1. The Effect of Emergency Department Observational Experience on Medical Student Interest in Emergency Medicine
- Author
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Gharahbaghian, Laleh, Hindiyeh, Rasha, Langdorf, Mark I, Vaca, Federico, Anderson, Craig L, Kahn, J Akiva, Wiechmann, Warren, and Lotfipour, Shahram
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Clinical Sciences ,Health Services ,Emergency Care ,Clinical Research ,Generic health relevance ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adult ,Career Choice ,Data Collection ,Education ,Medical ,Emergency Medicine ,Female ,Humans ,Male ,Observation ,Retrospective Studies ,Students ,Medical ,Young Adult ,education ,job shadowing ,medical student ,career choice ,observational experience ,tag along ,Emergency & Critical Care Medicine ,Clinical sciences - Abstract
BackgroundIn many different health care educational models, shadowing, or observational experience, is accepted as integral to introducing students to the specifics of medical specialties.Study objectivesWe investigated whether emergency department (ED) observational experiences (EDOs) affect medical students' (MSs') interest in emergency medicine (EM). Additionally, we examined how the subjective quality of clinical exposures influences this interest and the decision to recommend EDOs to other students.MethodsThis is a survey of MSs at a Level 1 tertiary care university hospital during a 2-year period. The study focused on assessing perception of ED exposure, post-EDO change in EM interest, and decision to recommend EDOs to others.ResultsThe majority of MSs had a change in EM interest post-EDO and recommended EDOs. Both variables correlated to ED exposure ratings.ConclusionsThe EDO significantly influenced MS interest in EM by providing exposure to various aspects of the ED.
- Published
- 2011