Medical Science Educator最新文献

Despite the exponential growth of education in recent years, the anatomy course is taught in all medical school departments in the early years to provide a strong foundation for medical education and clinical training. Integrating technological innovations such as virtual reality programs that realistically display human anatomy through computer simulation into lectures may benefit medical students in their studies. Therefore, this study aims to suggest a potential use of VR to reduce cognitive loads in the anatomy course in higher education. Twenty third-year medical students at King Abdulaziz University were given a virtual reality headset (Oculus Rift CV1) with the 3D Organon VR Anatomy application in a quasi-experimental design. The data were collected from students who wore the Oculus Rift CV1 and completed five tasks. Students were then asked to fill out three questionnaires about their opinions. These findings should be interpreted in light of the study's small sample size, lack of a control group, and single-gender population. The study's findings revealed that traditional anatomy teaching methods caused cognitive distractions for students. However, virtual reality headsets were associated with a mean cognitive load rating of 19.7, suggesting a potential to reduce cognitive burden. These findings support the argument for using virtual reality headsets in anatomy courses and opening virtual reality labs in medical colleges. Medical faculty should accept and experience virtual reality technology without the fear of students leaving the dissection lab.

Humanities Across Clerkships (HAC), a longitudinal course during third-year clerkships, is an innovative approach to promote reflection on professional identity formation and career development for medical students. This course was feasible and encouraged individual and group reflective practices, and it was positively received by medical students.

Assessment and grading are prone to disparities based on race and ethnicity. Health professions educators need a guide for how to strategically navigate assessment data. This monograph provides a consensus-driven advisory guide, drawing upon common challenges schools face when detecting, measuring, and analyzing gender/racial disparities, and shares practical algorithms and strategies for engaging with the data. Five steps are proposed: create a process diagram; identify assessment data sources and potential manifestations of disparities and inequities in assessments; consider other variables when analyzing data; choose analytical approaches to evaluate sources of disparities; and identify potential threats and challenges.

The transition from pre-clinical to clinical phases of medical education can negatively impact student well-being and academic performance. To improve student outcomes, the present investigation aimed to analyse study techniques employed by students and their perceptions of curriculum guidance when commencing clinical placement. A survey was distributed among medical students at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. Study techniques and the utility of information resources were rated on a 5-point Likert Scale. Short form questions were included for qualitative analysis. The mean usefulness score for each item was calculated overall and for year groups and compared using a t-test. Eighty-nine students participated in the study. Most study techniques and clinical information resources were found to be useful, with minimal disagreement between year groups. There was a preference for online resources over textbooks. Qualitative analysis indicated students are struggling with study direction, time pressures, and knowledge depth ambiguity. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses, it can be recommended that students concurrently employ different study techniques and seek information from concise, local guidelines. Universities could improve guidance by counselling students on self-regulating information depth and evaluating learning objective prescriptiveness.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) offers new potential for medical education by providing personalized learning opportunities at scale that address current faculty shortages, such as limited access to clinical preceptors, yet its integration into formal medical training and acceptability by students remains largely unexplored. We deployed a large-language model-based AI Patient Actor app in a first-year medical curriculum, enabling students to conduct simulated clinical interviews while receiving immediate feedback. Students rated their experiences as overwhelmingly positive, with comfort using GenAI in general increasing significantly after repeated engagement. Sentiment analysis of student comments showed appreciation for the AI approaches' flexibility, low-pressure environment, and real-time feedback that students felt helped with clinical reasoning and communication skills. Students identified limitations regarding the authenticity of AI interactions compared to human encounters. This study shows that AI patient actors are perceived as acceptable educational adjuncts in early clinical training, particularly in formative environments where they provide students with immediate feedback and greater autonomy over their learning process, though they cannot fully replace interactions with human actors and patients.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02473-x.

Background: Each year, ~ 10,000 Indian nationals begin medical studies abroad to bypass the severe domestic seat bottleneck but must overcome substantial curricular, licensing, and psychosocial hurdles on return.

Aim: To synthesize current evidence on the academic, regulatory, and psychological challenges facing Indian international medical graduates (IMGs) and to outline system‑level strategies that facilitate successful reintegration.

Methods: A critical narrative synthesis of 82 peer-reviewed studies, policy documents, and commentaries published from 2004 to April 2025. Sources were captured through a multi-database search, screened with predefined criteria, and thematically coded into four domains: curriculum, licensing, wellbeing, and regulation.

Results: Curricular disparities-particularly reduced bedside exposure and divergent competency frameworks-impede clinical transition. First‑attempt pass rates on the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination remain < 25%, and the forthcoming National Exit Test introduces additional uncertainty. Up to 45% of returnees experience clinically significant anxiety or depression during licensure preparation. Recent "double‑internship" regulations and variable accreditation standards prolong the path to independent practice and inflate costs.

Conclusions: Examination reform alone is insufficient. A student-centered, system-integrated approach should combine (i) early licensing-oriented preparation within foreign curricula, (ii) structured mental health and peer mentoring support, (iii) targeted bridging modules aligned with Indian clinical priorities, and (iv) transparent publication of educational outcomes by sending and receiving institutions.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to analyze performance on Clinical Science Subject Exams from academic years 2018-2019 through 2020-2021, across a large national sample of medical schools, to identify score trends and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on exam performance.

Methods: Using descriptive statistics, data visualization, and a series of multilevel models, we investigated patterns for neurology, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. The analysis sample ranged from 36,791 to 54,770 examinees across specialties.

Results: In 2018-2019, Subject Exam scores for almost all specialties followed a pattern of gradual increase as the academic year progressed. The average score was 2 to 3 points higher in May than in August of the previous calendar year for pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, and surgery. The averages for psychiatry and neurology also partially followed this trend. Patterns were somewhat more varied in Spring 2020 and Spring 2021. Despite some disruptions, the largest differences in average scores were around two points on the 0-100 scale. There were no major and sustained decreases.

Conclusion: Scores remained relatively stable over the three academic years studied, with small and intermittent score pattern disruptions appearing after March 2020. These disruptions included both higher-than-expected increases and decreases. Possible explanations include the intermittent nature of COVID-19 surges as well as changes in clerkship structure and resources. Scores did not decrease across the board, indicating a level of stability in exam performance despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02458-w.

Purpose: Teaching can enhance the teacher's learning through retrieval practice, elaboration, and metacognitive engagement. In anatomy education, near-peer teaching roles such as laboratory teaching assistants (TAs) may therefore benefit not only learners but also the instructors. This study investigated whether serving as an anatomy TA is associated with improved performance on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. It was hypothesized that medical students who taught anatomy would demonstrate higher Step 1 scores due to the cognitive benefits of teaching.

Methods: Sixty second-year medical students were identified who served as anatomy TAs in a donor-based physical therapy course over seven academic years. Each was matched to a peer from the same graduating class with similar anatomy course performance but no TA experience. De-identified Step 1 scores were obtained from institutional records. An independent samples t-test compared Step 1 scores between groups.

Results: The mean Step 1 score was 238.0 (SD = 19.7) for TAs and 236.1 (SD = 16.5) for matched controls. This difference was not statistically significant (t(118) = 0.573, p = 0.568).

Conclusions: Medical students who served as anatomy TAs did not perform significantly better on the USMLE Step 1 than their peers. These findings suggest that, under the conditions of this study, participation in a near-peer teaching role did not translate into measurable gains on standardized testing. Educators should consider that while teaching may support professional development and anatomical understanding, additional instructional design elements may be needed to align these experiences with exam-related learning outcomes.