Successful entrance into specialty training represents a pivotal stage in the careers of medical officers. Selection for entrance into specialty training programs may encompass criteria including research experience, regional exposure, clinical experience, professional achievements, diversity, equity and inclusion factors, and extracurricular…

Background: Concussions are a public health concern. Underdiagnosis and mismanagement negatively impact patients, risking in persistent symptoms and permanent disability. Objective: This scoping review consolidates the heterogeneous and inconsistent concussion research and identifies key areas for medical education curriculum design to focus on…

Learning to take safe and effective action in complex settings rife with uncertainty is essential for patient safety and quality care. Doing so is not easy for trainees, as they often consider certainty to be a necessary precursor for action and subsequently struggle in these settings. Understanding how skillful clinicians work comfortably when…

This paper discusses the scholarly literature related to tablet computer use in medicine. Forty-four research-based articles were examined for emerging categories and themes. The most studied uses for tablet computers include: patients using tablets to complete diagnostic survey instruments, medical professionals using tablet computers to view…

Continuing medical education providers often develop implementation strategies for clinical practice guidelines and can help facilitate their adoption. Their efforts will be more effective if they reinforce guidelines through local study groups, opinion leaders, clinical recall interviews, audits, and individualized feedback. (SK)

Objective: The authors describe the approval processes for subspecialties and the mechanisms for certification and recertification and review the status of training programs and numbers of diplomates with subspecialty certification. Methods: Published information and relevant data bases were reviewed. To date, 5,327 child and adolescent…

Prescriptive, decision-analysis of medical problem-solving has been based on decision theory that involves calculation and manipulation of complex probability and utility values to arrive at optimal decisions that will maximize patient benefits. The studies offer a methodology for improving clinical judgment. (Author/MLW)

Finding a clinical attending physician role model is one mechanism that medical students can use to cope with the stress engendered by a clinical clerkship. A survey of medical students at the Medical College of Ohio explores this role modeling process. Relevant literature is related and implications of the attending physician role model are…

This study examined reasons why novice physicians, even after 6 years of medical education, are apparently unable to utilize a patient's contextual information (age, sex, profession, previous diseases, operations, and medical therapy) in the same accurate manner in disease diagnosis as their more experienced colleagues. Sixteen family physicians,…

Medical education research indicates little has been done to improve teaching effectiveness of attending physicians on hospital wards. Moreover, there have been few studies to determine what the attending physician should attempt to accomplish with medical school trainees. More data collected in clinical settings are needed. (RD)

Literature relating to continuity of medical care, including efforts to teach it to medical students is reviewed, and a University of Washington family medicine preceptorship for teaching continuity is described. An evaluation of the program, which places students with physicians so they can follow the care of a family, is presented. (Author/JMD)