Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Gary Chamberlin, Ph.D

Abstract

The knowledge, skills, and attitudes basic to medical practice are introduced and taught in medical school courses that are often called Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM). This study provided an updated overview of ICM courses and discussed changes that have occurred during the past decade. In addition, this study developed a profile of ICM course directors, an area that had not been investigated previously. The observational, cross-sectional study utilized a quantitative design and web-based surveys. Two survey instruments were adapted from previous studies, authored using Questionmark Perception software, and e-mailed to curriculum contacts in all member schools of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Usable responses were received from 65 courses (46% of the medical schools) and 68 course directors (representing 48% of medical schools). Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions. Results indicated that ICM was a required course spanning the first two years, taught by didactic teaching, small group learning, and patient contact. Core content included physical examination, interviewing and medical history-taking, professionalism and the physician-patient relationship, clinical reasoning, and physical diagnosis. ICM course directors were board-certified primary care physicians, white males between the ages of 29 and 49. They were full-time assistant or associate professors on a non-tenure track who had been on faculty 5 years and course director 2 years. They spent most time in the course director role, with a significant amount of time in clinical teaching, ward service, and committee service. Most had not published or received a grant in the past 4 years. The most significant finding of this study was the level of diversity among different ICM courses.

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