Introduction: Procedural skills training varies significantly across Canadian medical schools, and there is currently no standardized assessment tool to evaluate its benefits. This project aims to develop a curriculum that teaches 2nd-year medical students to perform and evaluate procedural skills. The goals of this program include decreasing anxiety, increasing confidence, and achieving competence for students and also allowing staff to judge the appropriate level of supervision when delegating learners to perform basic procedures in the team setting. Our curriculum incorporates, near-peer teaching as well as near peer formative assessment. Methods: Each of the twelve 2nd year participants completed a State Trait Anxiety Inventory and self-reported confidence questionnaire related to procedural skills. Students participated in four sessions taught by expert physicians over a five month period. A new skill was taught at each monthly workshop and an opportunity to practice previously taught skills was provided. Skills were assessed in a skills integration simulation OSCE, and the anxiety and confidence questionnaire was repeated. Results: Students who completed this pilot program showed a significant decrease in mean anxiety state (2.48 vs 1.74, p-value <0.001), while the control group did not (p-value = 0.408). When assessing confidence, students who completed this program showed increased self-assessed knowledge and confidence in each of the program's assessed skills. An increased level of competency was achieved in each skill by each student as assessed by the expert physicians. Conclusion: There is evidence to suggest that implementation of this procedural skills training model within the Canadian medical school curriculum may improve student anxiety, confidence, and competency for success in clerkship and could be the foundation for developing milestones for EPAs.

Introduction: In order to better characterize procedural skills curricula in Canada, a national survey was conducted. The objectives of the survey were: (i) to characterize procedural skills education currently employed in pre-clerkship and clerkship curricula; (ii) to determine what skills physician-educators think medical students should know upon graduation; and (iii) to identify physician-educator perceptions regarding the development of pre-clerkship procedural curriculum. Methods: A web-based survey was distributed to 201 clinician-educators across Canada's 17 medical schools. Respondents were directed to an individualized survey based on their self-identified roles at their institution. Respondents were asked demographic questions, what procedural skills are being taught and in what setting at their institution, and their opinions on the value of a pre-clerkship procedural curriculum. Results: From the 17 school's surveyed, 12 schools responded, with 8 schools responding “yes” that they had a clerkship procedural curriculum. For a pre-clerkship procedural curriculum, only 4 schools responded “yes”. The 5 of the top 10 procedurals skills identified that medical students should know upon graduation, in order, are: IV Access, Airway Management/Ventilator Management, Local anesthesia/field block, Casting, Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery. On a Likert scale, clinician-educators strongly supported a pre-clerkship procedural curriculum (median = 4.00/5.00, mode = 5.00/5.00), and they believed it would decrease anxiety (median = 4.00/5.00), increase confidence (median = 4.00/5.00), and increase technical ability (median = 3.00/5.00) in incoming clerks. Conclusion: Across Canada, the state of undergraduate medical education procedural skills education is inconsistent. With the identification of the Top 10 procedural skills medical students should know upon graduation, the learning objectives of a formal curriculum can be developed. With overwhelming support from physician-educators, a formal pre-clerkship procedural curriculum is poised to redefine the landscape of procedural care for a whole new generation of physicians.