Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training
Introduction: The progression from preclinical medical training to clerkship is a pivotal yet steep transition for medical students. Effective feedback on clinical skills during preclinical training can better equip students for clerkship and allows time for them to address difficulties promptly. T...
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Canadian Medical Education Journal
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Canadian Medical Education Journal |
| Online Access: | https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cmej/article/view/78569 |
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| author | Linda Bergeron Patricia Blanchette Molk Chakroun Élisabeth Boileau Isabelle Boulais Martine Chamberland Christina St-Onge |
| author_facet | Linda Bergeron Patricia Blanchette Molk Chakroun Élisabeth Boileau Isabelle Boulais Martine Chamberland Christina St-Onge |
| author_sort | Linda Bergeron |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Introduction: The progression from preclinical medical training to clerkship is a pivotal yet steep transition for medical students. Effective feedback on clinical skills during preclinical training can better equip students for clerkship and allows time for them to address difficulties promptly. The goal of this study was to explore whether and how narrative comments at this stage were being leveraged to achieve this transition.
Methods: We conducted a content analysis to categorize narrative comments on the clinical skills of two cohorts of third-year preclinical students at one academic institution.
Results: Teachers made narrative comments for 272 students. Each comment was divided into analysis units (n = 1,314 units). Comments were either general (n = 187) or focused on attitude (n = 628), knowledge and cognitive processes (n = 357), or clinical reasoning (n = 142). They were abundantly positive (n = 1,190) and marginally negative (n = 39). Few (6%) contained suggestions for improvement.
Discussion: In this study, narrative comments on clinical skills before clerkship seemed minimally helpful, as they were overwhelmingly positive and seldom offered suggestions. This could suggest missed opportunities for early interventions. Pre-clerkship narrative comments could potentially be optimized by increasing emphasis on clinical reasoning, addressing challenges early and providing actionable steps for improvement.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b2657cff25354972a2895f6d6b01bc27 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1923-1202 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Medical Education Journal |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Canadian Medical Education Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-b2657cff25354972a2895f6d6b01bc272025-02-01T16:37:16ZengCanadian Medical Education JournalCanadian Medical Education Journal1923-12022025-01-0110.36834/cmej.78569Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training Linda Bergeron0Patricia Blanchette1https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7097-5853Molk Chakroun2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0518-1782Élisabeth Boileau3Isabelle Boulais4Martine Chamberland5Christina St-Onge6Université de SherbrookeUniversité du Québec à ChicoutimiUniversité de SherbrookeUniversité de SherbrookeUniversité de SherbrookeUniversité de SherbrookeUniversité de Sherbrooke Introduction: The progression from preclinical medical training to clerkship is a pivotal yet steep transition for medical students. Effective feedback on clinical skills during preclinical training can better equip students for clerkship and allows time for them to address difficulties promptly. The goal of this study was to explore whether and how narrative comments at this stage were being leveraged to achieve this transition. Methods: We conducted a content analysis to categorize narrative comments on the clinical skills of two cohorts of third-year preclinical students at one academic institution. Results: Teachers made narrative comments for 272 students. Each comment was divided into analysis units (n = 1,314 units). Comments were either general (n = 187) or focused on attitude (n = 628), knowledge and cognitive processes (n = 357), or clinical reasoning (n = 142). They were abundantly positive (n = 1,190) and marginally negative (n = 39). Few (6%) contained suggestions for improvement. Discussion: In this study, narrative comments on clinical skills before clerkship seemed minimally helpful, as they were overwhelmingly positive and seldom offered suggestions. This could suggest missed opportunities for early interventions. Pre-clerkship narrative comments could potentially be optimized by increasing emphasis on clinical reasoning, addressing challenges early and providing actionable steps for improvement. https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cmej/article/view/78569 |
| spellingShingle | Linda Bergeron Patricia Blanchette Molk Chakroun Élisabeth Boileau Isabelle Boulais Martine Chamberland Christina St-Onge Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training Canadian Medical Education Journal |
| title | Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training |
| title_full | Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training |
| title_fullStr | Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training |
| title_short | Are we optimizing medical students’ preparation for clerkship? A content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training |
| title_sort | are we optimizing medical students preparation for clerkship a content analysis of narrative comments on clinical skills during preclinical training |
| url | https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cmej/article/view/78569 |
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