Accepted Type
Dedicated Poster
Code
LP16 - 01
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Poster
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Student
Affiliation
Title
Do "Teddy Bear Hospital Project School Visits" improve pre-clerkship students' comfort communicating medical topics to children?
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
The Teddy Bear Hospital Project (TBHP) is an international initiative aimed at reducing children's fears associated with healthcare visits by modeling these interactions using teddy bears. uOttawa's program has outlined an additional objective: increasing pre-clerkship medical students' comfort communicating medical topics to children. A preliminary analysis involving only post-visit surveys suggested that this objective was being met. However, this study aimed to assess for a significant change in comfort communicating medical concepts to children using pre- and post- visit surveys.
Methods
Pre-clerkship volunteers (n=36) participated in 24 kindergarten/grade one classroom visits from September 2019-March 2020. Visits consisted of four stations (Handwashing/Immunizations; X-ray/MRI; Well-Child; and Casting/Bone Health). Likert scale data from pre- and post-visit surveys were analyzed using paired t-tests.
Results
86.11% (31/36) of volunteers were included in our study. There was a statistically significant increase in volunteers' self-reported comfort communicating medical topics to young children (Pre-Mean=6.96, SD = 1.51; Post-Mean=7.62, SD=1.1; p=0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference in volunteers' reported interest in pursuing a career with a pediatric-focus (Pre-Mean=8.00, SD=1.54; Post-Mean=7.7, SD=1.96; p=0.24). 100% (36/36) of volunteers reported that they would recommend TBHP to a colleague interested in pursuing family medicine or pediatrics.
Conclusion
Our study suggests that TBHP met its objective of increasing medical students' self-perceived comfort in communicating medical topics to children. Our study is limited by small sample size and a possible ceiling effect. In future studies, we aim to further explore the longitudinal effects that TBHP pre-clerkship participation has on students' comfort throughout their clerkship pediatric rotation.
Keyword 1
innovation
Keyword 2
teddy bear hospital project
Keyword 3
communication of medical topics to pediatric population
Level of Training
Undergraduate
Abstract Themes
Teaching and learning
Teaching and Learning
- Clinical Context
- Clinical Skills
- Collaborative/Peer to Peer
- Quality improvement
Additional Theme (First choice)
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Faculty Development
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Physician & Medical Student Health and Well-being
Authors
Presenter
Kaitlin Endres
Hannah Kis
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
