Faculty experience and engagement in a longitudinal integrated clerkship

Abstract

The authors sought to understand rewards and challenges of teaching third-year medical students in the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CUSOM) Denver Health Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (DH-LIC) compared to teaching in rotation-based clerkships (RBCs). The authors considered implications for the recruitment and retention of faculty in clinical educational programs. Preceptors completed surveys at baseline and year-end. Of eligible faculty, 28 of 40 completed both baseline and year-end surveys. The majority (85.2%) of faculty were satisfied with the DH-LIC and 85.7% continued to teach in year-two of the program. Faculty reported increased satisfaction from teaching and improved teaching and mentoring skills. Faculty familiarity with DH-LIC students was significantly higher than with students previously taught (p = .004); 89.3% of faculty knew their DH-LIC student well enough to tailor instruction to individual learning needs. Teaching techniques utilized at baseline and end of year differed significantly; faculty reported asking questions to promote thinking, providing feedback to students, and providing students with practice in clinical reasoning more frequently in the DH-LIC. Innovative models of education such as LICs offer a strategy to recruit and retain excellent, invested faculty in outpatient settings.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Gretchen Guiton and the Evaluation Office at University of Colorado School of Medicine. The authors would like to thank Drs. David Hirsh and Doug Jones for their thoughtful edits. The authors would like to thank the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Denver Health and Hospital Authority for their financial support of the DH-LIC curriculum.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Glossary

Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC): clinical clerkship in which medical students participate in the comprehensive care of patients over time, have continuing learning relationships with these patient's clinicians and meet, through these experiences, the majority of the year's core clinical competencies across multiple disciplines simultaneously. (CLIC: Consortium of Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships [internet]. Cited September 2011. Available from: http://wwwclicmededcom/)

Notes on contributors

Dr. Snow is a graduate of the CUSOM and the DH-LIC.

Dr. Gong is the Assistant Director of Evaluation of the MD Program and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine.

Dr. Adams is the Director of the DH-LIC and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine.