Pre- and post-course study measures student-led high-value care education

First- and second-year medical students who completed an elective high-value care course had higher scores for knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy after the course than before it, according to a pre- and post-course evaluation. The study examined an educational intervention in preclinical students at an allopathic medical school and did not report results for a comparison group.

High-value care was presented as a proposed response to healthcare waste. Citing an Institute of Medicine estimate, the study noted that unnecessary services account, on average, for about one third of healthcare waste. The elective was intended to introduce value-based principles to preclinical undergraduate medical education, where the topic was described as underrepresented.

The course was developed and led by medical students. It ran for two four-hour days, with programming offered both in person and virtually. Its curriculum goal was to give participants foundational knowledge about high-value care and help them apply that knowledge to improve their attitudes and clinical skills.

Researchers evaluated the elective through three main outcome measures. These were participants’ knowledge of high-value care principles, their attitudes toward high-value care and their self-efficacy in integrating high-value care into clinical practice. Each measure was assessed before and after the course, allowing the investigators to examine how participants scored over the course period.

All three measures increased after course completion. In practical terms, the reported results show that participants’ measured understanding of high-value care, their pro-high-value-care attitudes and their confidence in incorporating the principles into clinical practice were higher at the post-course assessment than at the baseline assessment.

Because the reported design compared participants’ pre-course and post-course results, the findings establish a within-participant change over time rather than the course’s effect relative to another educational approach. The supplied study summary does not report a comparison group, numerical effect sizes, measures of uncertainty or a longer-term follow-up assessment. Accordingly, the available evidence does not show how much of the change was attributable to the course itself or whether the measured gains persisted after course completion.

The intervention was still a direct test of student-led teaching in a preclinical setting. Its structure combined foundational instruction with opportunities for participants to consider applying high-value care concepts to clinical practice. The assessment covered cognitive knowledge, attitudes and confidence, rather than patient outcomes or changes in the care delivered by graduates.

The study’s conclusions emphasized the value of providing students with resources and information they could use throughout their medical careers while pursuing a more value-based approach to patient care. This conclusion reflects the authors’ interpretation of the educational findings and should not be read as evidence that the course altered subsequent clinical decisions or patient care.

The authors identified expansion of high-value care education into longitudinal preclinical learning within the formal curriculum as a next step. The results therefore support the feasibility of the described elective format and document concurrent improvements in knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy, while leaving the course’s comparative effectiveness and durability outside what the reported pre- and post-course evaluation established.

Subject of Research: Pre- and post-course evaluation of a student-led high-value care elective for preclinical medical students

Article Title: Efficacy of student developed and led high value care education in preclinical medical students

Article References: Kreber, L., Dopirak, R. M., Rust, A., Kabra, A., Guan, T., Dietz, C. J., & Heacock, A. (2026). Efficacy of student developed and led high value care education in preclinical medical students. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09895-0

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-09895-0

Keywords: high-value care, medical education, preclinical students, student-led teaching, elective course, self-efficacy, healthcare waste, value-based care, Efficacy, student, developed, high