A Safe and Effective Internal Medicine Procedure Rotation for Medical Students

TL;DR

Medical students who completed a procedure rotation showed significant improvements in knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction with hands-on skills.

Contribution

A novel elective procedure rotation for medical students was developed and shown to effectively increase procedural training and confidence.

Findings

Students performed an average of 18 procedures with no major complications.

Cognitive assessment scores improved from 66.3% to 87.2% after the rotation.

Procedural confidence and satisfaction with training increased significantly.

Abstract

Although procedural rotations in internal medicine residency programs have been shown to increase trainee satisfaction and procedural experience, limited data exist on the implementation and outcomes of similar curricula for medical students.

Grounded in experiential learning theory, we developed and implemented a multi-week elective procedure rotation for medical students. The curriculum included an online component and hands-on procedural training supervised by experienced faculty. Students completed pre- and post-rotation assessments, including a cognitive assessment and a Likert-style survey measuring procedural volume, confidence, and satisfaction. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon matched-pairs ranked-sum tests were used to analyze changes in continuous and ordinal outcomes, respectively.

Before the rotation, students reported limited procedural exposure. During the elective, each student performed an average of 18 procedures—most commonly paracentesis—with no major complications. Cognitive assessment scores significantly improved from a pre-rotation average of 66.3% to 87.2% post-rotation (p < 0.001). Statistically significant increases were observed in both procedural confidence and satisfaction with procedural training.

This elective procedure rotation was successfully integrated into the curriculum at a large academic medical center and resulted in substantial gains in student procedural exposure, knowledge, and confidence. These findings underscore the value of experiential learning for medical students and suggest that similar elective rotations at other institutions could enhance procedural training in undergraduate medical education.

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