Advances in medical education and practice
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As the health care delivery landscape changes, medical schools must develop creative strategies for preparing future physicians to provide quality care in this new environment. Despite the growing prominence of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) as an effective model for health care delivery, few medical schools have integrated formal education on the PCMH into their curricula. Incorporating the PCMH model into medical school curricula is important to ensure that students have a comprehensive understanding of the different models of health care delivery and can operate effectively as physicians. ⋯ Students who participate in the WCCC gain hands-on experience in coordinating care, providing continuity of care, addressing issues of accessibility, and developing quality and safety metrics. The WCCC experience provides an integrative model that links service-learning with education on health care delivery in a primary care setting. The authors propose that adoption of this approach by other student-run clinics provides a substantial opportunity to improve medical education nationwide and better prepare future physicians to practice within this new model of health care delivery.
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Emergency Medicine (EM) residents take the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) in-training exam, and performance on this exam has been shown to correlate to performance on the ABEM qualifying exam. Though many residencies have in-training exam preparation activities, there is little data on the effectiveness of these efforts. This study aimed to elicit resident perspectives about the exam and exam preparation in order to generate hypotheses and better inform future preparation efforts. ⋯ Residents value the in-training exam as a marker of their academic progress and for their ability to gain familiarity with the qualifying exam. They prefer question-based preparation over text-based learning, as long as there is a detailed explanation of each answer. Educators creating structured in-training review may want to focus on question-based material with detailed explanations.
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Technological advances have dramatically changed medical education, particularly in the era of work-hour restrictions, which increasingly highlights a need for novel methods to teach surgical skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of a novel, computer-based, interactive, cognitive simulator for training surgeons to perform pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND). ⋯ We describe an interactive, computer-based simulator designed to assist in mastery of the cognitive steps of an open surgical procedure. This platform is intuitive and flexible, and could be applied to any stepwise medical procedure. Overall, experts outperformed novices in their performance on the trainer. Experts agreed that the content was acceptable, accurate, and representative.
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A national online survey was conducted to evaluate pediatric subspecialty fellow satisfaction regarding continuity clinic experience. ⋯ Fellow-run continuity clinics provide fellows with a greater sense of satisfaction and independence in management plans.
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Evidence-based medicine (EBM) involves approaching a clinical problem using a four-step method: (1) formulate a clear clinical question from a patient's problem, (2) search the literature for relevant clinical articles, (3) evaluate (critically appraise) the evidence for its validity and usefulness, (4) implement useful findings into clinical practice. EBM has now been incorporated as an integral part of the medical curriculum in many faculties of medicine around the world. The Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, started its process of curriculum reform and introduction of the new curriculum 4 years ago. One of the most characteristic aspects of this curriculum is the introduction of special study modules and electives as a student-selected component in the fourth year of study; the Introduction to Evidence-Based Medicine course was included as one of these special study modules. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the EBM skills of medical students after completing the course and their perceptions of the faculty member delivering the course and organization of the course. ⋯ The EBM course at the Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, is useful for familiarizing medical students with the basic principles of EBM and to help them in answering routine questions of clinical interest in a systematic way. In light of the results obtained from implementing this course with a small number of students, and as a student-selected component, the author believes integrating EBM longitudinally throughout the curriculum would be beneficial for King Abdulaziz University medical students. It would provide a foundation of knowledge, offer easy access to resources, promote point-of-care and team learning, help students to develop applicable skills for lifelong learning, and help the faculty to achieve its goals of becoming more student-centered and encouraging students to employ more self-directed learning strategies.