A cross-sectional study of third (M3)- and fourth-year (M4) medical students was conducted. Quizzes were given before and after the course to measure any improvement in medical knowledge. Post-curriculum surveys were also administered to ascertain learner confidence and to get overall feedback regarding the program.
A total of 114 (100 M3 and 14 M4) medical students participated. The mean quiz scores for both M3 and M4 students increased across all modules they participated in (Figure 1). The course also improved the students’ procedural confidence in all students on a 5-point scale (1.78 to 3.94, p<0.0001). In addition, 100% of the students rated the curriculum highly.
Figure 1. Quiz scores pre-and post-curriculum among M3 and M4 students.
This novel medical student urology curriculum not only improved knowledge of common urological procedures but actually exposed medical students during a crucial decision-making time (third year) to a specialty sometimes otherwise not very advertised or popularized. Many students do not have required urology rotations and having a program set up like this may provide some necessary exposure for the field. Moreover, it is interesting to see that students baseline procedural confidence was as low as it was at 1.78. This goes to show that medical students may not be getting much procedural exposure during medical school and that much of procedural training comes during residency.
One of the moderators, Dr. Jaime Landman, from the University of California, Irvine, brought up an excellent point about the traditional “see one, do one, teach one” model of teaching being common in medicine but not seen in any other industry that also deal with real human life or death scenarios such as law enforcement, airline, or nuclear energy. There is extensive training and preparation goes on in simulation trials to ensure smooth sailing when real-life incidents occur. During training, some students or residents may be expected to perform procedures on patients without having had sufficient or adequate training. Simulation and education programs such as this proposed by Dr. John Cooper are may be very useful for providing training early on.
Presented by: John Cooper, MD, The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
Written by: John Sung (@JohnM_Sung), Medical Student Texas A&M University, College of Medicine, Dallas, Texas, Research Fellow, University of California, Irvine Department of Urology at the American Urological Association's 2019 Annual Meeting (AUA 2019), May 3 – 6, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois