Medical Science Educator最新文献

Formal presentations continue to play a central role in medical education courses and in academic traditions such as grand rounds and conference sessions. While lectures are an efficient and cost-effective instructional practice, efforts to train medical educators on how to design presentations tend to be limited to discussions of techniques that facilitate active or engaged learning. In this article, we elucidate additional learning theories that should also inform our instructional practice including cognitive apprenticeship, cognitive load, the principles of multi-media learning, the assertion-evidence approach to slide design, explicit instruction, and retrieval practice. We offer practical guidance for improving the design and delivery of academic presentations that is grounded in the cognitive psychology and education literature on how adults learn and that, if adopted, will improve the communication of biomedical content and enhance the experience of biomedical audiences.

In health professions education contexts, simulation is often used as an educational technique that replicates scenarios from practice, allowing learners to engage with and learn about both the practice context and specific tasks that they need to learn or refine. Simulation has been widely used in health professions education to balance the need to successfully train students in clinical skills competencies while optimizing patient safety. Simulation-based learning has many benefits including standardized clinical scenarios, decreased reliance on vulnerable patients, facilitated feedback, and improved learner competency and decision-making skills. A growing number of academic institutions have adopted simulation-based learning into their curriculum for training future healthcare professionals. However, advancing the adoption and cost management of simulation-based education requires an evidence-based approach that aligns learning objectives with simulation designs. Guided by the open-access Choosing Wisely framework and campaign starter kit, this diverse author group identified common high- and low-value applications of simulation-based education design. In this paper, we outline our methodology and offer 10 statements in the form of Choosing Wisely style recommendations, representing a synthesis of empirical work and our collective experience.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02471-z.

The transition of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 Exam to pass/fail in 2022 aimed to mitigate its influence on medical education. This single-institution comparative observational study explores the transition's impact on the USMLE Step 2 Exam (Step 2) preparation for over 750 students from 2017 to 2024. Findings indicate an increase in Step 2 study time before and after the transition (4.10 and 4.92 weeks, p < 0.001) along with a year-over-year rise from 2022 to 2024 (p < 0.001). Further research should assess the transition's impact on student performance and well-being.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02470-0.

Introduction: Accreditation is a vital component of maintaining the quality of health professions education. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredits allopathic medical schools in the USA. There have been anecdotal expressions of dissatisfaction with the process of accreditation by faculty and staff involved with the process; however, there is no extant literature describing this. This study captures the opinions of individuals at medical schools involved in LCME accreditation and explores the perceived benefits and challenges schools have experienced.

Materials and methods: A 23-item survey sought respondents' opinions regarding their experiences with LCME accreditation. The survey universe included members of the Accreditation Preparation and Quality Improvement listserv. Responses were summarized using univariate analyses; content analysis of open-ended responses was completed.

Results: Complete responses were received from 131 individuals. Highlighted key benefits to accreditation include fostering a culture of continuous quality improvement, uniting stakeholders into the self-study, and identifying needed curricular resources. Conversely, highlighted challenges include the resources necessary to prepare for an accreditation review, the reliance on student satisfaction data, and a perceived lack of clarity to the accreditation standards and elements. The demands of preparing for an accreditation review are seen as significant contributors to stress.

Discussion: The data highlight the benefits of the LCME accreditation review process but also suggest several areas for improvement. There is a need to share this data with the LCME and work towards an improved process that can better align the LCME with its constituent schools to support the goals of the accreditation process.

Background: Physician and medical learner wellbeing remains a critical issue in academic medicine. The Culture of Academic Medicine Initiative (CAMi) is a pan-Canadian effort to foster inclusive, health-promoting environments by supporting faculties in adopting the Okanagan Charter.

Activity: Using Kotter's change model, CAMi builds national collaboration grounded in equity, belonging, Indigenous reconciliation, and sustainability. It emphasizes the learning environment as a key lever for change.

Results: CAMi has cultivated a national network, developed shared tools like the Implementation and Audit Tool, launched the Wellbeing Matters webinar series, and created an accessible online resource hub.

Discussion: Future efforts focus on scaling sustainability, establishing an academic consortium, and implementing standardized evaluation frameworks to drive lasting cultural change.

Medical students face disproportionately high levels of stress, which can affect both their well-being and patient care. While mindfulness has shown mixed results, therapeutic touch and Reiki have demonstrated potential in reducing anxiety and depression. This review searched PubMed, Scopus, PsychInfo, Cochrane Library, and gray literature for studies on therapeutic touch in students and healthcare workers. Of 363 articles, 8 met inclusion criteria. Five of seven eligible studies (71.4%) reported statistically significant stress reduction. These findings suggest that therapeutic touch may benefit medical students, warranting further research into its potential as a stress reduction intervention.

Introduction: Test anxiety has a deleterious effect on the academic performance of medical students. Medical educators shifted the focus of students' assessment from high-stakes examinations to low-stakes assessments to address the negative impacts of test anxiety on learning. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain whether low-stakes tests are an effective means of eliminating medical students' anxiety.

Methods: The study's objective was to examine the degree to which medical students experience anxiety in the context of an extremely low-stakes test conducted in a group-based clinical reasoning class. A total of 75 students participated in the study, and their emotional responses during the clinical reasoning session and following the test session were assessed and compared using the Japanese version of the medical emotion scale.

Results: The results demonstrated a decrease in self-reported anxiety levels toward the test compared with anxiety levels toward the clinical reasoning exercises conducted prior to the test (2.21 to 1.96). However, no changes were observed in the levels of other emotions.

Discussion: Test anxiety experienced by medical students was found to diminish when the test was conducted in an extremely low-stakes format. This finding lends support to the efficacy of programmatic assessment from the perspective of medical students' well-being.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02468-8.

Purpose: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational approach that aims to promote access to information and a method for supporting students, whether they identify as having a disability or not. There is little evidence of UDL approaches being incorporated into health professions programming.

Materials and methods: This survey-based study evaluated health professions faculty and administrators from 30 institutions regarding their perceptions and understanding of UDL principles and availability of UDL resources.

Results: At least 88.2% (45/51) of respondents indicated it was important/very important to give students access to information using different modalities, adjustable formats, and assistive technologies. Over half (54.9%; 28/51) indicated faculty are primarily responsible for ensuring access to UDL resources. However, 80.4% (41/51) indicated increased faculty workload is a barrier to maximizing UDL resources. Many (60.8%; 31/51) agreed/strongly agreed that maximizing UDL resources is prioritized by their institutions, but only 39.2% (20/51) agreed/strongly agreed their institution provided sufficient financial/human resources.

Conclusions: Our results suggest there is disparity between the interest for and institutional support of UDL resources. This study underscores the need for health professions programming related to education and implementation of UDL principles within existing curricula to proactively support all students in an inclusive manner.

Background: Peer teaching through online discussion forums (ODFs) has the potential to engage and meet the needs of novice and experienced anatomy learners in the medical and health professions. Exploring ODF engagement patterns of learners with and without anatomy coursework can generate insights to effectively support students with different learning needs.

Purpose: To explore cognitive levels of engagement and social participatory learning roles of students with and without anatomy coursework when using student-led ODFs.

Method: This is a mixed-methods study of first-year occupational therapy students who engaged in peer learning on anatomy ODFs. A descriptive qualitative approach was used to conduct directed content analysis of the text-based posts of seven anatomy ODFs. Posts were categorized into social participatory learning roles and Bloom's cognitive level of learning. Engagement patterns were defined as frequency of posts and cognitive level represented.

Findings: Of 96 students included in the study, 67 (70%) had anatomy coursework. The proportion of students who contributed to the ODFs (X ² (1, n = 96) = 0.03, p = 0.54) and their engagement did not differ between groups (Mann-Whitney U = 753.50, p = 0.08). The ODF posts of students with previous anatomy coursework were more often classified as information providers (n = 120 posts, 47%), while the posts by students without anatomy coursework were most frequently initiators (n = 76 posts, 44%).

Conclusion: Students with and without anatomy backgrounds contributed to ODFs using a similar level of engagement but different social participatory roles. This work highlights the importance of supporting different peer-learning roles in anatomy ODFs.