Bridging the Gap Between the Didactic and Clinical Curriculum Session #: T124

Jamie McQueen, M.S., PA-C Lindsay Gietzen M.S., PA-C

J A M I E M C Q U E E N , M . S . , P A - C L I N D S A Y G I E T Z E N M . S . , P A - C

W A Y N E S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y D E T R O I T , M I C H I G A N

Bridging the Gap Between the Didactic and Clinical

Curriculum

Educational Objectives and Goals

�  Identify the gaps between the didactic and clinical curriculum

�  Recognize the student, preceptor, and faculty implications of gaps in the didactic and clinical curriculum

�  Discuss the ways in which programs work to mediate the gap between the didactic and clinical curriculum 

�  Create a plan for improving student outcomes and faculty involvement throughout programs by reducing the gap between didactic and clinical curriculum

Initial Considerations

�  Didactic: ¡  How do I know that the concepts I taught during the didactic

year are being re-enforced in the clinical year? Are the students gaining the knowledge needed after the didactic year to be competent practitioners…

�  Clinical: ¡  How do I place students with preceptors that will compliment

their individual strengths and challenge their weaknesses? When I have never worked with these students before….

Didactic Perspective

�  Mastery of the curriculum with the ability to translate to clinical practice

�  Early student clinical involvement �  Revisitation of didactic concepts during the clinical year �  “The growth of new PA programs mandates a need for

continuing faculty development, as increasing numbers of educators hail primarily from clinical practice and come equipped with minimal teaching experience. PA faculty development addresses these new recruits' needs to develop model curricula, implement new courses, and enhance instruction-all with the goal of improving both access to and quality of health care.” Glicken 2008

Clinical Perspective

�  “The curriculum must be flexible, allowing for variation in experience and clinical acumen” (Essary et al 2003)

�  Academic to Clinical Transition �  Evidence Based Medicine Applications in the Clinical

Setting �  Student Success �  Student Perceptions of Clinical Faculty

Faculty Implications

�  “…satisfied faculty members were more engaged and productive in higher education and were less likely to leave their academic positions” Reed 2006

�  “Clinical coordinators were les satisfied with their jobs and had higher attrition rates than their didactic colleagues” Snyder et al 2010

Student Outcomes

�  Preparation for Clinical Rotations �  Application of Didactic Curriculum �  Adjustment to Clinical Faculty and Expectations �  Preceptor Perceptions of Student Preparedness

Curriculum mapping to connect the didactic and clinical education

Involvement of Clinical Educators in Didactic Curriculum

Didactic Educators in Clinical Curriculum

Student Exposure to Clinical Experiences During the Didactic Year

Student Exposure to Didactic Experiences During the Clinical Year

Faculty Integration into Student Advising

Student Preparedness for Rotations

Wayne State University

�  Faculty advising of students �  Faculty teaching in both didactic and clinical courses �  Student clinical site visits during the didactic year �  Regularly scheduled faculty meeting to discuss

student progress and development from both a didactic and clinical perspective

�  We all need to work together to ensure student success from the start of the didactic year to the last day of the clinical year

References

�  Essary AC, Berry-Lloyd C, Morgan C. A Student-Centered Approach to Physician Assistant Clinical Rotations. Perspective on Physician Assistant Education.2003;14:78-83. Available at: http://www.paeaonline.org/index.php?ht=action/GetDocumentAction/i/25506. Accessed June 2, 2014

�  Glicken AD. Excellence in physician assistant training through faculty development. Acad Med. 2008 Nov;83(11):1107-10. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18971668. Accessed June 2, 2014.

�  Jones PE. Physician assistant education in the United States. Acad Med. 2007 Sep;82(9):882-7. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17726400. Accessed June 2, 2014.

�  Reed LE. Determinants of Faculty Job Satisfaction And Potential Implications for Physician Assistant Program Personnel. Journal of Physician Assistant Education 2006;17:30-35. Available at http://www.paeaonline.org/index.php?ht=action/GetDocumentAction/i/25215. Accessed June 2, 2014.

�  Snyder JA1, Lucich JA, Zorn JS, Enking PJ, Barnett JS, Fahringer D. Clinical coordination and the experiential year in physician assistant education. J Physician Assist Educ. 2010;21(4):23-9. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21366112. Accessed June 2, 2014.