Incorporating Active Learning Into a Psychiatry Clerkship: Does It Make a Difference?

Abstract

Medical students' satisfaction with the psychiatry clerkship, sense of preparedness for an institutional Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE), expressed likelihood of choosing psychiatry as a specialty, and National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) psychiatry shelf-examination scores were compared after a curriculum based on Active Learning (AL) techniques was introduced. In consecutive academic years, two groups of students were compared after completing a 1-month psychiatry clerkship. The first group (N=108) received traditional lectures, and the second (N=102) was taught via AL. Participants were surveyed regarding satisfaction, sense of preparedness for an institutional OSCE, and expressed likelihood of choosing psychiatry as a specialty. NBME psychiatry shelf-examination scores were analyzed; independent-samples t-tests were used to evaluate the data. Satisfaction and sense of preparedness for the institutional OSCE increased with AL techniques. NBME scores were not significantly different between groups. Professed likelihood of choosing psychiatry as a specialty did not increase with the interventional curriculum. We confirmed findings from previous studies that student satisfaction improves with active learning (AL). Sense of preparedness for the OSCE examination improved with AL, as well. NBME psychiatry exam scores and professed interest in psychiatry as a specialty were not different from those taught in a traditional format.