MedEdPORTAL (Feb 2010)
The SBS Toolbox: Clinical Pearls From the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Abstract Introduction The Social and Behavioral Sciences Pearls Toolbox is a curricular resource from the Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Curriculum Committee at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. The Toolbox consists of brief summaries of key topics in SBS teaching frequently covered during the first 2 years of medical school training. As medical students transition from the classroom to the clerkships, they must translate knowledge to clinical skills for patient care. The topics generally include a wide variety of conceptual and clinical aspects of SBS (i.e., health risk behaviors, behavioral modification strategies, stress, and coping) and are often introduced through multiple lectures, seminars, independent learning modules, and case discussions. Methods The authors have compiled a toolbox of SBS clinical pearls to be used either as an introductory teaching tool or as an aid to students who need a recall of important SBS information and guide their application of it during their clerkship experience. The pearls contained in the toolbox can serve as short summaries to remind students of what to focus on in clinical encounters. They can inform clerkship directors, faculty preceptors, and house staff of what students may have learned prior to the third year or could learn as MS3s. Clerkship faculty can use the toolbox to highlight relevant SBS issues during case discussions, clinical precepting, and videotape review of patient visits. Results In the 2008–2009 academic year, a number of the pearls have been used in two UCSF clerkship experiences: the patient case seminar sessions of the Neurology/Psychiatry clerkship, and in the Family Medicine Seminar of the Parnassus Integrated Student Clinical Experiences clerkship. The Toolbox has been also used during the Foundations of Patient Care curriculum during the second year of medical school to reinforce SBS learning during 2008. Students and faculty in both settings recommended continued use of the Toolbox as a means or recalling what was learned and educating faculty what student know. Discussion We believe this toolbox is the first of its kind and will help students, house staff, and faculty make the translation of SBS content to clinical clerkships.
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