Early Introduction of Dermatology Clinical Skills in Medical Training

Background Skin diseases are among the most common diseases encountered by healthcare professionals. Despite this, dedicated dermatology teaching is limited in most Canadian medical school training programs. This is especially true of clinical skills training. Objectives To determine the impact of early introduction of dermatology clinical skills in Canadian undergraduate medical training. Secondary objectives included examining the impact of having sessions co-led by a clinician with expertise in the field of dermatology. Methods A half-day dermatology clinical skills session was introduced in the University of Toronto preclerkship medical school during the dermatology week. Sessions were co-led by staff or resident dermatologists. Sessions were evaluated using student pre- and postclinical skills test scores, as well as experience questionnaires completed by both tutors and students. Results The clinical skills session was well received by both students and tutors, with no cumulative score less than 4.34 on a 5-point Likert scale. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that the introduction of clinical skills in the early years of the curriculum facilitated learning consolidation (99.5%). Comparison of pre- and post-test scores showed that students' dermatology comprehension improved by an average of 12.1% following completion of the session. In questionnaire responses, students and nondermatology co-tutors emphasized the impact of having an expert in the field of dermatology co-lead the session. Conclusions Students valued early clinical skills exposure to dermatology and felt it enhanced their knowledge and abilities. This study demonstrates learning consolidation when dermatologic didactic teachings are paired with practical clinical skills sessions.