Early Clinical Responsibility for Medical Students

Abstract

Trends in medical education point to accelerated training in medical schools and postgraduate medical education. In a shortened curriculum, opportunities for major clinical responsibility may decrease, though it is generally acknowledged that medical students learn most effectively when given such responsibility. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire evaluating the experience of third- and fourth-year medical students who assumed major clinical responsibility on a short-term psychiatric inpatient service in a general hospital. An open-ended questionnaire was sent to the twenty-seven medical students who were on the service during the 1968–69 academic year. All but one student in each year described a positive experience in assuming major clinical responsibility. An important finding was that much anxiety and depression were present in both years, particularly in the third year. One of the implications of this study is the possibility that major patient responsibility for medical students can be successful even earlier than the third year in psychiatry and other clinical areas provided that the staff can anticipate and supportively help the students with their probably even greater anxiety and depression.