The addition of an upper-extremity curriculum in medical school education and its assessment.
This study assessed the impact of changes made to address the inadequate upper-extremity education through preclinical medical school curriculum reform. After the administration of a new upper-extremity curriculum, which also increased the time devoted to three preclinical medical school courses from 7.25 to 21.25 hours, second-year medical students were evaluated for mastery of these concepts through a national validated objective examination, and attitude and skill through clinical confidence and subjective surveys. After implementation of the new upper-extremity curriculum, students had significantly greater confidence in their ability to perform a physical examination but not in identifying differential diagnoses of the upper-extremity. Students were more satisfied with the amount of time spent on the musculoskeletal system but their performance in the national examination did not change.
Day
C S
CS
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Boston, MA, USA. cday1@bidmc.harvard.edu
Ahn
C S
CS
Yu
Y
Y
D001900:Boston; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical; D034941:Upper Extremity