Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39501257›Full record

Observational studyBMC medical education2024

Impact of a 2-week flipped classroom virtual neurology clerkship versus a traditional 4-week rotation on NBME shelf exam scores.

Igor Rybinnik, Gian Pal, Humza Farrukh, Ben Deverett, Paulina Przydzial, Ram Mani

Abstract readObservational StudyComparative Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Igor RybinnikDivision of Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Department of Neurology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, Suite 6200, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA. igor.rybinnik@rutgers.edu.
Gian PalDivision of Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Department of Neurology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, Suite 6200, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
Humza FarrukhRutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, USA.
Ben DeverettRutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, Suite 6200, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
Paulina PrzydzialDivision of Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Department of Neurology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, Suite 6200, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA. gdp22@rwjms.rutgers.edu.
Ram ManiDivision of Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Department of Neurology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, Suite 6200, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA. manira@rwjms.rutgers.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThere is conflicting evidence whether decreased clerkship duration is associated with reduced NBME shelf examination performance. We hypothesized that scores would remain stable for students in a shortened 2-week flipped classroom-based virtual rotation as compared to the traditional 4-week Neurology clerkship.

backgroundThere is conflicting evidence whether decreased clerkship duration is associated with reduced NBME shelf examination performance. We hypothesized that Neurology shelf exam scores would remain stable for students in a shortened 2-week flipped classroom-based virtual rotation as compared to the traditional 4-week Neurology clerkship with direct patient care supplemented by didactics.

methodsThis is a retrospective observational cohort study. In April 2020, the neurology clerkship at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School switched from a traditional 4-week in-person clinical rotation supplemented by didactics to a 2-week flipped classroom-based virtual-only curriculum decoupled from a supplementary 2-week in-person clinical rotation to be completed later. Students were offered the opportunity to test after the 2-week virtual curriculum. NBME shelf scores for these "exam before clinical rotation" (EBC) students over the final quarter of the academic year 2019-2020 were compared to those of the "exam after clinical" (EAC) students undergoing the 4-week traditional rotation from July 2018 to March 2020.

results321 students completed the shelf exam between July 2018 and June 2020, of which 284 students comprised the EAC cohort and 37 students, the EBC cohort. Mean scores did not differ between the EBC and EAC cohorts (81.8 ± 6.7 versus 81.8 ± 6.5, p = 0.96). Additional analyses showed no significant differences in the performance of EBC students as compared to the EAC students that tested within the same academic year 2019-2020 or within the matched quarter of the prior academic year 2018-2019, and students completing the virtual rotation who delayed testing after the clinical experience.

conclusionsTesting after a 2-week flipped classroom-based virtual curriculum in Neurology without additional clinical training did not negatively affect neurology NBME shelf scores. Decoupling clinical experiences from knowledge acquisition and the evaluation of that knowledge base by means of NBME shelf examination is not likely to disadvantage learners with respect to shelf examination performance.

Indexed as

Clinical ClerkshipCurriculumEducational MeasurementNeurologyClinical CompetenceEducation, Medical, UndergraduateFemaleHumansRetrospective StudiesStudents, MedicalTime FactorsCurriculum evaluationFlipped classroomInstructional designNBME shelf examinationNervous systemNeurology

Identifiers

PMID39501257
PMCPMC11536540

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.