Kelly Katherine, Wilder Lauren, Bastin Jessica, Lane-Cordova Abbi, Cai Bo, Cook James
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Prisma Health Richland Hospital, Columbia, USA.
Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA.
Cureus. 2023 Jun 18;15(6):e40601. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40601. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Introduction Gynecological teaching associates (GTAs) are trained to teach the pelvic exam using themselves as models, and it has been hypothesized that their use can improve learners' confidence and interpersonal skills. This study aims to gain greater insight into whether the use of GTAs is associated with increased medical students' confidence when performing the pelvic exam during clinical rotations. Methods An email survey was distributed to medical students in two different classes at a single United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)-accredited medical school: one that learned the pelvic exam using GTAs and one that did not. A Fisher's exact test was performed to determine associations between the use of GTAs and confidence in performing the pelvic exam, with a p-value of <0.01. Results Out of the 85 survey participants, 68 had performed a pelvic exam in the clinical setting and thus rated their confidence level. Of the 38 students who learned using a GTA, 66% (p<0.0024) reported a confidence level of four or five (out of five) compared to 50% of the 30 students who were not able to practice using a GTA. There was a statistically significant difference in the confidence levels of students who practiced on GTAs compared to those who did not. Discussion Our findings demonstrated that students who were able to learn the pelvic exam using GTAs reported higher confidence levels when subsequently performing a pelvic exam in a clinical setting. Conclusion Our findings support investment in GTA programming for teaching the pelvic exam in medical school curricula.
引言 妇科教学助手（GTAs）接受过以自身为模型教授盆腔检查的培训，据推测，使用他们可以提高学习者的信心和人际交往能力。本研究旨在更深入了解在临床轮转期间进行盆腔检查时，使用GTAs是否与医学生信心的增强相关。方法 向一所单一的美国医学执照考试（USMLE）认可医学院的两个不同班级的医学生发送了电子邮件调查：一个班级使用GTAs学习盆腔检查，另一个班级则没有。进行了Fisher精确检验以确定使用GTAs与进行盆腔检查的信心之间的关联，p值<0.01。结果 在85名调查参与者中，68人在临床环境中进行过盆腔检查，因此对他们的信心水平进行了评分。在38名使用GTA学习的学生中，66%（p<0.0024）报告信心水平为四或五级（满分五级），而在30名未使用GTA练习的学生中这一比例为50%。与未使用GTA练习的学生相比，使用GTA练习的学生在信心水平上存在统计学上的显著差异。讨论 我们的研究结果表明，能够使用GTAs学习盆腔检查的学生在随后的临床环境中进行盆腔检查时报告的信心水平更高。结论 我们的研究结果支持在医学院课程中投资GTA项目来教授盆腔检查。
