Aron Sousa

The OHRP and SUPPORT - Another view

A group of physicians, bioethicists, and scholars in allied fields agrees with the Office for Human Research Protections about the informed-consent documents in SUPPORT.

Documenting clinical performance problems among medical students: feedback for learner remediation and curriculum enhancement

Introduction We operationalized the taxonomy developed by Hauer and colleagues describing common clinical performance problems. Faculty raters pilot tested the resulting worksheet by observing recordings of problematic simulated clinical encounters involving third-year medical students. This approach provided a framework for structured feedback to guide learner improvement and curricular enhancement. Methods Eighty-two problematic clinical encounters from M3 students who failed their clinical competency examination were independently rated by paired clinical faculty members to identify common problems related to the medical interview, physical examination, and professionalism. Results Eleven out of 26 target performance problems were present in 25% or more encounters. Overall, 37% had unsatisfactory medical interviews, with ‘inadequate history to rule out other diagnoses’ most prevalent (60%). Seventy percent failed because of physical examination deficiencies, with missing elements (69%) and inadequate data gathering (69%) most common. One-third of the students did not introduce themselves to their patients. Among students failing based on standardized patient (SP) ratings, 93% also failed to demonstrate competency based on the faculty ratings. Conclusions Our review form allowed clinical faculty to validate pass/fail decisions based on standardized patient ratings. Detailed information about performance problems contributes to learner feedback and curricular enhancement to guide remediation planning and faculty development.

The College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University: expansion and reinvention.

The College of Human Medicine (CHM) at Michigan State University, which graduated its first class in 1972, was one of the first community-based medical schools in the country. It was established as a state-funded medical school with specific legislative directives to educate primary care physicians who would serve the needs of the state, particularly those of underserved areas. However, the model has proved challenging to sustain with the many changes to the health care system and the economic climate of Michigan. In 2006, a two-phase expansion plan was implemented, and in 2010, CHM permanently expanded the matriculating class from 106 to 200 students with the establishment of a second four-year site for medical education in Grand Rapids. This article describes what school leaders and faculty have learned as they look back at the opportunity provided by expansion as well as the growing pains and lessons learned. The community-based model met many of the mission-related goals for CHMs graduates, who represent a diverse group of practitioners whose values resonate with the schools mission. Expansion has offered an opportunity to explore new research and clinical opportunities as well as to more fully realize the potential of community partners to meet local health care needs and reinvent a robust future for community-integrated medical education.

Better data for teachers, better data for learners, better patient care: College-wide assessment at Michigan State University's college of human medicine

Abstract When our school organized the curriculum around a core set of medical student competencies in 2004, it was clear that more numerous and more varied student assessments were needed. To oversee a systematic approach to the assessment of medical student competencies, the Office of College-wide Assessment was established, led by the Associate Dean of College-wide Assessment. The mission of the Office is to ‘facilitate the development of a seamless assessment system that drives a nimble, competency-based curriculum across the spectrum of our educational enterprise.’ The Associate Dean coordinates educational initiatives, developing partnerships to solve common problems, and enhancing synergy within the College. The Office also works to establish data collection and feedback loops to guide rational intervention and continuous curricular improvement. Aside from feedback, implementing a systems approach to assessment provides a means for identifying performance gaps, promotes continuity from undergraduate medical education to practice, and offers a rationale for some assessments to be located outside of courses and clerkships. Assessment system design, data analysis, and feedback require leadership, a cooperative faculty team with medical education expertise, and institutional support. The guiding principle is ‘Better Data for Teachers, Better Data for Learners, Better Patient Care.’ Better data empowers faculty to become change agents, learners to create evidence-based improvement plans and increases accountability to our most important stakeholders, our patients.

The difference between science and technology in birth.

Obstetrics seems to be particularly resistant to making evidence-based changes to common practice, perhaps because of the emotional climate surrounding pregnant women and babies.

Using a problem‐based learning case to facilitate curriculum redesign

priorities and proposed changes with the Year 4 curriculum director and a member of the Faculty of Medical Education. A structured interview protocol was used to elicit this information. Eight of the 14 eligible students changed their schedules. Although they had diverse backgrounds, all had selected a subspecialty or a focused primary care field and had clinical exposure and residency readiness as top priorities. They most often dropped electives in family and community medicine that diverged from their professional development objectives and used the available time to design new electives and add extant electives on clinical skills. Students described several additional considerations that drove their proposed schedule changes, including: