Medical student self-efficacy, knowledge and communication in adolescent medicine

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate student self-efficacy, knowledge and communication with teen issues and learning activities. METHODS: Data were collected during the 8-week pediatric rotation for third–year medical students at a local children’s hospital. Students completed a self-efficacy instrument at the beginning and end of the rotation; knowledge and communication skills were evaluated during standardized patient cases as part of the objective structured clinical examination. Self-efficacy, knowledge and communication frequencies were described with descriptive statistics; differences between groups were also evaluated utilizing two-sample t-tests. RESULTS: Self-efficacy levels of both groups increased by the end of the pediatric rotation, but students in the two-lecture group displayed significantly higher self-efficacy in confidentiality with adolescents (t((35))=-2.543, p=0.02); interviewing adolescents, assessing risk, sexually transmitted infection risk and prevention counseling, contraception counseling were higher with marginal significance. No significant differences were found between groups for communication; assessing sexually transmitted infection risk was marginally significant for knowledge application during the clinical exam. CONCLUSIONS: Medical student self-efficacy appears to change over time with effects from different learning methods; this higher self-efficacy may increase future comfort and willingness to work with this high-risk, high-needs group throughout a medical career.