Kevin P. Kilgore, MD
Regions Hospital
Abstract:
Purpose:
By combining a daily card system as the data gathering tool with a database the vague recollections and forgotten events encountered during completion of a student's final evaluation are captured. This presentation seeks to offer readers a conceptual framework used in modeling a relational database for tracking the progress of medical students during clinical rotations. The goals of this application are to: (1) record the specific feedback offered to students by faculty; (2) compile student procedural activity and shift performance grade; (3) provide the student with an up-to-date record of their progress in the rotation and (4) assemble specific reports for the student's medical school upon completion of the rotation in a timely fashion.
Methods:
A feedback card was created specifically for rotating medical
students. The cards are designed to optimize ease of completion and included an
area for subjective evaluation and procedures Faculty members receive
instructions in the criteria that are to be used to foster feedback. An
attending physician directly supervises the student's clinical activities
during each shift. At the end of this shift the faculty member completes an
evaluation card. At the same time, the student invites the faculty to offer
specific, direct feedback on their performance. The data from these cards are
then entered into the database that compiles information on the student's
abilities in interpersonal relations, data acquisition and data synthesis. A
“running summary” of the student's daily evaluations is used to follow the
student’s progress on an entry by entry basis.
Results: Over the past four years two hundred and ninety-one
medical students rotated through our department. Four thousand five hundred and
sixty-six cards were completed. Each student record contains an average of 286
data elements. Immediate response was given to the students on completion of
86.53% of assigned shifts. Final grade had significant correlation with the
total number of cards received, the percentage of cards where feedback given
was indicated and the final examination score. It appeared that activities that
encouraged direct contact between the student and faculty positively effected
the student’s final rotation grade. The mean time to completion of each
student’s summary letters to their dean’s office was 5.88 days.
Conclusion:
The ability to arrange and query records of student performance
that are based on large quantities of data is crucial to reporting evaluation
results in an organized fashion. A database is the ideal tool for following
medical student’s progress during the relatively brief term on a clinical
rotation.
The creation of an evaluation tracking database in conjunction
with a shift card for use in an emergency department using readily available
commercial software affords the ability to track students. This data is vital
to our student educational efforts and the rotation’s quality.
Benefit in Attending
Session:
This presentaion is offered to discuss the development of an evaluation system for rotating medical students on a clinical rotaiton that prompts both feedback and provides final evaluation information. It is hoped that the attendees would be able to apply the pronciples of two simple techniques to similar rotations at their institution. The pitfalls in producing and implementing of the system are also discussed.
PRIMARY AUTHOR'S
INFORMATION
Kevin P. Kilgore, MD
Regions Hospital
Dept. of Emergency Medicine
640 Jackson Street
St. Paul, MN 55122
E-mail Address: kevink7116@aol.com