Analysis of Patient Information and Differential Diagnosis with Clinical Reasoning in Pre-Clinical Medical Students

Abstract

Background: The development of clinical reasoning (CR) abilities in Thai medical students during their pre-clinical years lacked well-designed establishment. Methods: This study utilized a pre-test and post-test design without a control group and was conducted at Walailak University, Thailand, in May 2022. We collected participant baseline characteristics and compared scores evaluated by the instructor and participants before and after the intervention. Additionally, we conducted a post-intervention survey on workshop satisfaction, perspectives on CR, and its learning impact. Results: Nineteen third-year medical students were included in the analysis, and twelve (63.2%) were women. The mean age was 20.6 years (standard deviation, SD: 0.5). The total score evaluated by the instructor after the intervention (8.95; SD, 1.81) was significantly higher than that before the intervention (1.68; SD, 0.67), p p < 0.001. Overall, satisfaction was high. Conclusions: A short interactive workshop effectively taught CR principles and practice to Thai third-year medical students. These findings support the possibility of implementing this in pre-clinical curricula to prepare them for clinical practice.

Keywords

• clinical reasoning
• differential diagnosis
• medical informatics
• medical students