HSC Education Days
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
1-13-2021
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The clinical reasoning process, aimed at making an accurate diagnosis, represents a complex activity. No studies to date have reported on how medical students harness existing information resources in their clinical reasoning courses to arrive at correct diagnoses. This study fills that gap. METHODS: Cross Sectional Study. An anonymous survey asked students to recall their most useful information resources halfway through their three clinical reasoning courses. Students then were asked to evaluate the comparative usefulness of these selected resources. Finally, students reported on those resources that they no longer found useful. This survey sought to learn what information resources medical students value so that librarians can provide the best possible instructional and collection resources. RESULTS: 69 of the 107 students enrolled in the Clinical Reasoning 2 course completed the three-part survey (64.5% response rate). Students frequently mentioned finding point-of-care tools, general web browsers, journal articles, course materials, and textbooks to be useful. When forced to rank their preferences students added medical society websites and the diagnostic tool Diagnosaurus in AccessMedicine. Students halfway through their three courses no longer found medical licensure exam review guides, patient-oriented sources, or course lecture notes to be helpful. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students halfway their three clinical reasoning courses provided surprising results as well as some expected results in this cross sectional study.
Recommended Citation
Eldredge, Jonathan D.; Laura J. Hall; and Sumit J. Patel. "Valued Information Resources when making Diagnoses: The experiences of Medical Students in a Clinical Reasoning Course." (2021). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_ed_day/80
Comments
Poster presentation program - Including round tables by topics: Making the Most of Information Resources.
This poster was presented during the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Education Days.