Current status and educational needs of early clinical exposure in Korean Medical Schools: A cross-sectional survey study

Objective: To examine the status of early clinical exposure (ECE) programs in Korean medical schools and to determine the educational needs for ECE in undergraduate medical education. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 30 medical education experts and 65 professors from 30 medical schools across Korea were surveyed about the status of ECE programs in medical schools and the educational needs for ECE. This survey was conducted between January and March 2024 using Google Forms, and the collected data were analyzed using frequency analysis. Results: Out of the 30 participating medical schools, 70% had implemented ECE programs. In most schools, ECE programs were required courses and offered from the first year of pre-medical phase to the second year of medical phase. Among 95 respondents, 88.4% recognized the necessity of ECE programs. Most respondents considered "understanding the role of a doctor" an essential objective (70 out of 95, 73.7%) and outcome (73 out of 95, 76.8%) of ECE programs. Most respondents considered "observation/field trips" and "reflection journal" as essential teaching methods (69 out of 95, 72.6%) and assessment methods (68 out of 95, 71.6%) in ECE programs, respectively. Furthermore, most respondents (68 out of 95, 71.6%) considered the "lack of educational support personnel" a concern in implementing ECE programs in medical schools. Conclusions: This study sheds light on the status of ECE programs in Korean medical schools. Additionally, its results regarding the educational needs for ECE have implications for the future implementation of ECE programs in Korean medical schools.