Family practice ; Clinical clerkship ; Self-evaluation programs ; Focus groups ; Surveys and questionnaires ; Feedback
Abstract
This study was conducted to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a 3-week family medicine clerkship
program based on the results of an online survey taken by the students (N=127) and a structured interview
with a focus group (n=10), aimed to improve the quality of the clerkship program. The online survey contained
questions pertaining to goals, schedule, contents, arrangement, atmosphere, environment, evaluation, and
satisfaction regarding the clerkship. The focus group interview addressed the schedule and achievements of
the program. Scores were reported on a 5-point Likert scale. Most students were highly satisfied with the
overall quality of the clerkship. The structured interview results showed that 97.6% of the clerkship program
was executed according to the schedule. The focus group reported a perfect score of 5 points on several
measures including: accomplishment of the educational goals of the family medicine clerkship, providing many
chances to obtain medical histories and perform physical examinations on real patients, experience with various
symptoms and diseases, positive attitudes of faculty members when teaching, notification of the guidelines
for evaluation beforehand, well-constructed and effective clerkship schedule, and reflection of student feedback.
However, the focus group gave low scores on: support for health accidents of students, access to patient
information, enough opportunities to practice clinical skills, appropriate rest facilities for students, and fairness
of clerkship evaluation process. In conclusion, the structured evaluation performed after the 3-week clerkship
program motivated students and helped them ensure an efficient clerkship. This structured evaluation also
suggested basic data to make the professor who is subject of the assessment. This study shows that structured
assessment is an effective method which can be used to improve the quality of clerkships.