Early introduction to pregnancy care and delivery for medical students

Background and Objectives: We developed a curriculum designed to expose first-year medical students to the longitudinal experience of prenatal care and delivery. The curriculum included reinforcement throughout clinical training to increase their knowledge of pregnancy care and to encourage inclusion of pregnancy care in their future family practice. Methods: The program was implemented at the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth, and titled the Obstetric Longitudinal Program (OLP). It provided continuity care experiences among medical students, family physician preceptors, and obstetric patients. Students were enrolled by lottery. Students who were not selected in the lottery to participate in the program served as a control group. All students completed knowledge and attitude tests before and after the program. Results: Compared to the control group, OLP participants had higher knowledge scores at the end of the program and expressed greater likelihood to include deliveries in their future practice. The OLP was well received by all participants. Conclusions: The OLP provided a continuity of care experience for first-year medical students. Further studies are needed to determine if such early medical education experiences actually change the future practice of family physicians.