Case-Based Independent Study for Medical Students in Emergency Psychiatry

Abstract

Brief cases designed for independent study were developed to allow third-year medical students some exposure to important concepts in emergency psychiatry during their required psychiatry clerkship. Five independent study cases were given to University of Michigan third-year medical students during their psychiatry clerkship, and their performance on a pre- and posttest of knowledge of emergency psychiatry management was compared between students who did and did not use the independent study cases. All of the students improved in their knowledge of emergency psychiatric management, but the students who completed the cases had a significantly better performance on the postrotation quiz. Case-based independent study is an effective method to improve exposure to emergency psychiatry cases during a third-year medical student clerkship.