Report finds time devoted to medical economics does not adversely affect clinical training quality
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Medical students in the United States perceive that they are not getting enough training in the practice of medicine, particularly in medical economics, according to a study in the September issue of Academic Medicine.
Mitesh S. Patel, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues analyzed data from 58,294 graduates of American medical schools and also compared the responses of 1,045 graduates of two medical schools which offered health care systems education at different levels of intensity.
In terms of training in clinical decision making, 90 to 92 percent of students reported that the level was appropriate, while the same assessment was given for clinical care by 80 to 82 percent of students, the researchers found. However, only 40 to 50 percent reported the training in the practice of medicine was adequate, and students from the school with higher intensity training in this area reported more satisfaction with this domain.
"Importantly, the high commitment to education in health care systems in the higher-intensity curriculum did not lead to lower perceived levels of adequate training in other domains of instruction," the authors write. "A higher-intensity curriculum in health care systems may hold the key to addressing these continued perceptions of training inadequacy."
Abstract
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