Increasing Knowledge in the Requesting of Clinical Investigations.
J Physician Assist Educ
; 34(4): 303-308, 2023 Dec 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37698945
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Overtesting, ordering diagnostic investigations that do not help diagnose or manage a patient, is well-recognized as a problem across multiple healthcare settings in developed countries. One of the reasons often cited for overtesting is a lack of confidence or knowledge, so this article addresses our attempt to reduce overtesting through an investigation-specific course for a physician associate (PA) program based in the United Kingdom. We found no evidence of pedagogical literature that focused on clinical diagnostics teaching and assessment for PAs, so we aim to be the first to provide this research.METHODS:
To assess student confidence, student feedback was collected through open-ended focus groups and qualitative surveys. The effectiveness of the course was evaluated through students' scores on investigation single best answer assessments.RESULTS:
Overall, qualitative feedback from students showed an increase in knowledge in accurate investigation requests and interpretation. Students' assessment scores show a marked improvement after the implementation of the course.CONCLUSION:
This approach to an investigation-specific course, with a focus on limiting overinvestigating, demonstrates improved student performance on investigation assessments at the university level.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Physician Assistants
Type of study:
Qualitative_research
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
J Physician Assist Educ
Journal subject:
EDUCACAO
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Reino Unido