Teaching and learning in medicine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Simulation-based training of internal medicine residents in advanced cardiac life support protocols: a randomized trial.
Internal medicine residents must be competent in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) for board certification. ⋯ Performance improved significantly after simulator training. No improvement was detected as a function of clinical experience alone. The educational program was rated highly.
-
Provision of adequate opportunities for faculty to receive training in teaching skills requires persons with faculty development expertise to provide this training. ⋯ The TSP is a successful local model for increasing the resources available for teaching improvement.
-
Airway management skills are a vital part of emergency medicine training. Mastery of these skills requires didactic, model, and real-patient experiences. Practice with the use of relevant models greatly enhances these skills. ⋯ Combined results across all procedures showed that 94.8% believed the deer head models to be excellent, very good, or good models for demonstrating the techniques (range of favorable responses across all techniques was 87.5% to 98.8%). Deer heads serve as good to excellent aids for practicing advanced airway management skills. They are readily available and free of cost. This model should be considered in airway skills training.
-
Review
What is the impact of commercial test preparation courses on medical examination performance?
Commercial test preparation courses are part of the fabric of U.S. medical education. They are also big business with 2,000 sales for 1 firm listed at nearly $250 million. This article systematically reviews and evaluates research published in peer-reviewed journals and in the "grey literature" that addresses the impact of commercial test preparation courses on standardized, undergraduate medical examinations. ⋯ The articles and unpublished reports reveal that current research lacks control and rigor; the incremental validity of the commercial courses on medical examination performance, if any, is extremely small; and evidence in support of the courses is weak or nonexistent; almost no details are given about the form and conduct of the commercial test preparation courses; studies are confined to courses in preparation for the Medical College Admission Test, the former National Board of Medical Examiners Part 1, and the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1, not tests of clinical science; and that cost-benefit analyses of the test preparation courses have not been done. It is concluded that the utility and value of commercial test preparation courses in medicine have not been demonstrated, and that evaluation apprehension in the medical profession and aggressive marketing practices are most likely responsible for commercial course prosperity.
-
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education is shifting its focus from a structure and process system of graduate medical education to one that is outcomes based, requiring all residents in training to achieve competence in six broad domains and presenting educators with the challenge of evaluation. ⋯ Web-based portfolio assessment provides an ideal venue for the evaluation of competence and has the ability to provide educators with a research infrastructure to practice evidence-based education.