School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Med Educ Online. 2024 Dec 31;29(1):2348276. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2024.2348276. Epub 2024 May 2.
Student-run free clinics (SRFCs) offer medical students a unique opportunity to develop their clinical, diagnostic, and social skills while providing care to medically underserved communities. This study aims to evaluate the value of SRFC involvement on students' self-reported confidence in various clinical domains and satisfaction with their medical education.
We conducted a single-center retrospective pre-post assessment at an urban academic institution among second- to fourth-year medical students. We administered a 25-item questionnaire capturing the scope of clinic involvement and assessing self-reported confidence in multiple clinical domains following a one-year-long participation in student-run free clinics.
Fifty-six students completed the survey. Participation in SRFCs significantly increased self-reported confidence in patient history-taking ( < 0.001), performing oral presentations ( < 0.001) and physical exams ( < 0.001). Students also reported significantly greater confidence in working with translators ( < 0.001) or as part of an interprofessional team ( < 0.001) and understanding the needs of the population served ( < 0.001). Students also found SRCs to significantly improve their confidence in preparedness for clerkships ( < 0.001). SRFC involvement can improve medical students' confidence in their clinical and interpersonal skills and enhance preparedness for clerkships and working with diverse patient groups.
SRFCs are a useful tool in the medical school curriculum that help bridge the gap between classroom learning and clinic and may encourage practice in medically underserved communities. SRFCs also integrate classroom material and clinical practice, although standardized evaluation metrics need to be developed. SRFCs should be incorporated as a learning experience by medical schools nationwide.
学生经营的免费诊所（SRFC）为医学生提供了一个独特的机会，让他们在为医疗服务不足的社区提供医疗服务的同时，发展他们的临床、诊断和社交技能。本研究旨在评估 SRFC 参与对学生在各个临床领域自我报告的信心和对医学教育的满意度的价值。
我们在一所城市学术机构进行了一项单中心回顾性前后评估，对象为二至四年级的医学生。我们采用了 25 项问卷，涵盖了诊所参与的范围，并在学生经营的免费诊所参与一年后评估了自我报告的多个临床领域的信心。
56 名学生完成了调查。参与 SRFC 显著提高了自我报告的病史采集（ < 0.001）、进行口头报告（ < 0.001）和体格检查（ < 0.001）的信心。学生还报告说，他们对与翻译人员（ < 0.001）或作为跨专业团队（ < 0.001）合作以及了解所服务人群的需求（ < 0.001）的信心显著增强。学生还发现 SRC 显著提高了他们对实习准备的信心（ < 0.001）。SRFC 参与可以提高医学生对其临床和人际交往技能的信心，并增强对实习和与不同患者群体合作的准备。
SRFC 是医学课程中的一个有用工具，可以弥合课堂学习与临床实践之间的差距，并可能鼓励在医疗服务不足的社区实践。SRFC 还将课堂材料和临床实践结合起来，尽管需要制定标准化的评估指标。SRFC 应该被全国的医学院校作为一种学习体验来纳入。
