Purpose: To enrich student pelvic exam education through a focused curriculum and survey of student experience.
Background: Pelvic exams in academic medicine have been under increased scrutiny following reports of student concern about adequate consent, prompting an emphasis on informed consent and additional instruction to students about clinical value.
Methods:
We surveyed medical students at the beginning of the ob/gyn clerkship between July 2020 to June 2021 regarding their attitudes and comfort with pelvic exams. We then provided a short, educational session about pelvic exams during orientation. Students performed pelvic exams throughout the clerkship with further instruction and supervision. During the final week of the clerkship, we repeated the student survey.
Results: We surveyed 121 students, of whom 80% had not performed a pelvic exam before their clerkship. Students highly rated their ability to identify external anatomy during exams ( >90% comfortable or very comfortable) but had less comfort assessing the uterus, cervix or other internal pelvic structures; in the post-survey, significant improvement was noted with examining internal pelvic anatomy (P< 0.0001). Students reported improvement in their comfort with performing a pelvic exam on an anesthetized patient (P< 0.0001) and with consenting a patient for an exam under anesthesia (P< 0.0001) in the post-survey results. Qualitative comments from the end of the clerkship reflected student’s improved understanding of reviewing informed consent for pelvic exams with patients.
Discussions: Focused education regarding the clinical significance of pelvic exams can improve student comfort with learning this skill.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2022, Student, Resident, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Clerkship Coordinator, Osteopathic Faculty, Patient Care, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, Practice-Based Learning & Improvement, UME, Assessment, Quality & Safety, General Ob-Gyn,
Emily Boevers, MD, The University of Kansas Medical Center; Rachel DiTeresi, MD
