Understanding the educational value of first-year medical students' patient encounter data

Enhancing Doctor of Nursing Practice Students' Diagnostic and Clinical Reasoning Skills

BACKGROUND

This article describes one school of nursing's successful approach to augmenting Doctor of Nursing Practice students' diagnostic and clinical reasoning skills.

METHOD

Faculty convened a taskforce to evaluate the current clinical tracking system to expand the clinical log and develop a formative assessment tool.

RESULTS

The clinical log enhancement allowed faculty to assess students' learning, clinical decision making, and readiness for clinical progression throughout the program.

CONCLUSION

The expansion of the clinical log system resulted in students' heightened understanding of documentation and clinical practice, and also allowed faculty to comprehensively assess students in diagnostic and clinical reasoning. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(2):109-111.].

How we use patient encounter data for reflective learning in family medicine training

INTRODUCTION

Consulting with patients is the core learning activity of Australian family medicine (general practice/GP) training, providing a rich source of reflective learning for trainees. We have developed a reflective learning program for postgraduate vocational trainees based on clinical encounters.

METHODS

The Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) program is an educational program documenting GP trainees' consultations in five Australian GP training providers. Trainees record patient demographics, consultation details, problems managed, management practices and educational factors from sixty consecutive consultations per six-month training term. Trainees receive a detailed feedback report comparing individual data to aggregated trainee data and national GP data.

RESULTS

The patient encounter system provides multiple opportunities for reflective learning across a number of domains of exposure and practice. Reflection can occur during completion of the encounter form; as self-reflection on the feedback report; as facilitated reflection with the GP trainer and medical educator; and as part of integration of data into teaching. We have identified areas for further development, including enhancing the reflective skills of trainees and trainers.

CONCLUSION

The ReCEnT patient encounter program provides a rich platform for reflective learning for vocational trainees and supports development of skills in lifelong learning.