title: Enhancing situational interest in pediatrics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Individual interest, something that persists regardless of the situation, and situational interest, finding personal value in an educational context, have not been studied in medical student education.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if individualized case discussions enhance interest in pediatric medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the 2008/2009 academic year, 88 clerkship students participated in clinical case discussions. At orientation, students completed an Interest in Pediatrics (IIP) questionnaire, responding 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Intervention and control groups were randomly assigned. The intervention group personalized cases to students' medical specialty interests. The control group discussed the case presentation. Groups met twice during the 8-week clerkships, completing a post-IIP at the end of the clerkship.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intervention group interest increased from pre-IIP, mean = 3.64, to post-IIP, mean = 4.22 (z = -2.994, p < 0.05, r = -0.44). On post-IIP, application of pediatric medicine increased for both groups; the intervention group was most significant from pre-IIP, mean = 1.09, to post-IIP, mean = 4.33 (z = -6.038, p < 0.05, r = -0.88).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Enhanced interest in pediatrics from the intervention group indicates that creating a learning environment personally relevant to students' careers facilitates interest to learn.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha 68198-2184, USA. gbeck@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Finken
authors.forename: Sharon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Stoolman
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine; D009329:Nebraska; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods