The Impact of a Longitudinal Curriculum on Medical Student Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinical Training

Clinical training in most medical schools consists of separate rotations, based out of tertiary-care facilities, across the core medical disciplines. In addition to a traditional clinical curriculum, the University of Hawai‘i offers a longitudinal clinical curriculum as an option to medical students. The longitudinal curriculum provides students with an innovative, alternative educational track to achieve their educational goals in clinical medicine. The objective of this study was to describe the obstetrics and gynecology procedural experiences of third-year medical students who participated in a longitudinal curriculum versus a traditional block clerkship. The number of procedures reported by third-year medical students who participated in a non-traditional, longitudinal clerkship was compared with the number of procedures reported by students who participated in the traditional block third-year curriculum between July 2007 and June 2009. National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) subject scores, clerkship grade and chosen residency specialty were also compared. The mean number of pelvic exams (longitudinally-trained 36 [SD 33] versus block-trained 8 [SD 6], [t=4.3, P<.01]) and pap smears (longitudinally-trained 28 [SD 26] versus block-trained 7 [SD 3] [t=4.4, P<.01]) was significantly higher for longitudinally-trained students compared to block-trained students. No significant differences in overall clerkship grades or NBME shelf scores emerged.