A sophomore physical diagnosis course in an outpatient setting

A program designed to teach sophomore medical students physical diagnosis in an outpatient setting was evaluated as an alternative to an inpatient-oriented course. A comparison of the ability of 12 students trained in an outpatient setting to examine hospitalized patients with that of students trained in the traditional inpatient-oriented program revealed no difference between the two groups. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the clinical status of the patient and the clinical setting have little impact on students' acquisition of physical diagnosis skills. Thus, the ambulatory care setting can provide an effective alternative for inpatient-oriented physical diagnosis programs. This finding has implications for curriculum planners who are seeking ways to restructure fundamental courses that emphasize development of primary care skills.