Medical Science Educator最新文献

Objectives: We explored whether gender differences in burnout and work engagement characteristics among residents changed after the representation of female physicians has surpassed the 30% threshold of critical mass between 2005 and 2015, as well as if these gender differences are influenced by working in a surgical versus a non-surgical specialty.

Methods: This study used data of two questionnaire surveys on the well-being of Dutch residents, collected in 2005 (N = 2115) and 2015 (N = 1231). Burnout was measured with the validated Dutch translation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, covering the characteristics emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment. Work engagement was measured with the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, covering the characteristics vigour, dedication and absorption. Gender differences in residents' engagement and burnout characteristics in 2005 and 2015 were analysed using hierarchical regression analyses. Factorial analyses of variance were used to compare gender differences in residents' burnout and engagement characteristics in general surgery with those in internal medicine.

Results: In both years, female residents reported higher emotional exhaustion, lower depersonalisation, personal accomplishment, and vigour than males. These gender differences were similar in general surgery and internal medicine.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated unchanged gender differences in burnout and work engagement characteristics among residents after 10 years of demographic feminisation (increasing female representation), indicating higher risk for burnout and lower work engagement among females, both in surgical and non-surgical specialties. In view of the ever-increasing number of female residents, educators and hospitals need to create supporting work environments that safeguard residents' well-being.

Patients seen at student-run free clinics are often limited in the extent of services they can receive through these outpatient clinics. We initiated a student-led program assisting patients to apply for the local county hospital's fee assistance program, facilitating access to a wider range of healthcare services for a reduced cost.

Objectives: Many physicians today struggle to learn the complexities of the biological basis for evidence-based medicine. To bridge this gap, the Medical Scholar Research Pathway Program (MSRPP) founded in 2019 prepares medical students for analytical reasoning and critical thinking while engaging in faculty-mentored research projects in a community-based public medical school.

Methods: MSRPP is an application-based extracurricular research program, designed for novice and experienced medical students. Three distinct pathways offer ample opportunities for pre-clinical and clinical students to participate in research on a flexible schedule. The program director guides students in one-on-one coaching meetings to set achievable goals with their faculty mentor, and plan their research deliverables, considering their interests and residency plans.

Results: We report the implementation of a multi-year and multi-campus research training program for medical students across five campuses. Our results show that five class cohorts (2021-2025) of MSRPP students were twice as likely to seek formal research support than students not in the program. MSRPP students continuously growth their self-confidence to disseminate their research by practicing oral communication in monthly Launch talk research reports and bi-annual research conferences. Moreover, students report they learn technical communication skills and feel inspired to participate in research by interacting with invited faculty seminars. MSRPP students have a significantly higher scholarship output as compared to non-MSRPP students. Early indicators show that students that participate in formal research programs have a measurable difference for matching into competitive residencies.

Conclusions: MSRPP students report that they have gained research competencies and technical skills to establish a baseline to promote their future research engagement. This study provides other peer medical schools with strategies to create the infrastructure to support and promote medical student research.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-024-02098-6.

COVID-19 pandemic health restrictions affected the theoretical and practical teaching of anatomy. This review aims to analyze studies about teaching anatomy in this period. A search through the PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Lilacs, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases found 1607 articles. After removing duplicates and excluding articles by reading the title/abstract, and then after full reading, 43 articles were included. The remote synchronous and asynchronous active methodologies employ virtual reality, 3D models, and web conferencing platforms to enable audio-visual interaction. While synchronous remote teaching emerged as an important opportunity, its efficacy in imparting knowledge and practical skills remains under scrutiny.

Introduction: Recently, accrediting organizations have focused on developing lifelong learners who possess self-regulated and self-directed aptitudes of learning (hereinafter SELF-ReDiAL or in short, SR). This meta-analysis aimed to identify factors which promote or deter SR in health professionals.

Methods: Original studies which, by using self-reports, evaluated enablers of and barriers to SR in health professionals (dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacology), and were indexed in Scopus^® and PubMed^® databases from 1 January 2000 to 31 August 2022, were retrieved. Major themes suggested to affect SR were determined, and enablers or barriers related to those themes, were considered eligible for inclusion. Studies were excluded if they were not in English, and if the full text could not be retrieved.

Results: From 149 identified papers, 43 studies were subsequently included in the meta-analysis. The strongest effect was generated by wellbeing (d = 0.806; 95% confidence of interval [CI]: 0.296, 1.316). In respect of teaching method, problem-based learning (d = 0.590; 95%CI: 0.375, 0.806), team-based learning (d = 0.382; 95%CI: 0.232, 0.531), and flipped classroom (d = 0.095; 95%CI: -0.088, 0.279) showed positive effects on SR, whereas lectures were negatively associated with SR (d =  -0.079; 95%CI: - 0.389, 0.230). Further, the analysis showed that SR generally decreases during the first year of enrolment (d =  -0.144; 95%CI: - 0.284, -0.004), while no major change in SR is observed in the second year (d = 0.027; 95%CI: -0.044, 0.099).

Conclusions: Considering that student wellbeing had the strongest observed effect on SR, policy-setting and governing bodies should incorporate methods which improve wellbeing to develop health professionals with high levels of SR.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-024-02068-y.

Introduction: The Larner College of Medicine has steadily transitioned to primarily active learning-based instruction. Although evaluations praise session formats, students often highlight difficulties in synthesizing preparatory materials to integrate biochemical pathways. A student/faculty collaboration led to the development of interactive metabolic maps that illustrate pathways and link to a broader framework of metabolism.

Methods: A review of the session materials identified relevant biochemical pathways, and for each pathway, we created a fillable visual diagram to highlight the interactions between all substrates, enzymes, and cofactors. Implementation of the metabolic maps began for first-year medical students in fall 2022. Evaluation data included standard student session evaluations (Likert scale and qualitative comments) and a survey specific to the metabolic maps.

Results: After implementing the maps, student ratings of biochemistry/metabolism session materials significantly improved (3.2 ± 1.04 to 4.3 ± 0.87, p < 0.001), and students made positive comments about their effectiveness. Most students (77.8%) used the metabolic maps to aid in studying biochemistry content for exams and found the metabolic maps important for integrating information about metabolic pathways. The median performance on metabolism-specific questions was higher, although not statistically significant (69.23 to 77.28, ns).

Discussion: The implementation of integrated metabolic maps improved student satisfaction of biochemistry/metabolism session materials. Limitations include confounding factors related to student population differences and other simultaneous curriculum changes. Implementing interactive visual aids to integrate metabolism pathways and concepts is applicable to any medical curriculum, and other longitudinal topics may benefit from this type of curricular framework.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-024-02073-1.

Motivation to learn has been linked to learning outcomes, academic performance, learner well-being, and choice of medical specialty. Previous studies showed successful educational interventions to optimize students' levels of motivation and learning strategies. The purposes of this study are (1) to describe undergraduate medical students' motivational orientations and learning strategies in the first and last year at a Canadian university and (2) to analyze possible differences between undergraduate medical students' motivational orientations and learning strategies in those two academic years. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The survey was sent to a total of 207 first-year and 203 third-year students. We received a total of 58 surveys, 32 of them were complete and analyzed. The overall response rate was 14.1%. The internal consistency for all the scales varied from 0.61 to 0.904. The overall score for the survey was 4.97 on a 7-point scale for all students. Highest scales' scores were obtained for elaboration (mean 5.68) and learning beliefs (mean 5.64), with the lowest scores obtained for rehearsal (3.82) and test anxiety (3.94). The total scores did not differ by students' academic year (p = 0.764), except for the effort regulation scale in which first-year students scored higher (p = 0.01). The largest differences between first- and last-year students were found in effort regulation, where first-years scored higher (difference of 0.99), followed by peer learning (difference of - 0.51), and then test anxiety (- 0.36). Our results showed a sample of students that are highly motivated, mostly driven by intrinsic goals, and are confident that they will master the tasks given to them. They rely more on elaboration strategies building connections between new and prior information, and less in rehearsal strategies used for simple tasks and memorization. The MSLQ showed to be a reliable instrument in our sample, and it could be use as an instrument to identify students' adaptive changes to enhance students' motivation to learn. A portrayal of medical students' attitudes in learning could guide educators to develop instructional programs that would help students to optimize their own learning.

Spoonful of Sugar is a medical education podcast that utilizes an innovative approach to undergraduate medical education by engaging medical students as teachers. This report describes the podcast, the benefits of engaging students as teachers, and future directions to improve the platform and formally study its impact.

Medical education is at a point of transition in which it must reform to meet the demand of healthcare providers competent in ultrasonography. This article recommends the pre-clerkship elective infrastructure as a method for medical schools to begin prototyping content and modes of delivering ultrasound education. Doing so will prepare medical students earlier in their careers to use and build upon their knowledge of ultrasound during clerkships and as residents.