Preparing Medical Students to Undertake a First Female Pelvic Exam.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a web based learning module in the preparation of medical students to undertake a first female pelvic exam. Background: Bryden Magee (Meds 2010) under the supervision of Robert Reid, M.D., created an educational DVD © 2009 that gives a step-by-step approach to the pelvic exam utilizing real patient video clips and illustrations. Endorsed by the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada (APOG), this educational innovation has been shown to improve both knowledge and confidence in medical students learning these skills (Magee 2009). The video content is accessible to all Queen's faculty and students affiliated with the School of Medicine through MEdTech. Methods: We will introduce medical students to the MEdTech pelvic exam module and use a comprehensive assessment tool, designed by experienced gynaecologists in our Department, to measure how well they perform their first exam on female volunteers acting as mock patients. We plan to recruit 48 students and 4 mock patients. Outcome: We will evaluate the success rate of students achieving a passing grade of 50% (12/24) on their first unassisted speculum and bimanual examination after viewing the video content.