TEACHING NEWBORN MEDICINE TO 3RD-YEAR MEDICAL-STUDENTS - USE OF A CHECKLIST

Objective: To determine if use of a checklist during the third-year me dical student's newborn medicine rotation within the pediatric clerksh ip affected grades, end-of-course examination scores, or perceptions o f the newborn clinical experience before and after use of this teachin g aid. Methods: The checklist contained 46 newborn medicine-related sk ills and concepts and required staff review. A postclerkship questionn aire was used to assess the student's perception of all components of the clinical clerkship. A standardized test was used to assess clinica l knowledge. The clerkship grade was based on test scores (30%) and cl inical performance (70%). Results: All students (N=321) returned the p ostclerkship questionnaire from July 1, 1988, to June 30, 1990, and th e checklist plus questionnaire (N=294) from July 1, 1990, to June 30, 1992. During both periods, the curriculum and clinical experience rema ined unchanged. Although there was no change in grade distribution, me an final examination score (P<.011) and student perception of the nurs ery portion of the clerkship (P<.01) improved significantly after we b egan using the checklist. ''Poor'' ratings of the nursery experience d ecreased from 12% (1988 to 1989) to 3% (1991 to 1992), and ''excellent '' ratings increased from 13% to 24%. In addition, examination perform ance on specific examination questions appeared related to completion of checklist items (r=.68, P<.016). Conclusions: Use of a readily avai lable checklist, to remind students and faculty of the skills and conc epts to be mastered during the nursery-portion of the clerkship, did n ot impact final grades, although information transfer and student perc eption of the clinical experience improved. We speculate that clear de lineation of readily available objectives focuses students and staff, decreases anxiety, and provides a sense of accomplishment.