Impact of clinical clerkship integrated with clinical ladder on attending physicians’ self-efficacy

Abstract

Abstract Background Self-efficacy plays an important role in enhancing the teaching capabilities of attending physicians (APs). The clinical ladder (CL) is an educational approach developed in the field of nursing education that increases difficulty in an incremental manner. However, no previous study has confirmed the effectiveness of CL in medical education. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of clinical clerkship integrated with clinical ladder (CC-CL) on the self-efficacy of APs. Methods Sixth year medical students participated in CC-CL for 6 months from April 2023, and the changes in the self-efficacy of APs were retrospectively evaluated. The students were trained by the APs concurrently, and the achievement levels of each student were shared. The primary outcome measure was the physician teaching self-efficacy questionnaire (PTSQ) score. The PTSQ scores before and after CC-CL were analyzed using the Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-rank test. Results Fifteen APs from the Department of Pediatric and Child Neurology were included in this study. No significant difference was observed in the total PTSQ scores of the APs before and after CC-CL. However, a significant increase was observed in the PTSQ score of APs who participated for a duration of 2 hours per week for > 3 months (n = 8) after CC-CL (p = 0.022). Furthermore, APs who had received their pediatrician certification < 10 years prior (n = 8) showed a significant increase in the total PTSQ score after CC-CL (p = 0.022). Conclusions CC-CL may play an important role in cultivating the self-efficacy of less experienced APs. Further comparative studies must be conducted in the future to validate the findings of this study.