Medical students’ perceptions of low-value care

Abstract

The four most common themes identified by all institutions were testing for low prevalence disease processes (44%), excessive daily labwork (44%), errors in clinical judgement (26%) and testing that would not change management (21%). Responses did not vary by institution, with the exception that one school identified fewer instances of ordering excessive labwork compared with the other institutions (28 versus 46-54%; p = 0.05). There are few studies identifying what are the most pressing low-value care practices DISCUSSION: This is the first multi-institutional targeted needs assessment to demonstrate similarities in perceptions of LVC by medical students. Despite differences in geographic location and private and public affiliations, the top four categories remained consistent. These findings can provide a framework for educational objectives that address these issues in an HVC curriculum. Response variation, as seen with institution 2, offers opportunities for schools to personalise their HVC curriculum.

Medical students need to learn to break good news

“…Student recognition of LVC has previously been reported, with almost half of students observing excessive daily laboratory work. 4 If students learn to incorporate the appropriate use of breaking good news into their clinical practice, alongside the conscious scrutiny of practices that lack clinical benefit, then the likelihood of patients receiving LVC could be reduced.…”