Interactive Guide to the Physical Examination

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The Interactive Guide to the Physical Examination is an online module introducing the physical examination to first-year medical students. It begins by introducing the physical examination in general and then provides sufficient introduction to the general appearance and vital signs portions of the examination so that a student can begin practicing these skills. Students use this interactive tutorial at the beginning of their physical examination course. Methods To use the module, students simply click on the Player.html file (we actually link to an online site). Instructions are included. They navigate through the module and may take various pathways to cover all of the material. We used this module in the first-year spring semester Clinical Skills course, which is focused on learning, practicing, and demonstrating competence in the physical examination. Students view this module on their own in preparation for their first small group practice session, at which time they practice the steps learned in the module on each other with feedback from clinical faculty. Results We evaluated the module after the first semester of use (Spring 2011) with an online survey questionnaire. Fifty out of 150 students completed the questionnaire. A sample of the evaluation questions and results are as follows: “I felt the module covered the subject in sufficient breadth and depth to meet the learning objectives” (90% agree or strongly agree); “The information for the module was well organized” (88% agree or strongly agree); “I prefer learning from an interactive module rather than the regular Camtasia online lecture” (63% agree or strongly agree). Discussion The primary limitation of this resource is that it only covers the beginning of the physical examination. We would eventually like to develop modules that cover the five major portions that we teach in the first year physical examination course.

Keywords

• Clinical Skills
• Physical Examination
• Computer-Assisted Instruction
• Heart Rate
• Clinical Competence
• Body Temperature