Master clinical teachers and personalised learning

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Skills Assessment
• Physician Competency Development

Background:

• Physician competencies like history taking and physical examination are crucial for diagnosis and patient rapport.
• There's a noted decline in the emphasis placed on assessing bedside clinical skills.
• Effective clinical skills are foundational for medical practice and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a personalized teaching program focused on improving medical students' clinical competencies.
• To provide regular, individualized bedside instruction and feedback to students throughout their core clerkship.
• To longitudinally track student progress in clinical skills and identify areas for growth.

Main Methods:

• Students engaged in history and physical examinations with a master clinical teacher (MCT) every two weeks.
• MCTs provided personalized bedside instruction covering history-taking, physical examination, clinical reasoning, and bedside manner.
• Longitudinal assessment data were collected and analyzed to monitor competency development over time.

Main Results:

• Over 6000 observations allowed for discernment of competency development and growth patterns.
• The program enabled identification of students not progressing as expected, facilitating targeted interventions.
• The teaching program was positively received by both students and instructors.

Conclusions:

• Personalized, longitudinal assessment and feedback are effective in developing core clinical competencies.
• This model supports early identification of learning needs and facilitates timely academic intervention.
• The program's success has led to its pilot in the post-clerkship phase of medical training.