Use of a novel assay to measure pre- to posttraining XXXX of first-year osteopathic medical students.

@entity1 @entity1957
CONTEXT: Although palpation is a central skill in the practice of osteopathic medicine, few data are available on factors affecting the development of @entity1957 . OBJECTIVE: To use a novel @entity1957 assay to assess the role of training and practice in the development of @entity1957 in an osteopathic medical student population. METHODS: The @entity1957 of first-year osteopathic medical students were assessed using a simple, objective palpation assay that consisted of locating a dime placed under sheets of copy paper at depths of 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, and 400 sheets. Two trials were performed at each depth. The assay was performed at the beginning and at the end of the students' first term. To determine whether practice with the assay impacted @entity1 performance, a third assay was conducted to compare the performance of students who completed the assays at the beginning and at the end of the term with that of students who had never completed the assay. RESULTS: Sixty-three @entity1 completed the assays at the beginning and end of the term. Fifty-seven of those 63 @entity1 and 192 @entity1 who had not previously completed the assay completed the third assay. A wide variability in number of correct responses per @entity1 was observed at both the beginning (range, 0-11 correct) and the end (range, 2-12 correct) of the term. The mean (SD) number of correct responses per @entity1 increased from the beginning (5.49 [2.78]) to the end (7.17 [2.27]) of the term. Analysis using the generalized estimating equation model demonstrated that both paper depth and experience (ie, beginning vs end of the term) were statistically significant determinants of the number of correct responses (P<.001). The Kaplan-Meier method indicated that the median paper depth at which @entity1 first scored no correct responses increased from 200 sheets (95% CI, 171-229) at the beginning of the term to 300 sheets (95% CI, 232-367) at the end of the term (P<.001). In the third assay, no significant differences were noted in the performance of students who had completed the 2 previous assays vs @entity1 who had not completed the previous assays (P=.136). CONCLUSION: @entity1 ' @entity1957 improved from the beginning to the end of the term. The range of @entity1 ' @entity1957 at the beginning of the term suggests that other factors in addition to training influenced @entity1 ' palpatory skill level. Additional research is needed to identify and investigate factors that influence the development of @entity1957 .
