Securing desired outcomes from interdisciplinary case presentations

The effectiveness of a case-based clinical correlations course is reported with a model for successful implementation of such courses. Student evaluations of the Integrative Clinical Correlations (ICC) in the first year curriculum of the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University were studied. Students rated sessions as helpful and relevant to basic science as well as demonstrating the relationship to clinical practice. They report relying on targeted courses to understand the ICC sessions but they also relied on unintended courses. Thus the ICC promoted integration of basic sciences. Logistic regression and qualitative analysis contributed to the development of a model for successful ICC-like sessions. The correlation should be case-based and presented by a clinician with a basic scientist at a level that matches student understanding. The topic should be selected to correlate with concurrent or prior courses. A patient should be present to discuss his or her experience with the condition under discussion.