Background In medical education, feedback from students is helpful in course evaluation. records can be seen as important instruments in developing both courses and students’ learning. Continuity and endurance in the evaluation process must be emphasized for achieving PF-03084014 relevant and useful results. Background How can students’ views be used for developing courses in the transition Rabbit Polyclonal to RPC8 to clinical education? This question is discussed in recent reports of students’ opinions and learning experiences in the transitional phase [1,2]. Since the days of Flexner, a conventional 20th century version of the medical curriculum contain a preclinical phase of biomedical sciences followed by a later clinical phase [3]. To students, the transition from the first phase to the second forms a critical stage in which the term ‘shock of practice’ has been introduced to characterize students’ learning problems [4]. Even though many curricula have undergone changes in order to integrate preclinical and clinical studies, the shift and the overall template still have a large influence. Students perceive the transition as a stressful part of the curriculum [5]. On basis PF-03084014 of these results, an extensive introduction and increased support for students are suggested to be explored in the future [1,2,5]. On a course level, students’ course descriptions or portfolios PF-03084014 might be a suitable instrument for monitoring changes of the transition. Students’ evaluations are often used for developmental purposes. However, administrative purposes are also involved and these aims need to be separated from the developmental purposes [6,7]. Scientific reports on the importance of students’ evaluations are however scarce and in a review of student evaluations, researchers in higher education states “there is very little research evidence on the usefulness of students evaluations in improving any of the processes thought to benefit from them” [8]. Moreover, processes in course development are often complex and are difficult to analyse. Attempts to study the role of students’ evaluation feedback in long-term course development and implementation are seldom reported in medical education, there is only one match found in Pub Med [9]. In this study we intend to analyse the impact of students’ descriptive feedback in the transition to clinical education during five years of factual course development. Context In 1993, a nine-week clinical introduction course ‘Consultation Skills’ started in the G?teborg undergraduate curriculum. The consultation was launched as a unique concept by British researchers in the 1980′ [10]. A patient-centred approach in communication is an essential part of the concept [11]. In the course, students’ first encounter between patients and physicians took place in general practice and was integrated with learning clinical examination skills, medical psychology and medical ethics [12]. Learning in small groups and learning in practice together with facilitators and clinical supervisors was implemented. Students met facilitators in four settings: in primary health care centres; in an art-of-interviewing week using the Kagan video method [13]; in geriatric wards and in continuous small groups of skills training and reflection. In cooperation with the three leaders of the course, the first author (MW) was working as a course assistant, coordinating group facilitators, organizing and evaluating courses. AS and CB were two of three course leaders. At the.