I think new third years go through the motions of a thorough physical exam, but don't have the experience to appropriately interpret or describe findings. Heck, I as a fourth year don't always have that ability.
The only way the student discovers things is when they fumble through an exhaustive list of exams from your first or second year "doctoring" course and are like "um, what is this?" Half the time it's a normal benign finding.
And I do have pride in my skills. Most of which is in my ability to select which exams are indicated for a particular chief complaint and what findings I should be hoping to elicit on a thorough exam of those areas, as that's what I will be expected to do as a resident. Do you think as a general surgery intern that people would give two craps if I checked pinprick sensation or tympanic membranes on all my patients? No, I need to evaluate what's critical and move on.
If you could cite that study, that would be great.