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Evaluating a Virtual and In-Person Interprofessional Nutrition Clinical Experience for First-Year Medical Students
Epidemiology ; 70(SUPPL 1):S279, 2022.
Article in English | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-1854007
ABSTRACT

Background:

As nutritional requirements change with age, registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) play a critical role in maintaining older adults' quality of life. Preclinical medical students infrequently have opportunities to engage with and learn the roles and responsibilities of interprofessional (IP) team members. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a nutrition clinical experience to increase first-year medical students' (M1s') understanding of the roles of RDNs on the IP healthcare team.

Methods:

M1s at a tertiary care center participated in a required 1.5 or 2 hour IP clinical observation experience with an outpatient or inpatient RDN. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual, in-person, and hybrid experiences were offered. M1s and participating RDNs completed post-experience surveys.

Results:

Ninety M1s participated in the experience;89% completed a post-experience survey. Overall, 96% of responding M1s enjoyed the experience, 96% agreed the experience helped them understand RDN's roles, and 99% agreed they were more likely to involve a RDN in patient care following the experience. Of respondents, 35, 33, and 10 participated via a virtual, in-person, or hybrid experience, respectively. Although not statistically significant, there was a trend toward more agreement with in-person vs. virtual experiences related to experience enjoyment (100% vs 94%), experience helpfulness (100% vs 91%), and intentions to incorporate RDNs into future care (100% vs 97%). A significantly greater proportion of M1s discussed a real patient case when participating in-person compared to participating virtually (100% vs 71%, p<.05). Half of RDNs (6/12) completed a post-experience survey;all agreed the experience allowed them to clearly convey their roles and responsibilities.

Conclusions:

An IP clinical experience via virtual or in-person modalities is an effective pedagogical tool to improve M1s' understanding of RDN's roles. More work should be done to evaluate students' attitudes regarding in-person vs. virtual experiences. In-person experiences may provide greater opportunity for learning engagement through real-life patient case discussion.
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Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Type of study: Experimental Studies / Prognostic study Language: English Journal: Epidemiology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Type of study: Experimental Studies / Prognostic study Language: English Journal: Epidemiology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article