[Self-reported skills in practical procedures among young physicians].
There is at present no consensus as to which clinical procedures a student should be able to perform after graduation. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the self-reported skills level in practical procedures among graduates from the medical schools in Norway. A questionnaire was mailed to all students who entered internship between July 1996 and January 1998. They were asked to indicate on a visual-analogue scale the level of skill he or she had acquired in 88 practical clinical procedures. 519 of 621 (84%) graduates replied; 89% started internship immediately after graduation. Graduates from Tromsø reported significantly better skills than graduates from Oslo and Bergen. There was considerable variation within and between the universities with respect to several procedures. Overall, men reported a significantly better skills level than their female colleges. The present study demonstrates that the skills level in several procedures vary considerably between candidates graduating from different Norwegian universities after undergraduate medical education. For some procedures the skills level is, in our opinion, disquietingly low. The results of this survey indicate that teaching of clinical procedures in medical school is often random and of inferior quality. There is a need for a systematic approach and a national consensus on the clinical procedures to be acquired and the levels of skills to be attained.
Lundeby
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T
Institutt for fysiologi og biomedisinsk teknikk Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Trondheim.
Trønnes
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H
Falck
G
G
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000592:standards; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000523:psychology; D012655:Self-Evaluation Programs; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires