| Background: Palmer College of Chiropractic offers a Clinic Abroad program for senior students to provide humanitarian services to underserved populations. Objective: To develop a survey which would capture differences in intern confidence in physical exam, diagnosis and manipulation skills and attitudes about public health and cultural authority between those who attended Clinic Abroad and those who did not.
Methods: A pilot survey was developed by adapting surveys on manipulation and public health. Cultural authority questions were an original development. The survey was tested on a class of Palmer College of Chiropractic 9th trimester students. A focus group was conducted post-test for survey clarity and content. Results: Twenty-nine students completed the survey, including 16 who had participated in Clinic Abroad. As a whole, the students showed confidence in physical exam, diagnosis and manipulation skills. They also disagreed they should perform public health tests but agreed they should perform public health screenings. Most feel they have cultural authority for a wide range of human conditions. Differences were seen between groups on certain manipulation skills, public health screenings, immunizations and cultural authority. Conclusions: This survey demonstrates the possibility of exploring differences in senior chiropractic student’s physical exam, diagnosis and manipulation confidence and attitudes of public health and cultural authority. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher. Click on the above link for free full text. Link to PDF version. Palmer's Clinic Abroad Program |
