Student and Preceptor Perceptions of the Summer Clinical Practicum: An Assessment of the First Year Clinical Skills Capstone

Objective: As the first new medical school chartered in the 21 century, FSUCOM adopted a unique approach to medical education. Beyond the expected basic science courses, first year students participate in a year-long Doctoring and Clinical Skills Course. The first year culminates in a three week Summer Clinical Practicum (SCP) emphasizing mission centric populations. We designed a survey to assess medical student and clinical preceptor impressions of the SCP for purposes of quality improvement. Methods: Students in their second, third, and fourth years and their preceptors were included in a cross sectional descriptive study. All participants responded to an electronic web based survey developed and administered in Summer 2016. The overall student response rate was 32%, while 53% of preceptors participated. Results: Survey results indicated that the SCP first year capstone experience is highly valued by students and preceptors alike. We found a high concordance of perceptions between student cohorts spanning three years and faculty preceptor respondents. For purposes of programmatic planning and quality improvement there was strong support for maintaining the current length for the SCP at three weeks. Additionally, survey findings appear to support ongoing perceived benefit from the early clinical exposure summer experience, with students agreeing that the SCP helped focus their learning as M-2s, and influenced their readiness for subsequent clinical clerkships. Conclusion: Our study supports the growing body of knowledge that early clinical experience for matriculating medical students is not only feasible, but desirable, and has lasting effects throughout their undergraduate medical education.