Capturing growth curves of medical students' clinical skills performance.

Introduction: A benefit of a milestone or Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) assessment framework is the ability to capture longitudinal performance with growth curves using multi-level modelling (MLM). Growth curves can inform curriculum design and individualised learning. Residency programmes have found growth curves to vary by resident and by milestone.

Making the Personal Statement "Truly Personal": Recommendations From a Qualitative Case Study of Internal Medicine Program and Associate Program Directors.

Background: The personal statement is an integral part of a residency application but little guidance exists for medical students about what content to include.

Objective: We use the framework of isomorphism, the process by which institutions model themselves after one another, to understand what internal medicine program directors (PDs) and associate program directors (APDs) recommend be included in the personal statement and how programs use personal statements in their selection of applicants to interview and rank.

Methods: Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted between August and October 2020 with 13 academic PDs and APDs, who were selected for participation based on program size and geographic location.

Parental Leave Policies in Residency: A National Survey of Internal Medicine Program Directors.

Purpose: To characterize the existence, accessibility, and content of parental leave policies, as well as barriers to program-level policy implementation among internal medicine (IM) program directors (PDs) and to assess the willingness of PDs to implement a national standardized policy.

Method: In 2019, the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine conducted a survey of 422 IM PDs. Along with other content, 38 questions addressed 4 primary outcomes: parental leave policy existence, accessibility, content, and barriers.

Childbearing Decisions in Residency: A Multicenter Survey of Female Residents.

Purpose: To characterize how female residents make decisions about childbearing, factors associated with the decision to delay childbearing, and satisfaction with these decisions.

Method: In 2017, the authors sent a voluntary, anonymous survey to 1,537 female residents enrolled across 78 graduate medical education programs, consisting of 25 unique specialties, at 6 U.S.

A National Survey of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers' Cardiology Services.

A survey found that of cardiology services were widely available at facilities across the US Department of Veterans Affairs, but the types of services varied considerably based on facility complexity.

Maternity Leave in Residency: A Multicenter Study of Determinants and Wellness Outcomes.

Purpose: To characterize determinants of resident maternity leave and the effect of length of leave on maternal well-being.

Method: In 2017, the authors sent a voluntary, anonymous survey to female residents at 78 programs, in 25 unique specialties, at 6 institutions. Survey items included personal, partner, and child demographics, and logistics of leave, including whether leave was paid or vacation or sick leave was used.

Milestone Implementation's Impact on Narrative Comments and Perception of Feedback for Internal Medicine Residents: a Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Feedback is a critical element of graduate medical education. Narrative comments on evaluation forms are a source of feedback for residents. As a shared mental model for performance, milestone-based evaluations may impact narrative comments and resident perception of feedback.

Impact of Laboratory Charge Display Within the Electronic Health Record Across an Entire Academic Medical Center: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To determine the impact of systemwide charge display on laboratory utilization.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial with a baseline period and an intervention period. Tests were randomized to a control arm or an active arm.

Effectiveness of an Interprofessional and Multidisciplinary Musculoskeletal Training Program.

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) problems are common, and a recent US Bone and Joint Initiative calls for new models of education and professional collaboration. Evidence of feasibility and acceptability of innovative methods are needed.

Objective: We assessed if an experimental immersion interdisciplinary MSK curriculum would be acceptable to residents from different specialties, be feasible within existing rotations, and be effective in strengthening clinical skills.

Emergency medicine and internal medicine trainees' smartphone use in clinical settings in the United States.

Purpose: Smartphone technology offers a multitude of applications (apps) that provide a wide range of functions for healthcare professionals. Medical trainees are early adopters of this technology, but how they use smartphones in clinical care remains unclear. Our objective was to further characterize smartphone use by medical trainees at two United States academic institutions, as well as their prior training in the clinical use of smartphones.

Effects of electronic health record use on the exam room communication skills of resident physicians: a randomized within-subjects study.

Background: The effects of electronic health records (EHRs) on doctor-patient communication are unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of EHR use compared with paper chart use, on novice physicians' communication skills.

Design: Within-subjects randomized controlled trial using observed structured clinical examination methods to assess the impact of use of an EHR on communication.

Development of a gene knockout system using mobile group II introns (Targetron) and genetic disruption of acid production pathways in Clostridium beijerinckii.

Clostridium beijerinckii is a well-known solvent-producing microorganism with great potential for biofuel and biochemical production. To better understand and improve the biochemical pathway to solvents, the development of genetic tools for engineering C. beijerinckii is highly desired.

Evaluation of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) exposures and illness among physicians in training.

Background: A cluster of influenza-like illness (ILI) among physicians in training during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic (pH1N1) led to a health hazard evaluation.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to examine exposures, infection control practices, ILI prevalence, and transmission among physicians in training at 4 affiliated hospitals during the pandemic. We administered an electronic survey and met with physicians in training and hospital personnel.

Metabolic network reconstruction and genome-scale model of butanol-producing strain Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052.

Background: Solventogenic clostridia offer a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based production of butanol--an important chemical feedstock and potential fuel additive or replacement. C. beijerinckii is an attractive microorganism for strain design to improve butanol production because it (i) naturally produces the highest recorded butanol concentrations as a byproduct of fermentation; and (ii) can co-ferment pentose and hexose sugars (the primary products from lignocellulosic hydrolysis).

Achievements and perspectives to overcome the poor solvent resistance in acetone and butanol-producing microorganisms.

Anaerobic bacteria such as the solventogenic clostridia can ferment a wide range of carbon sources (e.g., glucose, galactose, cellobiose, mannose, xylose, and arabinose) to produce carboxylic acids (acetic and butyric) and solvents such as acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE).

Accomplishments in genome-scale in silico modeling for industrial and medical biotechnology.

Driven by advancements in high-throughput biological technologies and the growing number of sequenced genomes, the construction of in silico models at the genome scale has provided powerful tools to investigate a vast array of biological systems and applications. Here, we review comprehensively the uses of such models in industrial and medical biotechnology, including biofuel generation, food production, and drug development. While the use of in silico models is still in its early stages for delivering to industry, significant initial successes have been achieved.

Testing the exportability of a tool for detecting operational problems in VA teaching clinics.

Background: Recurrent operational problems in teaching clinics may be caused by the different medical preferences of patients, residents, faculty, and administrators. These preference differences can be identified by cultural consensus analysis (CCA), a standard anthropologic tool.

Objective: This study tests the exportability of a unique CCA tool to identify site-specific operational problems at 5 different VA teaching clinics.

Residents as members of intern selection committees: can they partially replace faculty?

Background: Faculty involvement in the residency selection process is important, but increasing pressures on available faculty resources have made their ability to participate more difficult. Residents may be acceptable substitutions for some faculty in the selection process.

Purpose: To test 2 new interview models and explore whether residents could partially replace faculty by examining what role the interview itself plays in the overall assessment of an applicant, comparing faculty and resident ratings of the interview, and asking whether partially substituting residents for faculty had an impact on the match outcome.

The feasibility and acceptability of implementing formal evaluation sessions and using descriptive vocabulary to assess student performance on a clinical clerkship.

Background: A systematized approach to descriptive evaluation of clinical performance using a vocabulary of global descriptors in the setting of formal evaluation and feedback sessions has been shown to be reliable and valid. The feasibility of this method beyond the institution at which it was developed has not been studied.

Purpose: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing formal evaluation and feedback sessions, using a vocabulary of global descriptors, in a third-year core clinical clerkship.