A Grant-Based Experiment to Train Clinical Investigators: The AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop.

To address the need for clinical investigators in oncology, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) established the Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop (MCCRW). The workshop's objectives were to: (i) provide training in the methods, design, and conduct of clinical trials; (ii) ensure that clinical trials met federal and international ethical guidelines; (iii) evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop; and (iv) create networking opportunities for young investigators with mentoring senior faculty. Educational methods included: (i) didactic lectures, (ii) Small Group Discussion Sessions, (iii) Protocol Development Groups, and (iv) one-on-one mentoring.

Effects of a patient's name and image on medical knowledge acquisition.

Purpose: To assess whether there are differences in medical students' (MS) knowledge acquisition after being provided a virtual patient (VP) case summary with a patient's name and facial picture included compared to no patient's name or image.

Method: 76 MS from four clerkship blocks participated. Blocks one and three (Treatment group) were provided case materials containing the patient's name and facial picture while blocks two and four (Control group) were provided similar materials without the patient's name or image.

Career transition and dental school faculty development program.

Academic dentistry, as a career track, is not attracting sufficient numbers of new recruits to maintain a corps of skilled dental educators. The Faculty Development Program (FDP) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School received federal funds to institute a 7-component program to enhance faculty recruitment and retention and provide training in skills associated with success in academics including:(1) a Teaching Excellence and Academic Skills (TExAS)Fellowship, (2) training in research methodology,evidence-based practice research, and information management, (3) an annual dental hygiene faculty development workshop for dental hygiene faculty, (4) a Teaching Honors Program and Academic Dental Careers Fellowship to cultivate students' interest in educational careers, (5) an Interprofessional Primary Care Rotation,(6) advanced education support toward a master's degree in public health, and (7) a key focus of the entire FDP, an annual Career Transition Workshop to facilitate movement from the practice arena to the educational arm of the profession.The Career Transition Workshop is a cap stone for the FDP; its goal is to build a bridge from practice to academic environment.

Constructing licensure exams: a reliability study of case-based questions on the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination.

Patient cases with associated questions are a method for increasing the clinical relevance of licensure exams. This study used generalizability theory to assess changes in score reliability when the number of questions per case varied in the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE). The experimental design maintained the same total number of case-based items, while varying the number of cases and items within cases to assess changes in score reliability.

Reporting school data on the dental licensure examination.

Beginning in 2012, candidate performance on the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) has been reported as pass/fail, and only the failing candidates receive numerical scores for remediation purposes. The Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations recognizes that the numerical scores have been important information to dental schools for curriculum evaluation and that the pass/fail reports do not provide meaningful information to the schools. This article describes the process of evaluating and validating a new model for reporting standardized school-level performance data on the NBDE.

Short-answer questions and formula scoring separately enhance dental student academic performance.

In this study, numerical course scores of second-year dental students in four successive classes in an oral and maxillofacial pathology course were compared. While the course content and teaching methods were essentially unchanged throughout the four years, two modest departures from the sole use of multiple-choice format questions were made in the assessment of student achievements. The modifications consisted of creating a more challenging examination procedure through the inclusion of un-cued short-answer format questions and the institution of correction-for-guessing scoring on multiple-choice examinations.

Validating the standard for the National Board Dental Examination Part II.

As part of the overall exam validation process, the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations periodically reviews and validates the pass/fail standard for the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE), Parts I and II. The most recent standard-setting activities for NBDE Part II used the Objective Standard Setting method. This report describes the process used to set the pass/fail standard for the 2009 exam.

Short-answer examinations improve student performance in an oral and maxillofacial pathology course.

The effect of examination question format on student performance was assessed by investigating three academically comparable second-year dental school classes in an oral and maxillofacial pathology course. One class was given examinations with all multiple-choice questions, one class was given examinations with all short-answer questions, and one class was given examinations with half multiple-choice questions and half short-answer questions. The class given examinations with half short-answer questions along with half multiple-choice questions had a significantly higher average score and grade category distribution (80-100 percent, 70-79 percent, <70 percent) than the class given examinations with all multiple-choice questions.

Prospective implementation of correction for guessing in oral and maxillofacial pathology multiple-choice examinations: did student performance improve?

A standard correction for random guessing on multiple-choice examinations was implemented prospectively in an Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology course for second-year dental students. The correction was a weighted scoring formula for points awarded for correct answers, incorrect answers, and unanswered questions such that the expected gain in the multiple-choice examination score due to random guessing was zero. An equally weighted combination of four examinations using equal numbers of short-answer questions and multiple-choice questions was used for student evaluation.

Improving resident performance assessment data: numeric precision and narrative specificity.

Purpose: To evaluate the use of a systems approach for diagnosing performance assessment problems in surgery residencies, and intervene to improve the numeric precision of global rating scores and the behavioral specificity of narrative comments.

Method: Faculty and residents at two surgery programs participated in parallel before- and-after trials. During the baseline year, quality assurance data were gathered and problems were identified.

Educating treatment professionals about addiction science research: demographics of knowledge and belief changes.

Communication of accurate, objective, and timely scientific information to treatment professionals is important--especially in the "drug abuse" and addiction field where misinformation and a lack of exposure to new information are common. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and belief changes that accompanied educational workshops (3 or 6 hr-long) on addiction science targeted to treatment professionals (N=1403) given in the United States and Puerto Rico between July 2000 and August 2001. Each workshop covered three main concepts: (1) terms and definitions; (2) basic neurochemistry of addiction; and (3) how new neurobiological knowledge will affect the treatment of addictions in the future.

Do peer chart audits improve residents' performance in providing preventive care?

Purpose: One recommended method to evaluate residents' competence in practice-based learning and improvement is chart audit. This study determined whether residents improved in providing preventive care after a peer chart audit program was initiated.

Method: Residents audited 1,005 charts and scored their peers on 12 clinical preventive services.

Effectiveness of addiction science presentations to treatment professionals, using a modified Solomon study design.

Objectives: Knowledge of addiction research findings is critical for healthcare professionals who treat addicted patients. However, there is little information available about the instructional effectiveness of lecture-slide presentations in changing knowledge vs. beliefs of such professionals.

A multimedia patient simulation for teaching and assessing endodontic diagnosis.

Teaching and assessing diagnostic skills are difficult due to relatively small numbers of total clinical experiences and a shortage of clinical faculty. Patient simulations could help teach and assess diagnosis by displaying a well-defined diagnostic task, then providing informative feedback and opportunities for repetition and correction of errors. This report describes the development and initial evaluation of SimEndo I, a multimedia patient simulation program that could be used for teaching or assessing endodontic diagnosis.

Evaluation of a Role-Play Learning Exercise in an Ambulatory Clinic Setting.

Learning in ambulatory settings can be aided by teaching activities which do not slow the pace of the clinic. In this study, simulated-parent role-play scripts were developed for use with students prior to seeing actual patients. During the learning exercise, a faculty member role-played various parents, a medical student role-played the physician while another student observed.

Resident education outcomes and perception of a seminar format to teach female pelvic anatomy and procedures to correct pelvic prolapse.

Urologic residents need to learn basic and applied knowledge of female pelvic anatomy, a subject rarely taught beyond preclinical undergraduate medical education. This study tests the hypothesis that urologic resident knowledge of female pelvic anatomy and prolapse may be enhanced with a seminar. Twenty residents attended a one day seminar combining didactics and a cadaveric dissection related to female pelvic anatomy and female pelvic prolapse conditions.