The Effects of Clinical Skills Learning Centers on Learning Promotion among Pediatrics Interns

Introduction: During the recent two decades, practical medical skills’ training has experienced dramatic changes, which has led to establishment of CSLCs (Clinical Skills Learning Centers). Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the effects of these centers on students' learning of the relevant procedures. The main objective in this study was comparing the output of skills training processes in two groups of medical interns trained in conventional settings (training only on bedside) and conventional settings plus the use of CSLCs. Methods: This is a quasi experimental study conducted on two groups of medical interns introduced to Bahrami Hospital (affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences) for their pediatric course. Twenty five students were taught by the conventional method (control), and 19 students received training in Pediatrics CSLC (experiment). The sampling method was simple & non-randomized. The study used OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) for assessments of student’ learning, and SPSS15 software, Kolmogrov-Smirnov, paired and independent T – tests for analytical purposes. Results: There was a significant difference between the mean scores of the two groups of interns before and after training (P<0.001).Mean and SD of the scores in the experiment group after training were 120.69±14.84, while for the control group they were 102.87±11.20. Mean and SD of score changes (difference between before and after pediatrics ward rotation) for experiment and control groups were 29.6±12.32, and 16.45±7.97, respectively, which were significantly different(p<.001) Conclusion: Clinical skills training in Bahrami's CSLC was effective in promoting medical interns' pediatric practices. We suggest that training in CSLCs be included in traditional pediatric training courses