title: A new clinical skills clerkship for medical students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The transition to clinical clerkships can be challenging for medical students. In the context of a formal clinical curriculum redesign, a curriculum team led by family physicians systematically planned and implemented a 3-week course to prepare new third-year students for specialty-specific clerkships.
  
  
  METHODS
  Informed by a formal needs assessment, we developed a classroom-based Clinical Skills Clerkship (CSC) with varied instructional approaches. The three major curriculum components are (1) specialty-specific, longitudinal clinical care of a three-generation virtual family that is taught in lectures and small groups and assessed with an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), (2) clinical skills including procedure stations and interprofessional education experiences, and (3) a series of professional development activities. The CSC has 90 hours of curriculum taught by more than 120 faculty members from a wide variety of specialties and disciplines. A cohort of senior medical students teach in the course as part of a medical education elective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CSC was first delivered to 98 students in 2012 who performed well on the course's OSCE. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations of both the curriculum components and the senior medical student teachers were positive. Performance on comparable CSC and Internal Medicine Clerkship OSCE stations and a series of student focus groups demonstrate longer-term impact.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A successful curriculum redesign requires considerable planning and coordination. We designed and implemented a comprehensive CSC that was both well received and effective. Peer teaching programs can provide medical education leadership experiences with benefits for learners, teachers, and medical educators.
authors.affiliation: Office of Medical Education, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI.
authors.forename: Julie Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Marina M C
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: MacNamara
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zink
authors.forename: Nilay K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gainor
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Dollase
mesh_terms: D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D010379:Peer Group; D010819:Physician's Role