What Are We Telling Our Students? A National Survey of Clerkship Directors' Advice for Students Applying to Internal Medicine Residency

Abstract

Background Little is known about the advice fourth-year medical students receive from their advisors as they prepare to apply for residency training.

The New Internal Medicine Subinternship Curriculum Guide: a Report from the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine

“…19 Soon thereafter, the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) formed a joint CDIM-APDIM committee to examine the fourth year of medical school with the aim of developing evidence-based recommendations to help students optimize their preparation for internship. [10][11][12][13]20 The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) also established 13 core entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for entering residency, defining a set of foundational skills and behaviors expected of all medical school graduates (Table 1). 21,22 The core EPAs were created as a practical approach to assess the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) six core competencies in workplace settings.…”

An Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA)-Based Framework to Prepare Fourth-Year Medical Students for Internal Medicine Careers

“…The purpose of this paper is to propose a curricular framework that will prepare fourth-year medical students for internal medicine training. Informed by survey data from internal medicine program directors, clerkship directors, and residents, [11][12][13][14] our proposal is organized around five CEPAERs that these groups found particularly relevant to preparation for residency ( Table 1). We chose this approach because EPAs apply a common framework to the recommendations, 15 whereas the skills emphasized in specific courses vary among institutions.…”

“…11 In a 2013 national survey of clerkship directors in internal medicine, the most highly rated recommendation for acquiring the needed skills to perform well as an intern was for a sub-internship in internal medicine. 12 The debate on the fourth year of medical school must acknowledge the multiple roles that this year plays in students' career development. Much of the fourth year is spent on the residency matching process, primarily in preparing applications and navigating the interview process.…”

Medical Student Advising: Informed Individualized Advice Is the Key

“…Chretien and colleagues 8 demonstrate that clerkship directors strongly recommend that all students interested in internal medicine complete a medicine subinternship. Our prior study of program directors across multiple specialties found that a medicine subinternship was considered valuable regardless of specialty choice.…”

“…Chretien et al 8 demonstrate that within internal medicine, there is controversy regarding the purpose and potential risks and benefits of such rotations. Within internal medicine, the choice to do an away rotation seems to be based on a learner's skills and his or her specific goals for the rotation.…”