Purpose
Foundational Rounds (FR) is a preclinical team-building activity that aims to create a continuum between the Foundational and Clinical Phases by fostering engagement and accountability within teams. Students work in assigned small groups and present clinical scenarios to each other in the form of board-style multiple-choice questions.
Methods
Each week students receive 10 faculty-written, board-style clinical scenario questions based on the prior week’s course material. Students prepare for “rounds” by researching the answers to their assigned “patient” questions. During weekly team rounds, the groups discuss the questions and each student explains their answers. Teams agree on an answer and use scratch-off cards to check if correct. Faculty attend to provide clarification. Faculty collected data on students’ perceptions of the exercise and of their own, their peers’, and the team’s performance.
Results
Data were collected for two cohorts of preclinical classes; 285 students (68%) completed the survey. The response was very positive. At the end of year 1, the majority of respondents agreed that Foundational Rounds helped them develop skills to contribute to effective team functioning (78%), improve their explanation/presentation skills (66%), draw connections between the foundational science and the clinical cases in the questions (76%), integrate the material from multiple courses (71%), stay up to date with the coursework (59%), and understand the course material (77%). The majority (78%) agreed that the FR questions were high-quality and thought-provoking. In a separate survey (N=290), 97% of respondents were satisfied with their team dynamics; 74% said their team exceeded their expectations.
Conclusion
The Foundational Rounds activity was successful in fostering engagement and accountability within student teams. It exposed students to high-quality board style questions that integrated material across disciplines within a clinical context. The exercise is easily transferable to other health professions.