Can J Emerg Med
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The majority of children requiring emergency care are treated in general emergency departments (EDs) with variable levels of pediatric care expertise. The goal of the Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK) initiative is to implement the latest research in pediatric emergency medicine in general EDs to reduce clinical variation.
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Quantitative research is one of the many research methods used to help educators advance their understanding of questions in medical education. However, little research has been done on how to succeed in publishing in this area. ⋯ Sixty-one articles were reviewed in full, and 157 recommendations were extracted. The thematic analysis identified 86 items, 14 categories, and 3 themes. Fourteen quality evaluation tools and reporting guidelines were found. Discussion This paper provides guidance for junior researchers in the form of key quality markers and reporting guidelines. We hope that quantitative researchers in medical education will be informed by the results and that further work will be done to refine the list of recommendations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Text messaging research participants as a follow-up strategy to decrease emergency department study attrition.
Collecting patient-reported follow-up data for prospective studies in the emergency department (ED) is challenging in this minimal continuity setting. The objective of this study was to determine whether text messaging study participants involved in an ongoing randomized trial resulted in a lower rate of attrition as compared to conventional telephone follow-up. ⋯ In this ED cohort participating in a randomized trial, text message reminders of upcoming telephone follow-up interviews decreased the rate of attrition. Text messaging is a viable, low-cost communication strategy that can improve follow-up participation in prospective research studies.
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Emergency medicine (EM) providers work in a fast-paced and often hectic environment that has a high risk for patient safety incidents and gaps in the quality of care. These challenges have resulted in opportunities for frontline EM providers to play a role in quality improvement (QI) projects. QI has developed into a mature field with methodologies that can dramatically improve the odds of having a successful project with a sustainable impact. ⋯ We will review how to identify a QI problem, define components of an effective problem statement, and identify stakeholders and core change team members. We will also describe three techniques used to perform root cause analyses-Ishikawa diagrams, Pareto charts and process mapping-and how they relate to preparing for a QI project. The next two papers in this series will focus on the execution of the QI project itself using rapid-cycle testing and on the evaluation and sustainability of QI projects.
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The acquisition of competence in diagnostic reasoning is essential for medical trainees. Exposure to a variety of patient presentations helps develop the skills of diagnostic reasoning, but reliance on ad hoc clinical encounters is inefficient and does not guarantee timely exposure for all trainees. We present a novel teaching series led by emergency physicians that builds upon the existing medical education literature to teach diagnostic reasoning to preclinical (2nd year) medical students. ⋯ Emergency physicians coached and provided immediate feedback to the students as they actively worked through diagnostic reasoning. The participating medical students reported benefit from these sessions immediately following the sessions and in an 18-month follow-up survey where the students could consider the impact of the sessions on their clinical clerkship. Students felt that the sessions had assisted them in recognizing the key features of relevant diagnoses during clerkship as well as providing a helpful adjunct to their in-class learning.