Medical teacher
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Review
The effectiveness of portfolios for post-graduate assessment and education: BEME Guide No 12.
Portfolios in post-graduate healthcare education are used to support reflective practice, deliver summative assessment, aid knowledge management processes and are seen as a key connection between learning at organisational and individual levels. This systematic review draws together the evidence on the effectiveness of portfolios across postgraduate healthcare and examines the implications of portfolios migrating from paper to an electronic medium across all professional settings. ⋯ The evidence base is extensive, but contains few high quality studies with generalisable messages about the effectiveness of portfolios. There is, however, good evidence that if well implemented, portfolios are effective and practical in a number of ways including increasing personal responsibility for learning and supporting professional development. Electronic versions are better at encouraging reflection and users voluntarily spend longer on them. Regular feedback from a mentor enhances this success, despite competing demands on users' time and occasional scepticism about the purpose of a portfolio. Reports of inter-rater reliability for summative assessments of portfolio data are varied and there is benefit to be gained from triangulating with other assessment methods. There was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on how portfolios work in interdisciplinary settings.
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It is recognized that clinicians need training in evidence-based medicine (EBM), however there is considerable variation in the content and methods of the EBM curriculum in UK medical schools. ⋯ Key elements to progress include the integration of EBM with clinical specialties, tutor training and the availability of high-quality teaching resources. The development of a national undergraduate EBM curriculum may help in promoting progress in EBM teaching and assessment in UK medical schools.
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Comparative Study
Learning intimate examinations with simulated patients: the evaluation of medical students' performance.
For fifth-year's undergraduates of the medical school, a project with simulated patients (Intimate Examination Associates, IEA) was implemented in 2002 at the University of Antwerp. In this project, students from the new curriculum (NC) learned uro-genital, rectal, gynaecological and breast examination in healthy, trained volunteers and received feedback focused on personal attitude, technical and communication skills. Former curriculum (FC) students however trained these skills only during internship in the sixth year after a single training on manikins. ⋯ Learning intimate examinations with IEA's has a positive effect on the performance of medical students. This beneficial effect is on its turn reinforced during internships.
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Multiple formats of journal club exist but data is lacking regarding which model is most effective. Many residents are dissatisfied with their current format, which was the case at our institution. ⋯ A resident run model of journal club may be a viable option for those attempting to start or improve their current club.
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In response to challenges to faculty development (e.g. time away from clinical, teaching, and other responsibilities; lack of mentors; and limited resources) online learning has become an important venue to provide education for physicians in curriculum development, instruction, assessment, evaluation, educational leadership, and education scholarship. Online learning however has its own unique challenges. Little is known about clinician-educators' experiences while participating in online programs and few studies have focused on their approaches to facilitate online learning. ⋯ Online education programs meet the needs of physicians but have associated challenges. Further research is needed to explore the potential value of student suggested ways to optimize the online learning experience.