TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical capabilities of graduates of an outcomes-based integrated medical program
AU - Scicluna, Helen A.
AU - Grimm, Michael C.
AU - Osullivan, Anthony J.
AU - Harris, Peter
AU - Pilotto, Louis S.
AU - Jones, Philip D.
AU - McNeil, H. Patrick
N1 - Copyright 2012 Scicluna et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Background: The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Faculty of Medicine replaced its old content-based curriculum with an innovative new 6-year undergraduate entry outcomes-based integrated program in 2004. This paper is an initial evaluation of the perceived and assessed clinical capabilities of recent graduates of the new outcomes-based integrated medical program compared to benchmarks from traditional content-based or process-based programs. Method: Self-perceived capability in a range of clinical tasks and assessment of medical education as preparation for hospital practice were evaluated in recent graduates after 3 months working as junior doctors. Responses of the 2009 graduates of the UNSWs new outcomes-based integrated medical education program were compared to those of the 2007 graduates of UNSWs previous content-based program, to published data from other Australian medical schools, and to hospital-based supervisor evaluations of their clinical competence. Results: Three months into internship, graduates from UNSWs new outcomes-based integrated program rated themselves to have good clinical and procedural skills, with ratings that indicated significantly greater capability than graduates of the previous UNSW content-based program. New program graduates rated themselves significantly more prepared for hospital practice in the confidence (reflective practice), prevention (social aspects of health), interpersonal skills (communication), and collaboration (teamwork) subscales than old program students, and significantly better or equivalent to published benchmarks of graduates from other Australian medical schools. Clinical supervisors rated new program graduates highly capable for teamwork, reflective practice and communication. Conclusions: Medical students from an outcomes-based integrated program graduate with excellent self-rated and supervisor-evaluated capabilities in a range of clinically-relevant outcomes. The program-wide curriculum reform at UNSW has had a major impact in developing capabilities in new graduates that are important for 21st century medical practice.
AB - Background: The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Faculty of Medicine replaced its old content-based curriculum with an innovative new 6-year undergraduate entry outcomes-based integrated program in 2004. This paper is an initial evaluation of the perceived and assessed clinical capabilities of recent graduates of the new outcomes-based integrated medical program compared to benchmarks from traditional content-based or process-based programs. Method: Self-perceived capability in a range of clinical tasks and assessment of medical education as preparation for hospital practice were evaluated in recent graduates after 3 months working as junior doctors. Responses of the 2009 graduates of the UNSWs new outcomes-based integrated medical education program were compared to those of the 2007 graduates of UNSWs previous content-based program, to published data from other Australian medical schools, and to hospital-based supervisor evaluations of their clinical competence. Results: Three months into internship, graduates from UNSWs new outcomes-based integrated program rated themselves to have good clinical and procedural skills, with ratings that indicated significantly greater capability than graduates of the previous UNSW content-based program. New program graduates rated themselves significantly more prepared for hospital practice in the confidence (reflective practice), prevention (social aspects of health), interpersonal skills (communication), and collaboration (teamwork) subscales than old program students, and significantly better or equivalent to published benchmarks of graduates from other Australian medical schools. Clinical supervisors rated new program graduates highly capable for teamwork, reflective practice and communication. Conclusions: Medical students from an outcomes-based integrated program graduate with excellent self-rated and supervisor-evaluated capabilities in a range of clinically-relevant outcomes. The program-wide curriculum reform at UNSW has had a major impact in developing capabilities in new graduates that are important for 21st century medical practice.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862143552&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1472-6920-12-23
DO - 10.1186/1472-6920-12-23
M3 - Article
C2 - 22540877
AN - SCOPUS:84862143552
SN - 1472-6920
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - BMC Medical Education
JF - BMC Medical Education
M1 - 23
ER -