Barriers to entering addiction medicine (AM) have led to a persisting workforce shortage. To address this problem, the Chapter of Addiction Medicine (AChAM) was formed in 2001 as a subdivision of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). Through consultation, AChAM has identified the scope of practice and offered fellowship to suitable…

Medical residency is a period of intense socialization with a heavy workload. Previous sociological studies have identified efficiency as a practical skill necessary for success. However, many contextual features of the training environment have undergone dramatic change since these studies were conducted. What are the consequences of these…

Oral examinations have become more standardized over recent years. Traditionally a small number of raters were used for this type of examination. Past studies suggested that more raters should improve reliability. We compared the results of a multi-station structured oral examination using two different rater models, those based in a station,…

Introduction: Performance of health care professionals depends on both medical knowledge and the certainty with which they possess it. Conventional continuing medical education interventions assess the correctness of learners' responses but do not determine the degree of confidence with which they hold incorrect information. This study describes…

The mini-CEX is widely used to rate directly observed resident-patient encounters. Although several studies have explored the reliability of mini-CEX scores, the dimensionality of mini-CEX scores is incompletely understood. Objective: Explore the dimensionality of mini-CEX scores through factor analysis and generalizability analysis. Design:…

Context specificity, or the variation in a participant's performance from one case, or situation, to the next, is a recognized problem in medical education. However, studies have not explored the potential reasons for context specificity in experts using the lens of situated cognition and cognitive load theories (CLT). Using these theories, we…

Objective: This study aims to determine how residents are being educated regarding sexual health, and it assesses attitudes toward sexual education and barriers to evaluating patients' sexuality. Methods: An anonymous Internet survey was sent to 195 residents in family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry at a…

Introduction: Physicians undertake many transitions during the course of a medical career. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of physicians who moved to a new community. Methods: A semistructured interview format was used to explore transitional experiences, including reasons for moving; the role of colleagues, learning, and…

Systems-based practice (SBP) is rarely taught or evaluated during medical school, yet is one of the required competencies once students enter residency. We believe Texas A&M College of Medicine students learn about systems issues informally, as they care for patients at a free clinic in Temple, TX. The mandatory free clinic rotation is part of…

Background: Previous studies have suggested an association between reasoning strategies and diagnostic success, but the influence on this relationship of variables such as question format and task difficulty, has not been studied. Our objective was to study the association between question format, task difficulty, reasoning strategies and…

Objective: A unique rotation was developed to address limited outpatient internal medicine training in psychiatric residency by the University of California, Davis, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, which provides medical care to patients with mental illness. Methods: The number of patients seen by the service and the number of…

The research reported in this article examined attitudes toward the care of the elderly between and among medical students and residents in training. Data were collected with a 16-item attitude questionnaire. Participants were medical students in their introduction period (prior to clinical experience) and residents of the Department of Internal…

The Internal Medicine In-Training Examination (ITE) is administered during residency training in the United States as a self-assessment and program assessment tool. Performance on this exam correlates with outcome on the American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying examination. Internal Medicine Program Directors use the United States Medical…

Narrative writing has been used to promote reflection and increased self-awareness among physicians. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of prompted narrative writing on reflection. Thirty-two interns at 9 internal medicine residency programs participated in a year-long qualitative study about personal growth beginning in July of…

Introduction: Diplomates in the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program satisfy the self-evaluation of medical knowledge requirement by completing open-book multiple-choice exams. However, this method remains unlikely to affect practice change and often covers content areas not relevant to diplomates'…