creators_name: Howley, Lisa D. Howley, PhD creators_name: Dickerson,, Karen type: journale datestamp: 2003-10-09 lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:21 metadata_visibility: show title: Medical Students’ First Male Urogenital Examination: Investigating the Effects of Instruction and Gender on Anxiety ispublished: pub subjects: meo-peer full_text_status: public keywords: Undergraduate medical education; Physical examination; Gender differences; Anxiety abstract: Objectives: To investigate the effect that standardized instruction of the male urogenital examination had on the anxiety levels of students and to determine what influence, if any, the gender of the student had on this experience. Methods: One hundred thirty six second year medical students were asked to report their level of anxiety before and after participation in a small group teaching session on the male urogenital examination. We gathered both qualitative and quantitative information to better understand students’ anxiety surrounding this instruction. Results: Students had significantly lower state-anxiety scores following the instruction than before (F(1, 76)=102.353, p=.000, eta2=.574) and female students were more likely to have greater state-anxiety than male students (F=6.952, p=.010, eta2=.084). Ninety-nine percent of students reported that the teaching associates successfully reduced their anxiety. This decrease was attributed predominantly to the personal qualities of the teaching associates and to the format of the instruction. Conclusions: This study provides both quantitative and qualitative evidence that the use of male teaching associates to provide standardized instruction on the urogenital exam is effective at reducing students’ anxiety, particularly with regard to female students. Added standardized instruction may lead to increased confidence, skill, and future compliance with intimate physical exam screening practices. date: 2003-10 date_type: published publication: Medical Education Online volume: 8 number: 14 refereed: TRUE referencetext: 1. Turner KJ, Brewster SF. Rectal examination and urethral catheterization by medical students and house officers: Taught but not used. Br J Urol 2000: 86(4):422-462. 2. Shapiro SL. Stress management in medical education: A review of the literature. Acad Med 2000: 75(7): 748-759. 3. Toews JA, Jocelyn ML, Dobson DG, Simpson E, Brownell AW, Brenneis F, MacPherson KM, Cohen GS. Analysis of stress levels among medical students, residents and graduate students in four Canadian Schools of Medicine. Academic Med 1997: 72:997-1002 4. Wallis LA, Tardiff K, Deane K, Fringes J. Teaching associates and the male genitorectal exam. Jo Amer Med Wom Assoc 1984: 39(57): 58-62 5. Behrens A, Barnes VH, Gerber EL, Albanese M, Matthes S, Cangelosi A. A model for teaching sophomore medical students the essentials of the male genital-rectal examination. J Med Educ 1979: 54:585-587 6. Spielberger CD. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y). California: MindGarden, 1983. 7. Hennigan TW, Franks PJ, Hocken DB, Allen-Mersh TG. Rectal examinations in general practice. BMJ 1990: 301:487-480. citation: Howley , PhD, Lisa D. Howley, PhD and Dickerson, PhD, Karen (2003) Medical Students’ First Male Urogenital Examination: Investigating the Effects of Instruction and Gender on Anxiety. [Journal (On-line/Unpaginated)] document_url: http://cogprints.org/3195/1/res00066.pdf