[P3-178] Establishing a structured program for case writing in pediatric neurology medical education: a preliminary study
[Introduction] A case report is a time-honored, important, integral, and widely accepted component of the medical literature. Publishing case reports has been essential in enhancing the physician’s clinical diagnostic reasoning skills. However, no structured program exists for educating medical students about case writing. We recently launched an educational case writing program for medical students. The program consists of two parts: (1) a didactic lecture for learning the principles of case writing, and (2) a hands-on practice to apply the learned skills in case writing. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the program’s efficacy by students’ attitude towards case writing, and evaluated students’ first draft of case reports.
[Methodology] Twenty-one medical students participated in the program. Self-reported questionnaires were administered to measure students’ attitude towards case writing after the didactic lecture. Three students volunteered to write case reports and were evaluated on their first draft.
[Results] Fourteen students agreed to fill out the questionnaires, and 11 indicated increased motivation to write a report after the didactic lecture. Three participants who wrote case reports lacked a fundamental point of case writing, which is to incorporate new fact and its clinical significance in the context at their first attempts.
[Conclusions] This preliminary study showed favorable outcome for case writing program in medical education. The didactic lecture may initiate motivation towards case writing among medical students. However, a hands-on writing needs a continuous practical guidance subsequent to the didactic lecture.
[Methodology] Twenty-one medical students participated in the program. Self-reported questionnaires were administered to measure students’ attitude towards case writing after the didactic lecture. Three students volunteered to write case reports and were evaluated on their first draft.
[Results] Fourteen students agreed to fill out the questionnaires, and 11 indicated increased motivation to write a report after the didactic lecture. Three participants who wrote case reports lacked a fundamental point of case writing, which is to incorporate new fact and its clinical significance in the context at their first attempts.
[Conclusions] This preliminary study showed favorable outcome for case writing program in medical education. The didactic lecture may initiate motivation towards case writing among medical students. However, a hands-on writing needs a continuous practical guidance subsequent to the didactic lecture.