Teaching basic physical examination – needs, objectives, strategies, and assessment –
Physical examination skills of Japanese physicians are generally poor. Medical schools in Japan usually don't pay much attention to the teaching on physical examination skills and the teaching system of the skills is poorly organized. The purpose of this educational study is to explore the effective and efficient curriculum to teach the physical examination skills to the medical students at the level of prior to entering the bedside learning (introduction to medicine course). To teach the physical examination skills effectively and efficiently to the medical students in the introduction to medicine course, nine years of experience at the Kawasaki Medical School revealed the importance of the following points ; (1) clinical significance of the physical examination skills recognized ; (2) essential minimum maneuvers selected ; (3) small group exercise with the guidance of standardized instructors ; (4) careful assessment using Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). (Accepted on October 26, 1998) Kawasaki igakkaishi 24 (4) : 231-242, 1998
