Putting it into Practice: Volunteering at a Student-faculty Collaborative Clinic Enhances Confidence of the Physician Assistant Student

Background:

A student-faculty run clinic is an educational volunteer experience coordinated by students under the guidance of licensed faculty. This unique clinical environment provides a setting to link education to practice by giving direct patient care and gaining exposure to leadership, procedural skills and system-based practices(1). Current literature primarily focuses on the medical students’ education(2), but leaves a gap in the discussion of the effect on the experience of the physician assistant (PA) student.

Physician assistant education consists of a didactic year followed by clinical training. During the didactic year, students have limited patient encounters, if any, which can require more time for students to build their confidence in diagnosing and treating patients. The purpose of this project is to examine the effectiveness of participation at a student-faculty collaborative clinic (SFCC) in the pre-clinical year with raising confidence before starting clinical rotations for physician assistant students.

Methods:

This is an IRB approved anonymous ten-question survey of second year physician assistant students in a single institution. Survey questions included demographic information, reflection of level of confidence during pre-clinical year (2018), participation in a student-faculty collaborative clinic and attitude towards team-based care. Responses were graded according to a 5-point Likert scale. One free-text question was coded according to responses and reviewed. An initial email was sent to 50 second-year students with an embedded anonymous link to the survey. A reminder email was sent 10 days subsequently resulting in additional completed responses (n=9). No bio-statistical analysis was performed.

Results:

29/50 surveys were completed. Majority were female (68%, n=19). Seven students (24%) declined participation in the SFCC due to classwork demands (n=4) and family obligations (n=3). Half of the students (n=15) had more than 4,000 clinical hours prior to didactic year. Most students that declined participation had over 4,000 clinical hours (5/7).

Students reported increased confidence when performing history of present illness (n=15) and physical exam (n=16), of which 12 and 13 participated in SFCC respectively. Two students reported increased positive attitude towards team-based care, did not participate in SFCC.

Discussion/ Conclusion:

Due to limited clinical hours during the didactic year of physician assistant programs, students can benefit from more clinical exposure through collaborative clinics despite the PA students previous clinical experience. In conclusion, the unique educational setting of a student-faculty collaborative clinic benefits the physician assistant student by increasing confidence upon entering clinical rotations and positively affecting their perception of team-based care.