The research productivity of Canadian physicians: how the timing of obtaining a PhD has an influence.

Purpose: To determine whether the sequence of training to obtain MD and PhD degrees is associated with different career paths for physicians who have their PhD before medical school and those who obtain it after their MD, and to explore the factors that encourage or dissuade Canadian dual-degree physicians in pursuing a research career.

Method: In 2003, questionnaires from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, were sent to all 734 Canadian physicians having MDs and PhDs, identified through the Canadian Medical Directory. Data collected were gender; year and country of MD; sequence of obtaining degrees; portion of time on clinical, research, teaching, and administrative duties; number of publications and currently held grant amounts; and perceived incentives and disincentives to research careers.

The inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of a new Canadian oral examination format in anesthesia is fair to good.

Purpose: In response to the Royal College's request to improve the validity and reliability of oral examinations, the Examination Board in anesthesia proposed a structured oral examination format. Prior to its introduction, we studied this format in two residency programs to determine reliability of the examiners.

Methods: Twenty faculty and 26 residents from two Canadian residency programs participated (Sites A and B).

Performance on ABA-ASA in-training examination predicts success for RCPSC certification. American Board of Anesthesiology-American Society of Anesthesiologists. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Purpose: Most Canadian University Departments of Anesthesia require residents to take the American Board of Anesthesiology-American Society of Anesthesiologists (ABA-ASA) in-training examination (ITE). The result is expressed as a percentile relative to all examinees at similar levels of training. Its value as a predictor of performance in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) certification examinations is not known.

Correlation of students' characteristics with their learning styles as they begin medical school.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between learning styles (surface, strategic, and deep learning) and admission data for an incoming class of medical students.

Method: In 1997, the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory (ASSIST) was administered to the University of Alberta Medical School's incoming class as part of their orientation. Ninety percent of the class completed the questionnaire, the results of which were correlated with prerequisite grade-point average (GPA), MCAT scores, number of years of premedical experience, and scores on autobiography, interview, and letters of reference.

Does volume of clinical experience affect performance of clinical clerks on surgery exit examinations?

Background: Controversy persists over the educational value of student clerkship clinical activities.

Methods: Students (109) from the class of 1995 recorded their clinical experiences in a logbook during their surgical clerkship at one of four affiliated teaching hospitals. The influence of clinical experience on examination scores and on correlations between prerotation and postrotation examination performance was determined.