Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jan 4:15:10792.
doi: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10792.

A Blended Curriculum to Improve Resident Physical Exam Skills for Patients With Neuromuscular Disability

Jennifer C Benjamin  1 , Judith Groner  2 , Jennifer Walton  3 , Garey Noritz  4 , Gregg M Gascon  5 , John D Mahan  6
Affiliations

A Blended Curriculum to Improve Resident Physical Exam Skills for Patients With Neuromuscular Disability

Jennifer C Benjamin et al. MedEdPORTAL. .

Abstract

Introduction: Children with neuromuscular disabilities (NMD) receive care in a wide variety of clinical settings. Residents lack training to develop physical examination skills for evaluating patients with NMD. We devised a curriculum to teach residents how to examine patients with NMD using a systematic and simplified approach.

Methods: Creation of this resource was a response to a survey of final-year residents that revealed the need for education focused on developing physical examination skills. The curriculum has four components-multimedia PowerPoint with embedded video, knowledge assessment, clinical exam (CEX) assessment, and module feedback-and was completed by 37 residents over an 8-month period from January to September 2016. We utilized knowledge assessment, direct clinical skills observation using the CEX, and module-feedback responses as part of the evaluation.

Results: All 37 residents completed the curriculum, with an overall knowledge score of greater than 80%. Residents demonstrated most of the desired patient care behaviors on the CEX assessment and provided positive feedback on the quality, usefulness, and applicability of the module, in addition to requesting more curricula to develop their physical examination skills.

Discussion: The CEX assessment provided a unique opportunity for faculty feedback on residents' physical exam performance. After completing the module, residents achieved high scores in most areas of the standardized CEX and were able to conduct the NMD physical exam in a sensitive manner. The assessment highlighted the need to improve residents' skills of detecting abnormal clinical findings and communicating with the patient during the physical exam.

Keywords: Curriculum; Neurodisability; Pediatric Residents; Physical Examination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None to report.

References

    1. Goldstein EA, MacLaren CF, Smith S, et al. Promoting fundamental clinical skills: a competency-based college approach at the University of Washington. Acad Med. 2005;80(5):423–433. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200505000-00003 - PubMed
    1. Feddock CA. The lost art of clinical skills. Am J Med. 2007;120(4):374–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2007.01.023 - PubMed
    1. Reilly BM. Physical examination in the care of medical inpatients: an observational study. Lancet. 2003;362(9390):1100–1105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14464-9 - PubMed
    1. Verghese A, Charlton B, Kassirer JP, Ramsey M, Ioannidis JP. Inadequacies of physical examination as a cause of medical errors and adverse events: a collection of vignettes. Am J Med. 2015;128(12):1322–1324.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.06.004 - PubMed
    1. Bilderback K, Eggerstedt J, Sadasivan KK, et al. Design and implementation of a system-based course in musculoskeletal medicine for medical students. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2008;90(10):2292–2300. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.G.01676 - PubMed

MeSH terms