Purpose: This study investigated the present conditions of clinical clerkship management in Korea to make recommendations for it.
Methods: The data were collected between April 15 and May 30 in 2009 using questionnaires that were sent to the clerkship directors of 41 colleges of medicine and medical graduate schools.
Results: The elective course system was established in 78% of the institutions; the 6 core specialties were found in all medical schools. The duration of clerkship was longest in internal medicine, followed by surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and emergency medicine. There were differences between the planning and monitoring agencies. Preclinical courses existed in 92.7% of the institutions. However, much more remains to be done ie, with regard to the issues of student assessment in clinical clerkship, faculty development programs for the faculty and residents, incentive systems for educational involvement, provisions for yearly systematic clerkships, integration of basic-clinical science-medical humanities, and community-based education.
Conclusion: Because clinical clerkship education is very important as a core curriculum, curriculum planning and its management must be given adequate attention. The following measures are suggested: elective systems that allow students to choose by career planning; concerns over faculty development programs for residents as a teacher; consensus on the concept, objectives, duration, content, evaluation tools of pre-clinical clerkship and clinical clerkship, and student well-being; and emphasis on community-based education.
Keywords: Clinical clerkship; Clinical competence; Community-based medicine; Curriculum; Medical education; SPICES model.