{"title":"The Efficacy of the Psychiatry Clerkship in Developing Students' Comprehensive Clinical Skills.","authors":"Jacob Ney, Charles Smoller, Jake Kwon, Suma Chand","doi":"10.1007/s40596-024-02082-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study investigates the impact of the psychiatry rotation in developing students' clinical skills that are applicable across various medical specialties.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Medical students at Saint Louis University completed the same survey before and after completing a 3½-week psychiatry rotation. Students rated 18 statements on a Likert scale. Statements were grouped into six categories to assess students' confidence in (1) managing medical issues of psychiatric patients, (2) addressing injurious behaviors, (3) gathering a clinical history, (4) de-escalating crises, (5) self-regulating emotions, and (6) empathizing with patients. Students' pre- and post-survey numerical responses were added within the six categories and compared using paired t-tests.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty-three students completed both the pre-clerkship and post-clerkship surveys. For all six clinical skills categories, post-survey composite scores significantly increased. Managing medical complaints had a 7-point median score increase. Addressing injurious behavior had a 3-point median increase. Gathering a clinical history had a 4-point median increase. De-escalating crises had a 4-point median increase. Emotional self-regulation had a 2-point median increase. Empathizing with patients had a 2-point median increase. All six paired t-tests between pre- and post-surveys showed p-values < 0.001, indicating subjective improvement in students' performance for each clinical competency.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The psychiatry rotation effectively increased medical students' perceived acquisition of essential clinical skills. These competencies, including gathering a history, emotionally self-regulating, and de-escalating crises, apply to nearly all medical specialties. Further research is needed to investigate which specific opportunities helped students develop these skills and the broader strengths of the psychiatry clerkship.</p>","PeriodicalId":7069,"journal":{"name":"Academic Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Academic Psychiatry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-024-02082-7","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: This study investigates the impact of the psychiatry rotation in developing students' clinical skills that are applicable across various medical specialties.
Methods: Medical students at Saint Louis University completed the same survey before and after completing a 3½-week psychiatry rotation. Students rated 18 statements on a Likert scale. Statements were grouped into six categories to assess students' confidence in (1) managing medical issues of psychiatric patients, (2) addressing injurious behaviors, (3) gathering a clinical history, (4) de-escalating crises, (5) self-regulating emotions, and (6) empathizing with patients. Students' pre- and post-survey numerical responses were added within the six categories and compared using paired t-tests.
Results: Forty-three students completed both the pre-clerkship and post-clerkship surveys. For all six clinical skills categories, post-survey composite scores significantly increased. Managing medical complaints had a 7-point median score increase. Addressing injurious behavior had a 3-point median increase. Gathering a clinical history had a 4-point median increase. De-escalating crises had a 4-point median increase. Emotional self-regulation had a 2-point median increase. Empathizing with patients had a 2-point median increase. All six paired t-tests between pre- and post-surveys showed p-values < 0.001, indicating subjective improvement in students' performance for each clinical competency.
Conclusion: The psychiatry rotation effectively increased medical students' perceived acquisition of essential clinical skills. These competencies, including gathering a history, emotionally self-regulating, and de-escalating crises, apply to nearly all medical specialties. Further research is needed to investigate which specific opportunities helped students develop these skills and the broader strengths of the psychiatry clerkship.
期刊介绍:
Academic Psychiatry is the international journal of the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry, American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, Association for Academic Psychiatry, and Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.
Academic Psychiatry publishes original, scholarly work in psychiatry and the behavioral sciences that focuses on innovative education, academic leadership, and advocacy.
The scope of the journal includes work that furthers knowledge and stimulates evidence-based advances in academic psychiatry in the following domains: education and training, leadership and administration, career and professional development, ethics and professionalism, and health and well-being.