| Summary: | Abstract Introduction The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) standards mandate that medical schools identify clinical conditions that students must experience during required clerkships. If a given clerkship site is unable to provide one or more of the required clinical experiences, it is permissible to provide an alternative clinical experience such as a simulated or case-based alternative. Self-learning modules (SLMs) have the potential to improve understanding, facilitate learning, and possibly improve medical students' test performance. Methods This module is intended as a clinical application exercise after student completion of preparatory recommended reading, thereby providing for an alternative clinical experience for third-year medical students who do not encounter a patient with an anxiety disorders during their psychiatry clerkship. It is not meant to replace actual clinical experience but, rather, to provide a meaningful learning experience if the ideal of direct exposure to the desired clinical condition is not possible. Results This module has been successfully utilized in the University of Central Florida College of Medicine Psychiatry Clerkship didactics with a total of 66 students to date. Anonymous, written (nonresearch) survey feedback was solicited from an initial pilot group of 9 medical students. Using a 5-point Likert scale, students responded pre- and postmodule to a total of 20 survey statements, including ratings of the quality of the module and their confidence in knowledge, diagnosis, and treatment of anxiety disorders. Discussions This early, preliminary feedback was quite positive but included criticisms and recommendations for revisions which helped lead to the current iteration of the module.
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