How to Teach Clinical Reasoning in the Context of Rare Diseases in Undergraduate Medical Education

Abstract

While rare diseases are individually rare, they are collectively common. Physicians are likely to see patients presenting with rare diseases during their medical practice. Despite the fact that rare diseases present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges, they are not sufficiently addressed by undergraduate medical curricula. The need to train medical students has been expressed by stakeholders in several countries. Moreover, among the objectives of the World Health Organization are to reduce a diagnostic time, decrease diagnostic errors and ensure the provision of multidisciplinary care. We have initiated an educational module aspiring to enhance understanding of rare diseases among undergraduate medical students. Based on our experience, on the literature data and related learning theories, this document presents some tips on how to foster training of undergraduate medical students in the context of rare diseases.