Academic Performance of Clerkship Students Working on a Longitudinal Inpatient Pediatrics Team

To determine if the academic performance of students who worked on a longitudinal inpatient team in the pediatric clerkship differed from students on traditional teams. We hypothesized that working on the longitudinal team would be associated with improved performance.

We retrospectively identified students who rotated in the pediatric clerkship at a single institution from 2017 through 2021. We used multiple linear and multiple ordered logistic regression to examine whether working on a longitudinal inpatient team in which the majority of students work with the same senior resident and attending for the entire inpatient block and function without interns was associated with improved academic performance.

We included data from 463 students, 316 in the longitudinal team group and 147 in the traditional team group. Working on the longitudinal team was associated with a higher inpatient preceptor rating (adjusted mean rating 3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.97 to 3.03 vs 2.85, 95% CI 2.81 to 2.90; P = .02; on a scale of 0 to 4) and an increased probability of achieving a higher final grade in the pediatric clerkship (adjusted probability of achieving honors 22%, 95% CI 17% to 28% vs 11%, 95% CI 6% to 16%; P = .003). These differences did not persist in the clerkship immediately after pediatrics.

Compared with a traditional inpatient team, working on a longitudinal team was associated with achieving a higher preceptor rating and final pediatric clerkship grade. Implementing similar models within clinical clerkships may help foster optimal student performance.