ENT experience in a family medicine clerkship: Is there enough?

Background: Curriculum planning is an essential process at any institution of learning. Currently, at Indiana University a 1-week required otorhinolar yngology clerkship is being considered for removal from the curriculum, and this exposure is planned for integration into other primary care clerkship s. A data collection system for patient encounters was created to obtain ob jective quantitative data about ear; nose, and throat conditions in the fam ily medicine clerkship. Methods: A total of 445 students filled out 56,151 patient encounter forms that contained the diagnoses, patient age, student comfort levels, and student responsibilities. Results: Of the 56,151 encoun ters, 22.9% involved a condition involving an ear; nose, or throat (ENT) di agnosis, and the overall top-10 diagnoses reflect a typical family practice . Few students reported being given the opportunity to perform procedures. Conclusions: It appears that students are receiving sufficient practice in taking patient histories and performing initial patient physicals for ENT c ases and that they see a sufficient number of ENT cases. However students h ad more limited opportunity to perform and/or assist with ENT procedures or to be involved with patient education and ENT counseling. The number of EN T cases in the third-year clerkship is sufficient, and the experience is mo stly move than adequate. Our study indicates that ENT training is a signifi cant part of the family medicine clerkship, and curriculum integration is p ossible, though concerns about procedural skills will need to be addressed.