Third year medical student attitudes toward learning urology.
PURPOSE: We studied certain research questions, including the learning environments in which third year medical students perceive that they acquire urological knowledge and skills, and whether medical students interested in urology as a career have different perceived learning needs than those interested in other specialties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey instrument was pilot tested and revised. The instrument elicited student perceptions of how they best learned urological diagnosis and skills. Student attitudes toward the third year urology rotation and career motivation toward urology were assessed. Consecutive students were surveyed after completing the third year urology rotation. RESULTS: Most students perceived that they learned to manage most urological problems by seeing patients in outpatient clinics and they learned to perform physical examination and urinalysis interpretation by seeing patients. The overall usefulness of various learning environments was highest for seeing patients in clinic, followed by resident teaching, following inpatients, independent reading, watching open surgery, formal conferences, watching endoscopic surgery and routine menial work. Students interested in urology as a career choice were equally motivated by seeing patients in clinic, the subject matter and seeing surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Third year medical students perceive that the most important urological learning environment is outpatient evaluation of patients. The urological learning needs of third year medical students are not different in those interested and not interested in urology as a career.