses the gap in practical EHR training for medical students in real-world clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted curriculum in enhancing medical students' confidence and skills in using EHR systems.
• To assess the impact of hands-on EHR order entry on students' clinical reasoning abilities.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, survey-based study involving family medicine clerkship students at a community health center.
• Students participated in a 4-week clerkship with structured EHR training, including observation, order entry, and preceptor feedback.
• Weekly questionnaires measured student confidence in EHR domains, while preceptors assessed order accuracy.

Main Results:

• All 49 participating students reported EHR order entry as beneficial to their medical education.
• Statistically significant improvements in student confidence were observed across all EHR domains, including prescriptions and lab/imaging orders.
• Preceptor evaluations demonstrated significant week-over-week improvement in students' accuracy of EHR order placement.

Conclusions:

• A targeted curriculum delivered by committed faculty at an individual preceptor site can effectively improve medical students' EHR confidence.
• This pilot study suggests that such focused training can maximize clerkship education, despite challenges in widespread EHR training across multiple sites and products.
• Individual preceptor sites are encouraged to implement similar opportunities for students to enhance their EHR proficiency.