Purpose: To
examine medical student performance and perception of clerkship quality during
the shortened, third-year OB/GYN rotation.
Background: As medical school curricula evolve, core clinical clerkships often become
shortened to allow more time for career exploration and other professional
development. There is conflicting data regarding the impact of duration of
clerkships on student performance, and little is known about the impact of
shortened clerkships on student satisfaction.
Methods: We collected data from NBME subject exam scores and clerkship evaluation
scores for third-year clerkships over three academic years. In years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, students
had traditional clerkship lengths. In
2016-2017, clerkship durations were shortened by 25%. Analysis of variance was conducted to examine
the effect of academic year on mean NBME scores and student evaluation scores.
Results: There was no significant difference in mean OB/GYN NBME scores between
students participating in the traditional vs. shortened clerkship (mean score
79.7 ± 8.1 in 2014-2015, 79.7 ± 6.8 in 2015-2016, and 79.8 ± 7.0 in 2016-2017;
p= 0.991). Student perception of quality
of the OB/GYN clerkship decreased with the shortened clerkships; however, these
differences were not statistically significant (4.0 ± 0.9 in 2014-2015, 4.0 ±
0.9 in 2015-2016, and 3.8 ± 0.9 in 2016-2017; p= 0.074). By comparison, other clerkships experienced
an increase in perception of quality over the same time-period.
Discussions: A shortened
OB/GYN student clerkship does not appear to adversely affect objective
performance on the rotation; however, medical student perception of quality of
the rotation did trend towards lower clerkship scores.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2018, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Clerkship Coordinator, Practice-Based Learning & Improvement, UME, Assessment, General Ob-Gyn,
Samantha Kempner, MD
