An evaluation of study habits of third-year medical students in a surgicalclerkship

Background: This study was developed to assess study habits of medical stud ents in a third-year surgical clerkship and to determine the relationship o f these study habits to performance outcomes. Methods: A questionnaire designed to assess medical student study habits wa s administered at the end of five consecutive 10-week multidisciplinary sur gical clerkships. The results of questionnaires from 81 students were analy zed in respect to results on the National Board of Medical Education (NBME) surgical subtest and the multiple stations clinical examination (MSCE) giv en at the end of each clerkship. Results: Although only 18 of the total 81 students reported studying in for mal but self-directed groups, students who reported studying in a group on average scored 4 points higher on the MSCE than those who did not study in a group (P = 0.001). However, no significant differences or correlations we re discovered between any of the study habits and the individual results on the NBME. Conclusion: Students:may benefit from collaborative studying when it comes to clinical experience as demonstrated by improved performance on the MSCE. (C) 2001 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.