POSTER

Faculty and learners' perceptions of the importance and availability of clinical experiences for Pediatric Clerks at Brody School of Medicine

P. Larsen; P. Merricks. East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Background: LCME ED-2 requires alignment between clerkship objectives and clinical experiences. The pediatric clerk at BSOM has a wide variety of inpatient and outpatient experiences. However, there has been no systematic assessment of the correlation between the pediatric clerk's experiences and the clerkship objectives.

Purpose: This study is to determine types of illnesses and conditions, the level of mastery the preceptor expects of the student's knowledge and skills, and the consistency of the pediatric clerks' experiences. The population for this study, pediatric faculty and learners, can assist the clerkship in defining how to juxtapose the clerkship objectives and competencies on the available clinical resources.

Method: This is a descriptive survey based on BSOM course objectives and competencies designed by COMSEP. Completed on-line, the importance of professional attributes and behaviors, clinical encounters, and the likelihood that any given clerk will see particular conditions or illnesses was assessed.

Results: Approximately 100 surveys were sent to faculty (academic and community), former pediatric clerks, and 15 pediatric or medicine/pediatric interns. Data analysis is in progress.

Conclusions: Data will be analyzed to determine the value (level of importance) population placed on skills and clinical experiences. With this information, a curriculum will be designed which will better meet the learning needs of the student and the LCME requirement for alignment of objectives, experiences, and documentation.