Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OH2-3-3
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
Oral
Sub Type
Education Innovation
Will the presenter be a:
Student
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Internal Medicine Resident Observership Program: Near-Peer Learning on the CTU for Pre-Clerkship Medical Students
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
Pre-clerkship clinical observerships at Canadian medical schools are typically limited to certain clinical environments. The internal medicine (IM) clinical teaching unit (CTU) is not currently one of these settings due to high pre-existing teaching expectations placed on staff physicians. The CTU is a mandatory component of clerkship and is a common source of anxiety for students. Near-peer (medical student-resident) shadowing has demonstrated numerous benefits including facilitating learning and lowering learner apprehension. At uOttawa there was IM resident interest in mentoring students.
Summary of the Innovation
We developed a no-cost "Internal Medicine Resident Observership Program" where second year medical students at uOttawa completed 5 hours of resident shadowing on the CTU or IM consult service. We assessed students' perceptions of resident shadowing, IM residency, and knowledge and anxiety towards CTU.
Conclusion
We compared pre- and post-program survey responses from 26 participants using one-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank testing of deidentified Likert scale data. Benefits of near-peer learning were demonstrated by significant improvements in students' impression of resident teaching and improved perceptions of their understanding of IM residency and the role of a resident in patient care (p<0.05). Lastly, exposure to CTU significantly improved students' self-rated understanding of CTU and decreased anxiety towards CTU as an intimidating learning environment (p<0.001). This program highlights the value of near-peer resident shadowing in fostering comfortable learning opportunities for pre-clerkship medical students. Implementing similar programs across Canadian medical schools may address similar gaps in pre-clerkship clinical exposure.
Keyword 1
Near-peer learning
Keyword 2
CTU
Keyword 3
Resident shadowing
Level of Training
Undergraduate
Abstract Themes
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (First choice)
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Alexandre Pratt
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
