What US medical students need to learn about clinical practice guidelines: a qualitative study of US students and a global subset of guidelines developers.

BACKGROUND

Undergraduate United States (US) medical education may not provide adequate education on clinical practice guidelines (CPGs).

OBJECTIVES

To identify types of information about CPG development and usage that US medical students and a global subset of CPG development experts considered important to teach students, to detect potential barriers that may limit the implementation of improved and comprehensive CPG education, and to understand the current education regarding CPGs.

STUDY DESIGN AND

SETTING

Third- and fourth-year US medical students and CPG development experts participated in focus groups between September 2022 and August 2024. Verbal consent for audio recordings was obtained, with analysis via an inductive thematic approach.

RESULTS

Three focus groups of US medical students (n = 20) and two focus groups of experts (n = 28) were convened. Experts emphasized the need to teach students the purpose of CPGs through hands-on learning activities. Both students and experts agreed that educational materials on CPGs should include the purpose of CPGs, how to evaluate the quality of CPGs and apply CPG recommendations to individual patient scenarios, and that time constraints for students within an already busy US medical school curriculum and resistance among lecturers and curriculum developers to altering traditional curricula may be barriers to implementing CPG education. Students and experts did not agree on when this education should be delivered in medical schools, with experts believing that education should be introduced during the students' preclinical years.

CONCLUSION

US medical students believe that their CPG education needs to be bolstered. These findings support the development of new, structured, and expanded educational modules on various crucial aspects of CPG development and application able to be integrated into existing US medical school curricula in both the preclinical and clinical years. Further work should examine the perspectives of non-US medical students and instructors to inform globally adaptable educational approaches.