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Purpose: First-year students negotiate new professional culture with a certain amount of excitement and anxiety. There are different approaches for offering guidance. In this study, the authors present Weill Cornell Medical College's experience with an advising program for first- and second-year students., Methods: Fifty faculty advisors were each assigned 1-3 first-year students who they would follow for 2 years. The responsibilities were outlined to both faculty and students. The program was evaluated using an anonymous questionnaire., Results: For the two classes surveyed (2011 and 2012), most students met their advisors once. For both classes, the most frequently discussed issues were general adjustment to medical school, academic life, and the professional life of the advisor. Summer research and career opportunities were also discussed. Most students were satisfied with the advising program. Satisfaction increased with an increase in visits. Most students who did not meet their advisors established an advisor relationship on their own., Conclusions: An advising program was established at Weill Cornell Medical College that satisfied most of the students. It is important to evaluate its format regularly, from both student and advisor perspectives, in order to ensure its continued success.

Background: The neurologic examination is a challenging component of the physical examination for medical students. In response, primarily based on expert consensus, medical schools have supplemented their curricula with standardized patient (SP) sessions that are focused on the neurologic examination. Hypothesis-driven quantitative data are needed to justify the further use of this resource-intensive educational modality, specifically regarding whether using SPs to teach the neurological examination effects a long-term benefit on the application of neurological examination skills., Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of prospectively collected data from medical students at Weill Cornell Medical College. The control group (n=129) received the standard curriculum. The intervention group (n=58) received the standard curriculum and an additional SP session focused on the neurologic examination during the second year of medical school. Student performance on the neurologic examination was assessed in the control and intervention groups via an OSCE administered during the fourth year of medical school. A Neurologic Physical Exam (NPE) score of 0.0 to 6.0 was calculated for each student based on a neurologic examination checklist completed by the SPs during the OSCE. Composite NPE scores in the control and intervention groups were compared with the unpaired t-test., Results: In the fourth year OSCE, composite NPE scores in the intervention group (3.5±1.1) were statistically significantly greater than those in the control group (2.2±1.1) (p<0.0001)., Conclusions: SP sessions are an effective tool for teaching the neurologic examination. We determined that a single, structured SP session conducted as an adjunct to our traditional lectures and small groups is associated with a statistically significant improvement in student performance measured 2 years after the session.

Purpose: To assess the feasibility of Direct Observation of Clinical Skills (DOCS), a program for formative assessment of students' clinical skills during a medicine clerkship and to determine relationships between DOCS measures and other clinical performance measures., Method: From August, 2004 through June, 2005, Medicine Clerks assigned to the primary on-campus clinical site were asked to participate in the pilot phase of the DOCS program. Students were asked to complete at least one DOCS exercise focused on interviewing, physical examination, or oral case presentation., Results: Of the 79 students who rotated on the Medicine Clerkship during the pilot period, 79% (n = 62) participated in DOCS, and 163 forms were submitted for evaluation. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of the clinical observations occurred while on-call or during daily rounds. Seventy-three (73%) of observations were completed in 30 minutes or less. In 89% of encounters students received at least 5 minutes of verbal feedback. Satisfaction ratings from both students and observers were "moderately satisfied" or better. Global ratings from DOCS physical exam and case presentation sections were strongly correlated with both faculty ratings of clinical performance and final clerkship grade. DOCS measures were not statistically related to clerkship written examination scores., Conclusions: These data support the feasibility of the DOCS session for formative assessment of student interviewing, physical examination, and oral case presentation skills during a medicine clerkship. Observer ratings from DOCS physical examination and case presentation sections were found to be predictors of final clerkship grade.