{
  "abstract": "Background Short-term international medical mission trips are a ubiquitous but understudied component of preclinical medical education, especially in the United States. Self-efficacy -- a trainee's belief in their own capacity to execute a clinical task -- is theorized to precede and shape skill acquisition. However, item-level changes in self-reported clinical confidence surrounding a brief, immersive mission trip, particularly among students without prior fluency in the trip's local language, have not been well characterized. Methods Preclinical (M1), non-Spanish-speaking students from a Christian Medical Association chapter completed an investigator-developed, 10-item clinical confidence questionnaire (5-point Likert scale) before and after a one-week, pop-up, free clinic mission trip to Lima, Peru (10-14 March 2025). The questionnaire has not been formally validated. Ten students completed the pre-trip survey, seven completed the post-trip survey, and five completed both and formed the matched analytic sample. Paired t-tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and paired Cohen's d were used to explore pre-to-post-trip change, with inferential results interpreted cautiously because of the very small matched sample. Results Among the five matched students, composite self-reported clinical confidence increased from a mean of 28.8 pre-trip to 43.0 post-trip, a 49% relative increase (Cohen's d = 3.08; Wilcoxon p = 0.063). The largest observed increases were in confidence during a foreign-language patient encounter (1.4 to 4.0, d = 4.75) and generating treatment recommendations (1.4 to 3.8, d = 4.38). The smallest observed increases were in skills already rated highly at baseline, including communicating with a patient (4.2 to 4.4) and taking vital signs (4.2 to 4.6). Conclusions In this pilot cohort, higher post-trip scores were observed across several self-reported clinical confidence domains. However, 50% attrition from the pre-trip survey to the matched analytic sample, absence of a comparison group, use of an investigator-developed and unvalidated questionnaire, and variable post-trip survey timing (13-24 days after return) substantially limit inference. These findings are hypothesis-generating and describe changes in self-reported confidence only; they should not be interpreted as evidence of improved objective clinical competence.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Primary Care and Rural Medicine, Texas A&M University College of Medicine, Houston, USA.",
    "Primary Care and Rural Medicine, Texas A&M University College of Medicine, Dallas, USA.",
    "Primary Care and Rural Medicine, Texas A&M University College of Medicine, College Station, USA."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Micah J Thomas"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Madison K Sobarzo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Samuel A Sobarzo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "David Oancea"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Paul Oancea"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Joyce P Hnatek"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fn7pqwhd7gg6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7759/cureus.116842",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13695385",
  "id": "4fn7pqwhd7gg6",
  "issns": [
    "2168-8184"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927375",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Innovations in Medical Education"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214203413",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13695385?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13695385",
  "pmid": "42927375",
  "published": "2026-09-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fn7pqwhd7gg6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:18Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42927375",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927375"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Innovations in Medical Education",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Feasibility and Preliminary Educational Outcomes of Self-Reported Clinical Confidence After a Global Health Experience: A Pilot Study.",
  "title_text": "Feasibility and Preliminary Educational Outcomes of Self-Reported Clinical Confidence After a Global Health Experience: A Pilot Study.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fn7pqwhd7gg6",
  "venue": "Cureus",
  "versions": []
}