Ea. Delahunta et J. Bazarian, UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY-HOSPITAL MEDICAL-STUDENT EMERGENCY-MEDICINE CLERKSHIP EXPERIENCES, Academic emergency medicine, 5(4), 1998, pp. 343-346
Objective: To determine whether there is a significant difference betw
een educational opportunities for fourth-year medical students rotatin
g at a university hospital (UH) compared with several community hospit
als (CHs) during a mandatory emergency medicine (EM) clerkship. Method
s: A self-reported clinical tool was completed in real time by each st
udent rotating for 2 weeks at the UH and 2 weeks at 1 of 4 CHs (3 affi
liated and 1 unaffiliated). Students are required to document the numb
er of patients seen and the number of procedures performed on each of
20 six-hour shifts. They rated the EM attending clinical teaching by s
ite using a 5-point scale at the end of the clerkship. Results: Most (
95%) of the 87 students in the 7 clerkship blocks of the 1996-97 acade
mic year rotated at the UH and a CH. Most (71%) students rated both th
e UH and the CH for the quality of teaching by attendings. There was a
significant difference in the mean number of patients evaluated/shift
(2.2 +/- 0.10 vs 2.8 +/- 0.10, UH vs CH; p < 0.001) and the mean numb
er of procedures performed/shift (0.36 +/- 0.04 vs 0.56 +/- 0.05, UH v
s CH; p < 0.001). Attending clinical teaching scores were significantl
y higher (p = 0.03) at the CHs. Conclusions: The educational opportuni
ties for students in an EM clerkship to evaluate patients and perform
procedures were significantly greater at the community hospitals. Incl
usion of community hospital settings in a medical student EM clerkship
may optimize the clinical experience.