A different approach to teaching pre-clerkship students physical diagnosis: standardized patient instructor-senior medical student teaching teams

Abstract

Background: Faculty have traditionally taught the physical examination (PE) to novice medical students (pre-clerkship students.), despite recruiting and cost issues and problems standardizing their approach. Activity: We present a model using standardized patient instructor (SPI)-fourth year medical student (MS4) teams to teach PE to pre-clerkship students, leveraging the benefits of co-teaching and peer-assisted learning. Results: Surveys of pre-clerkship students, MS4s and SPIs indicate positive perceptions of the program, including MS4s reporting significant growth in their professional identities as educators. Pre-clerkship students' performance on the spring clinical skills exams was equivalent to or better than their peer performance pre-program implementation. Implications: SPI-MS4 teams can effectively teach novice students the mechanics and clinical context of the beginners’ physical exam.