Clinical competencies of graduating medical students

In a survey conducted by the authors, the goals of medical school curricula regarding the clinical competencies of graduating students were explored. Inventories listing 83 clinical skills were sent to 123 U.S. medical schools and to 462 volunteer clinical faculty members at the University of Utah School of Medicine. The responding medical schools singled out 43 clinical skills as definite goals of their curricula, and the practicing physicians identified 49 clinical skills in which graduating medical students should be competent. The study provided an easy mechanism to compare the clinical expectations of practicing physicians and of medical schools regarding medical students.