Journal of graduate medical education
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To date, no standardized presentation format is taught to emergency medicine (EM) residents during patient handoffs to consulting or admitting physicians. The Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) is a common format that provides a consistent framework to communicate pertinent information. ⋯ SBAR was acceptable to first-year EM residents, with improvements in both the ability to apply SBAR to simulated case presentations and retention at a follow-up session. This format was feasible to use as a training method and was well received by our resident physicians. Future research will be useful in examining the general applicability of the SBAR model for interphysician communications in the clinical environment and residency training programs.
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Women in medicine report many gender-specific barriers to their career success and satisfaction, including a lack of mentors and role models. The literature calls for innovative strategies to enhance mentorship for women in medicine. ⋯ This innovative model for mentoring women is perceived as a valuable asset to the academic department and residency. It offers the unique combination of expanding a female mentor pool by recruiting alumni and using a mosaic of vertical and peer mentoring.
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Development of surgical skills is an integral component of residency education in obstetrics and gynecology. ⋯ Brief, hands-on training sessions, which were task-specific and repetitive facilitated short-term gains in learning operative hysteroscopy and increased the dry lab skill level of junior residents compared to that of senior residents. This curriculum was effectively implemented at 3 institutions and generated comparable results, suggesting generalizability.
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The annual American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) in-training examination is a tool to assess resident progress and knowledge. We implemented a course at the New York-Presbyterian Emergency Medicine Residency Program to improve ABEM scores and evaluate its effect. Previously, the examination was not emphasized and resident performance was lower than expected. ⋯ A multifaceted residency-wide examination curriculum focused around an intensive 14-week course was associated with marked improvement on the in-training examination.
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The medical literature shows evidence of numerous initiatives to improve inpatient physician handoffs. In contrast, handoffs of ambulatory patients to incoming interns or junior residents at the end of residency are an area of potential concern that has been overlooked. ⋯ The standardized handoff process implemented via simple e-mail instructions increased the number of outpatient handoffs at the completion of residency. Further study with a larger number of residents, identification and removal of barriers to the handoff process, and correlation of handoffs to clinical outcomes are key next steps.