title: Core Practical Objectives: a means to standardize the 4th-year emergency medicine clerkship.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Core Practical Objectives (CPOs) are clinical emergency medicine (EM) experiences (including suggested number of patient encounters) that students use to self-direct clerkship progress.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates feasibility of implementing EM clerkship CPOs, describes characteristics of students fulfilling CPO guidelines, and relates CPO completion to outcome measures (exam scores and grades).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional research was conducted comparing students completing and not completing CPOs by gender, month of rotation, total patients evaluated, clerkship exam score, and final grade.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over 4 years, 117 students completed an EM clerkship utilizing CPO guidelines. Gender and clerkship month were not associated with fulfilling CPOs. Total CPOs completed correlated positively with percent score on written exam and grade for rotation. Completion of specific CPOs was associated with exam scores and final grade.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CPOs were successfully integrated into an EM clerkship. Preliminary data suggest that CPO guidelines can be used to standardize EM clerkships.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, Illinois 61637, USA.
authors.forename: Jay H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Woodland
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Tudor
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hafner
authors.forename: Marjorie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Getz
authors.forename: Jean C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Aldag
mesh_terms: D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000592:standards*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008297:Male; D016730:Program Development