Rebecca Rebman, Sean Sreniawski, Michele Schultz, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Rebman, professor, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Co-principal Investigators: Sean Sreniawski, clinical assistant professor, and Michele Schultz, clinical assistant professor, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, School of Health and Rehabilitation
Project Title: Enhancing Clinical Reasoning Skills in Physician Assistant Students
Funding Level: $5,000
Abstract:
Competency in clinical reasoning is paramount to making appropriate clinical decisions as physician assistants. This skill takes practice to refine the decision-making process, especially in a novice clinician. Physician assistant education is governed by accreditation standards and the six core competencies outlined by the major national organizations, and physician assistant programs must provide instruction in clinical decision-making. The IU Master of Physician Assistant Studies (IU MPAS) program fast-paced 27-month curriculum incorporates case-based learning throughout the curriculum to enable students to develop the critical thinking skills needed for the clinical decision-making process. However, through program evaluation from the first three matriculated cohorts it was identified that the program specifically could improve upon the curriculum in areas of clinical reasoning and clinical therapeutics. Active learning pedagogies, such as problem-based learning, have demonstrated effective methods for developing the clinical reasoning skills in medical education, thus the rationale for the initial integration of case-based learning in the curriculum. Historically, the case-based learning or whole curriculum problem-based learning utilized an organ system-based approach to educating future clinicians. The investigators will be implementing a chief complaint-based approach to the SHRS K504 Clinical Therapeutics course to provide an analogous environment to the approach clinicians use to make clinical decisions in real world practice compared to the organ-system approach used in prior iterations of the course. The effectiveness of the new pedagogical method will be evaluated throughout the program’s curriculum and in addition, by comparing IU MPAS graduates to the national means on the physician assistant national certification examination.