Evaluation of a Case-Based Primary Care Pediatric Conference Curriculum

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Our goal was to assess the impact of a standardized residency curriculum in ambulatory pediatrics on residents' participation, satisfaction, and confidence. METHODS: A case-based curriculum for weekly primary care conference was developed to replace the existing free-form review of topics at the Yale Pediatrics Residency Program. Before the curricular switch, faculty preceptors and members of the academic year 2005-2006 intern class completed surveys designed to measure conference occurrence and resident attendance, participation, satisfaction, and confidence in clinical skills. One year after the curricular switch, identical surveys were completed by faculty preceptors and members of the academic year 2006-2007 intern class. RESULTS: Faculty surveys indicated that conferences took place significantly more often after the curricular switch. The number of residents at conference each day (3.18 vs 4.50; P