Impact of Early Procedural Exposure on Pre-clinical Medical Students' Confidence

Pre-clinical involvement in procedural training is an essential part of medical school curricula and represents a core competency for medical students entering clerkships and residency. To prepare students for clerkships, "transition to clerkships" courses have been implemented just prior to entering the clinical setting. Despite this additional training, medical students often experience a lack of confidence in procedural skills. The purpose of this study is to determine whether expanding medical student exposure to procedural skills throughout the pre-clinical years improves confidence before entering a clerkship environment.

A cross-sectional study was performed at a large, single-campus medical school in which first- and second-year students attended an event introducing them to various procedural skills. Surveys were conducted to evaluate student perception of procedural exposure in their pre-clinical curriculum and the impact of the event on their level of confidence before entering clinical clerkships.

One hundred eighty-seven medical students participated in the event and completed the surveys. Students reported a lack of procedural exposure in their pre-clinical curriculum and an increase in confidence to perform well in clerkships following the event. Statistically significant improvements in confidence were observed across all procedures taught during the event. Notably, volar wrist and thumb spica splinting showed one of the highest increases in confidence rating (mean difference: 5.686, p < 0.001), as did Foley catheter placement, for which students' confidence rating rose by 5.500 points (pre-event: 1.5; post-event: 7.0, p < 0.001).

Procedural exposure and training early in medical school can promote student confidence and success during clinical clerkships.