A Prenatal Standardized Patient Experience for Medical Students on Their Family Medicine Clerkship

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Students on their family medicine clerkship at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine get little clinical exposure to obstetric care, which is not commonly provided by family physicians in urban settings. To address this, we added to our clerkship didactic curriculum a 2-hour session involving a standardized patient (SP). The SP is collectively interviewed by the student group during four simulated prenatal visits, each of which present a different complication of pregnancy. The goal of this study was to evaluate the students' perception of this session's utility, the session's ability to increase student self-confidence regarding obstetric issues, and perceived relevance of obstetrics to family medicine. METHODS: During the 2016-2017 academic year, we evaluated this educational intervention using anonymous, immediate postsession surveys containing both Likert scale and open-ended questions. Qualitative answers were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach, with development of a code-book by consensus. RESULTS: Students overwhelmingly found this session to be pertinent to their learning needs and reported an increase in their self-confidence level regarding obstetrical care. Continuity of care, comprehensive care, and an emphasis on health prevention were identified themes relating how obstetrics embodies the principles of family medicine. CONCLUSIONS: We developed this prenatal standardized patient experience to expose our clerkship students to full-spectrum family medicine, including primary care obstetrics. Our data suggests that this session increased students' self-confidence with obstetrics management, filled in gaps in their clinical exposure to full-spectrum family medicine, and addressed a perceived learning need.