The Role for Simulation in Professional Identity Formation in Medical Students.

Introduction: Authentic clinical experiences and reflection are critical for medical student professional identity formation (PIF). Individualized learning plans and competency-based education accelerate time to graduation, thus creating more demand for students to gain PIF experiences early in medical education. This pilot study investigated student professional identity experiences related to participation in a clinical simulation during the first week of medical school.

Improv to improve medical student communication.

Background: Effective patient provider communication skills can be difficult and time-consuming to teach. Deliberate practice of communication skills through improvisational theatre exercises, with structured debriefing, can provide a solution for teaching patient-centred communication skills in time-limited settings. The objective of this study was to determine if improvisational theatre exercises improved the ratings of patient satisfaction and empathetic communication by standardised patients.

Closing the Gap Between Preclinical and Clinical Training: Impact of a Transition-to-Clerkship Course on Medical Students' Clerkship Performance.

Problem: Medical students typically perform worse on clinical clerkships that take place early in their training compared with those that occur later. Some institutions have developed transition-to-clerkship courses (TTCCs) to improve students' preparedness for the clinical phase of the curriculum. Yet, the impact of TTCCs on students' performance has not been evaluated.

Improving Passage Rate on USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills: Results from a Pilot Program.

In the United States (US), successful passage of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Skills (Step 2 CS) is required to enter into residency training. In 2017, the USMLE announced an increase in performance standards for Step 2 CS. As a consequence, it is anticipated that the passage rate for the examination will decrease significantly for both US and international students.

Curated Collections for Educators: Five Key Papers on Evaluating Digital Scholarship.

Traditionally, scholarship that was recognized for promotion and tenure consisted of clinical research, bench research, and grant funding. Recent trends have allowed for differing approaches to scholarship, including digital publication. As increasing numbers of trainees and faculty turn to online educational resources, it is imperative to critically evaluate these resources.

Influence of muscle strength on early mobility in critically ill adult patients: Systematic literature review.

Background: Muscle strength may be one indicator of readiness to mobilize that can be used to guide decisions regarding early mobility efforts and to progressively advance mobilization.

Objectives: To provide a synthesis of current measures of muscle strength in the assessment of early mobilization in critically ill adult patients who are receiving MV therapy.

Methods: Research studies conducted between 2000-2015 were identified using PubMed, CINHAL, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews databases using the search terms "muscle strength", "intensive care", "mechanical ventilation" and "muscle weakness".

Academic Primer Series: Five Key Papers about Team Collaboration Relevant to Emergency Medicine.

Introduction: Team collaboration is an essential for success both within academics and the clinical environment. Often, team collaboration is not explicitly taught during medical school or even residency, and must be learned during one's early career. In this article, we aim to summarize five key papers about team collaboration for early career clinician educators.

Intravenous Vitamin C Administered as Adjunctive Therapy for Recurrent Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

This case report summarizes the first use of intravenous vitamin C employed as an adjunctive interventional agent in the therapy of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The two episodes of ARDS occurred in a young female patient with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome, a rare, sporadically occurring, noninherited disorder that is characterized by extensive gastrointestinal polyposis and malabsorption. Prior to the episodes of sepsis, the patient was receiving nutrition via chronic hyperalimentation administered through a long-standing central venous catheter.

Effect of timing of dialysis on mortality in critically ill, septic patients with acute renal failure.

Acute renal failure with concomitant sepsis in the intensive care unit is associated with significant mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine if the timing of initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in septic patients had an effect on the 28-day mortality. Retrospective data on medical intensive care unit patients with sepsis and acute renal failure requiring RRT were included.

Primary brain T-cell lymphoma of the lymphoblastic type presenting as altered mental status.

The authors present a case of a 56-year-old man with altered mental status. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed non-enhancing abnormalities on T2 and FLAIR imaging in the brainstem, cerebellum, and cerebrum. Immunohistochemisty demonstrated precursor T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.

Devastating presentations of regional enteritis (Crohn's disease): two reports of survival following severe multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.

Background: Regional enteritis may present in the setting of a variety of clinical symptoms. These symptoms range from mild to severe.

Methods: Here we describe two different presentations of regional enteritis (Crohn's disease): one in the setting of Clostridium perfringens sepsis and the second in association with hemolytic-uremic syndrome.