It is just fitting for the oldest medical school in the Philippines, the UST Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, which just celebrated its sesquicentennial year, to initiate this trailblazing stethoscope tagging ceremony for 418 second-year medical students belonging to USTFMS Batch 2026. This activity is aligned with enhancing the Thomasian identity (one of the strategic directional areas [SDA 2] of the university) once they graduate, the Thomasian Physician identity. The stethoscope remains the symbolic representation of physician and patient care. The innovative and pivotal activity, completely different from other international medical schools’ rite of passage, was marked with meaningful symbolisms unique to USTFMS. This rite also involved a pledge to the patroness of the Department of Medicine, Mary Untier of Knots, who would thus qualify for a robust faith formation program of the university (key result area [KRA 1]). Indeed, this would be the beginning of an annual celebration of strengthening faith, hope, and charity (patient care advocacy), TRIA HAEC, the three virtues of St. Paul that comprise the core values of Thomasian education.
Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical ; Stethoscopes ; Patient Care

Although evidence-based teaching has been adopted in various learning disciplines, its adoption in medical education remains challenging. To graduate a full-fledged well-rounded physician equipped to face the real-world challenges of diagnosis and treating diseases is the ultimate goal of every medical institution. Medical students’ clinical competence is anchored on the approach of facilitators’ acquired teaching expertise and how they apply learned techniques to connect basic knowledge to clinical skill enhancement. Are these approaches within the realm of evidence-based teaching? The subsequent discussion will elaborate on proven effective strategies [Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Outcome-Based Education (OBE)] and how a strategic teaching and learning tool [Target-Oriented Clinical Skill Enhancement (TOCSE)] has proven to address the issue.
Education, Medical ;

Purpose: To connect didactic learning to clinical application is a challenging task both for the teachers and students. Target-Oriented Clinical Skill Enhancement (TOCSE) is a teaching and learning tool that integrates basic medical sciences at the clinical level. The authors sought to determine if TOCSE is effective in bridging didactic knowledge to clinical skill and enhancing the clinical performance of fourth year medical students.

Method: Between March 2021 and June 2021, in an online platform, the authors randomly allocated 141 fourth year medical students into the experimental (n=12 groups; n=63) and control groups (n=12 groups; n=78). Participants in the experimental group underwent the TOCSE module workshop while the control group utilized the standard method of teaching. The actively teaching faculty staff blinded of group allocation were invited to assess case presentations using a standardized rubric. A survey was done by the students (experimental and control) to evaluate how they perceived TOCSE to their performance and learning. Independent parametric t-test was performed to compare the clinical skill scores between the two groups.

Results: The experimental group had a mean clinical skill score of 35.29 (SD=2.64, excellent) while the control group had a mean clinical skill score of 31.96 (SD=4.04, satisfactory). The between-group comparisons using independent t-test indicated that the mean difference of -3.33 clinical skills scores between the experimental and control groups was statistically significant (t=-2.39, p=0.026, 95% CI=-6.22 to -0.45). Moreover, the perceived usefulness score (scale 10 as highest) among the TOCSE presenters (experimental groups) was 8.43 (SD=0.84) and scores among the TOCSE audience (control groups) was comparable at 8.36 (SD=0.71), both of which were interpreted as very helpful.

Conclusion: TOCSE is effective in bridging didactic knowledge to clinical skill and enhancing clinical performance of fourth year medical students.