What are the implications of implementation science for medical education?

Background: Derived from multiple disciplines and established in industries outside of medicine, Implementation Science (IS) seeks to move evidence-based approaches into widespread use to enable improved outcomes to be realized as quickly as possible by as many as possible.

Methods: This review highlights selected IS theories and models, chosen based on the experience of the authors, that could be used to plan and deliver medical education activities to help learners better implement and sustain new knowledge and skills in their work settings.

Results: IS models, theories and approaches can help medical educators promote and determine their success in achieving desired learner outcomes.

A literature review on community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the United States: clinical information for primary care nurse practitioners.

Purpose: To analyze the state of the science of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in the United States to support the integration of current knowledge for primary care nurse practitioners' (PCNP) practice.

Data Sources: Published research limited to U.S.

Nonstandard Programs: the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's next frontier in graduate medical education.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has seen continuous growth in the number and types of graduate training programs not accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the American Board of Medical Specialties, or the American Osteopathic Association. For the purposes of ensuring best educational products and of controlling unrecognized competition with our accredited programs, a sequential process of centralized oversight of these nonstandard programs was undertaken. The first step involved programs whose fellows were hired and tracked like accredited fellows (i.

A risk stratification tool to assess commercial influences on continuing medical education.

Introduction: Heightened concerns about industry influence on continuing medical education (CME) have prompted tighter controls on the management of commercial funding and conflict of interest. As a result, CME providers must closely monitor their activities and intervene if bias or noncompliance with accreditation standards is likely. Potential for industry influence can be difficult to assess at a stage in the planning process when mitigation strategies can assure balance and content validity.

Creating an infrastructure for training in the responsible conduct of research: the University of Pittsburgh's experience.

In response to public concerns about the consequences of research misconduct, academic institutions have become increasingly cognizant of the need to implement comprehensive, effective training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) for faculty, staff, students, and external collaborators. The ability to meet this imperative is challenging as universities confront declining financial resources and increasing complexity of the research enterprise. The authors describe the University of Pittsburgh's design, implementation, and evaluation of a Web-based, institution-wide RCR training program called Research and Practice Fundamentals (RPF).