The role of residents in medical students’ neurology education: current status and future perspectives

Abstract

Background: Neurophobia, a well-described fear of neurology, affects medical students worldwide and may be one of the factors contributing to a shortage of neurologists in the United States. Residents spend a considerable amount of time with medical students; therefore, we sought to understand better the impact neurology residents have on medical students during their neurology clerkship and their subsequent interest in neurology. We aimed to identify and implement strategies to decrease neurophobia and increase the number of students pursuing neurology as a career. Methods: Third-year medical students (n = 234) of UTHealth's McGovern Medical School rotating through their neurology core clerkship completed two surveys regarding their rotation experiences. Surveys were completed anonymously before and after the clerkship to measure their interest and confidence in neurology and the impact of their interactions with the neurology residents during the clerkship. In parallel, residents participated in a teaching workshop focused on small group teaching to improve their teaching effectiveness. Non-parametrical comparison and ordinal regression analyses were utilized for data analyses. Results: Medical students reported a statistically significant increase in their confidence in managing neurological conditions and interest in pursuing a neurology residency after their clerkship. There was a significant association between the medical students' overall rotation experience and the residents' teaching effectiveness. The overall clerkship experience correlated with the medical students' interest and confidence in neurology. There was a trend towards an increase in residents' teaching effectiveness and students' rotation experience after a resident teaching workshop. Additionally, of note, students who rotated on both and outpatient and inpatient sites during their clerkship reported an increased interest in neurology. Conclusion: Our study supports that resident-led teaching efforts are important in improving medical students' neurologic education and their interest in neurology. Our data also supports that the interest in neurology increased for medical students after their neurology clerkship. We examined future strategies to implement "nearpeer" teaching activities to enhance the medical students' neurologic educational experience. These strategies could potentially mitigate neurophobia and ultimately lead to a much-needed increase in future neurologists.

The role of mentoring, supervision, coaching, teaching and instruction on professional identity formation: a systematic scoping review

“…Supervision’s effect on the Individual Ring includes increasing interest in a particular field [ 104 – 107 ], influencing career decisions [ 104 , 105 , 107 , 108 ], boosting personal development/growth [ 71 , 106 , 109 – 112 ] and personal skills [ 110 ] and improves career satisfaction [ 110 , 113 ]. In the Societal Ring, supervision enhances academic [ 3 , 110 , 114 – 117 ], research [ 104 , 110 ], decision making skills [ 109 ] and clinical [ 71 , 73 , 107 , 109 , 114 , 116 – 122 ] competencies and supports socialisation of a professional identity [ 115 , 118 , 123 , 124 ].…”

“…In the Individual Ring, teaching improves interest in a particular field [ 104 – 106 , 125 – 127 ], influences career decisions [ 104 , 105 ], nurtures personal development/growth [ 106 , 110 , 128 – 139 ] and boosts career satisfaction [ 110 , 139 , 140 ]. In the Societal Ring, teaching increases academic [ 74 , 110 , 127 , 132 , 135 , 141 ] clinical [ 118 , 119 , 128 , 129 , 131 – 135 , 138 , 141 – 153 ] and research [ 104 , 110 , 126 , 154 – 156 ] competencies [ 110 , 118 , 119 , 130 , 136 , 137 , 139 , 143 , 149 , 155 , 157 , 158 ].…”

High-Yield, Case-Based, Interactive Workshop on Telehealth and Teleneurology With Pediatric Resident Physicians

“…In addition to promoting a learning experience with telehealth, another of our goals was to address neurophobia, a term coined by Dr. Ralph F. Jozefowicz in 1994 describing the avoidance or even overutilization of the neurological sciences whether from intimidation, boredom, or difficulty understanding the concepts. 5 , 10 , 11 More informed trainees make for more informed practitioners who are comfortable with managing neurological conditions. Because of the limited availability of child neurology physicians, there is a need for pediatricians to have a strong understanding in regard to recognizing and managing patients who present with neurologic findings.…”