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LEARNING IN PRACTICE:
Sonia Littlewood, Valmae Ypinazar, Stephen A Margolis, Albert Scherpbier, John Spencer, and Tim Dornan
Early practical experience and the social responsiveness of clinical education: systematic review
BMJ 2005; 331: 387-391 [Abstract] [Full text]
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[Read Rapid Response] Earlier experiences also important
Christos S Zipitis, Constantinos Paschalides, Graeme Walker, Chris Bundy   (7 September 2005)

Earlier experiences also important 7 September 2005
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Christos S Zipitis,
Senior SHO Paediatrics
Burnley General Hospital, Casterton Avenue, Burnley BB10 2PQ,
Constantinos Paschalides, Graeme Walker, Chris Bundy

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Re: Earlier experiences also important

Editor – The review by Littlewood et al.[1] nicely supports that early clinical experience can have a strong influence on future careers of medical students. This might well apply to even earlier experiences.

It is believed that the Humanities can help us become more rounded people and also being more compassionate and empathic. The Education Committee of the GMC[2] recommended that all medical students should be given the opportunity of studying the Humanities.

In order to determine the role of Humanities in medical students’ lives we designed a web-based 30-item questionnaire. This was e-mailed to all medical students at the University of Manchester (a study population of 1548 students). 760 students (49%) completed it.

Novel reading and perceived importance of literature in making a good doctor were correlated (chi-squared=20.31, d.f.=4, p<0.0005), with 17% of students saying that this is not important at all. A positive correlation between novel reading and likelihood to choose a Special Study Module (SSM) in the Humanities was also established (chi-squared=27.79, d.f.=4, p<0.0005). A third of the sample would be “very unlikely” to choose such an SSM if one was offered. Crucially, those with previous “Arts” A-Levels or Highers were much more likely to be reading novels (chi -squared=26.77, d.f.=4, p<0.0005) and also to choose a SSM in the Humanities (chi-squared=36.95, d.f.=4, p<0.0005).

Our results support the view that early experiences play a crucial role in shaping future personal and professional choices and characteristics. These experiences might indeed be encountered much earlier than medical school, thus pointing towards the value of broad experience, offered by well-rounded pre-university education.

1. Littlewood S, Ypinazar V, Margolis SA, Scherpbier A, Spencer J, Dornan T. Early practical experience and the social responsiveness of clinical education: systematic review. BMJ 2005; 331: 387-91. 2. General Medical Council. Tomorrow’s Doctors: recommendations on undergraduate medical education. London: GMC, 1993.

Competing interests: None declared