Student Perspectives on Inpatient Clinical Experiences in a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship Curriculum: A...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Student Experience

Background:

• Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) models enhance student-faculty-patient relationships compared to traditional block schedules.
• The University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (SSOM) adopted an outpatient LIC in 2014, facing challenges with patient continuity and scheduling across its four campuses.
• A hybrid inpatient and outpatient LIC was implemented in 2023 to address these issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate student satisfaction with patient continuity and scheduling in a newly implemented hybrid inpatient and outpatient Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) model.
• To compare student preferences for the hybrid LIC model versus traditional block schedules.

Main Methods:

• A pre- and post-mixed methods analysis was conducted with third-year medical students.
• Anonymous online surveys assessed satisfaction with patient continuity and scheduling in December 2022 (pre-hybrid) and December 2024 (post-hybrid).

Main Results:

• Student satisfaction with the LIC schedule decreased from 82% in 2022 to 64% in 2024 after implementing the hybrid model.
• Dissatisfaction with patient continuity slightly decreased from 38% in 2022 to 36% in 2024.
• Faculty continuity satisfaction was 70% in the hybrid model, and 64% of students preferred the hybrid LIC over a traditional block schedule.

Conclusions:

• Implementing inpatient experiences in the LIC curriculum reduced scheduling satisfaction but minimally improved patient continuity.
• The hybrid LIC model is preferred by students over traditional block schedules, indicating potential for curriculum improvement.