Personal digital assistant for "real time" assessment of women's health in the clinical years.
OBJECTIVE
To assess in "real time" the degree to which women's health competencies are addressed in the clinical curriculum by using a personal digital assistant.


METHODS
Competencies for women's health were developed. Twelve students were supplied with a personal digital assistant, pre-loaded with a patient log system, for use in assessment of the inclusion of these competencies in the clinical arena. The students received instruction on completing the log for each patient for whom they were primarily responsible.


RESULTS
There were 2690 total encounters. In clerkships other than obstetrics and gynecology, gender was discussed in 10% to 20% of encounters. Other than obstetrics and gynecology diagnostic categories, no more than 15% of diagnoses included gender discussion.


CONCLUSIONS
Student recording of patient encounters reveals a minimal amount of women's health discussion in the clinical years; however, the personal digital assistant is an effective tool with which to monitor curriculum content in the clinical setting.
Autry
Amy M
AM
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.
Simpson
Deborah E
DE
Bragg
Dawn St A
DS
Meurer
Linda N
LN
Barnabei
Vanessa M
VM
Green
Sandra S
SS
Bertling
Chad
C
Fisher
Barbra
B
D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000592:standards*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000592:standards*; D016287:Computer Peripherals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D014922:Wisconsin; D016387:Women's Health