Best practices to impart clinical skills during preclinical years of medical curriculum

نویسندگان

1 Department of Biochemistry, NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

2 Centre for Medical Sciences Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Departments of Clinical Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

3 Centre for Medical Sciences Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Departments of Paraclinical Sciences

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چکیده

Globally, health is regarded as a booming industry with greater stress being laid on high quality,accountability, and transparency. Traditional medical curricula rely primarily on clerkships duringthe clinical period of study to train clinical skills, while the preclinical period is mainly used to teachthe basic sciences. In recent years, the early introduction of clinical skills training has receivedincreased attention. This review aims to identify and summarize teaching approaches of clinicalskills for medical students during preclinical years, namely,  (1) framing objectives  (2) learningactivities, and (3) evaluation strategies. Although the clinical tutor’s role is to ensure that studentsreceive effective preclinical skills through different modes of learning (lectures, presentations, andproblem‑based learning), the role of advanced technologies, namely, simulation‑based learningplatforms and gamification are found to be very successful. To improve the communication skills,there is strong evidence in support of role plays, and similarly, for enhancing observation skills, anintroduction of fine arts in clinical skills training was found to be very useful. Medical schools worldwideshould give high priority to conduct faculty development programs on various aspects of trainingand teaching modalities, evaluation strategies, and improving the evaluation of various clinical skills.Students should be provided with sufficient learning opportunities including a well‑equipped clinicalskills laboratory and individual attention, and constructive feedback should be given to students forbuilding their confidence level during their learning process.