Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Purpose: To evaluate the potential association between student absenteeism and performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners Clinical Neurology Subject Exam (NBME), a Standardized Patient Exam (SPEX) and the overall clinical performance (CPA) in the Neurology Core Clerkship (NCC). Methods: All medical students rotating through the required 4-week NCC at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) were enrolled in this IRB-approved, retrospective cohort study. Student absences, NBME, SPEX, CPA, and overall final clerkship grades were recorded. Results: Between 2014-2017, 252 students were enrolled. Of the total sample, 68 students (27.0%) were absent from the clerkship. The median absence length was one day, and the range was 0.25 to 7.00 days. The total "other" absences dependent variable (defined in the text) was negative and statistically significant for the NBME (p = 0.01). This model suggests that for an average student, a one day's absence for reasons we categorized as "other", will lead to a slightly more than two-point decrease (2.36) in the NBME percent correct score. Conclusion: Data presented here supports that the NBME graded component decreases with increased "other" absenteeism supporting that increased absences may have a negative effect on student performance in the NCC.
Highlights
Prior studies have explored the impact of absenteeism on objective measures of learning in medical education
This study aims to evaluate the relationship between absenteeism in a variety of assessment metrics typically utilized in the clinical years of the medical school curriculum that include standardized written exams, clinical performance assessments, and standardized patient exams of the student typically collected in a core clerkship rotation
The Neurology Core Clerkship (NCC) at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) consists of a four-week rotation, organized into two groups of students for each eight-week block
Summary
Prior studies have explored the impact of absenteeism on objective measures of learning in medical education. A study exploring this relationship in the context of a contemporary "flipped classroom" approach where students can attend or miss the large group sessions voluntarily, students who missed three or more large group sessions performed significantly worse than their peers (Laird-Fick et al, 2018). Other studies have shown that absence from classes or lectures even into the third year (BinSaeed et al, 2009) and fourth year (Hamdi, 2006) of medical school can significantly affect academic performance. Though absenteeism in medical school is expected to affect clinical performance measures, findings on the potential relationship or directionality of these impacts remain mixed. Other studies suggest that attendance at in-class sessions is no longer a good marker for performance, but rather a student’s levels of self-efficacy and their ability to self-regulate are better predictors of how well they can perform while still missing in-class sessions (Kauffman et al, 2018)
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