Investigating the nature of trust in the medical student-professor relationship: an interview study.

While trust is an essential resource in successful social exchanges, the basis of trust in the student-professor relationship in higher education has not been extensively studied. The purpose of the present study was to gain a better understanding of how trust is developed within a medical school learning environment. To that end, we applied a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews.

Bringing back the core concepts of physiology in an advanced medical school senior elective.

Integrating physiology core concepts into the clinical years of medical education has been challenging despite efforts. This article describes a fourth-year medical school elective, Advanced Physiology in Critical Care Medicine, that focused on integrating physiology core concepts in a case-based learning approach. The elective used interdisciplinary faculty in a virtual forum.

Relationships between medical student wellness, self-efficacy, and academic performance during the "post-COVID" period.

This study was a part of a longitudinal study investigating the relationships between medical student wellness, self-efficacy, and performance. Eighty-two eligible students were asked to complete online surveys during their second (M2) and third (M3) years. Performance outcomes included scores on various summative assessments during the M.

Comparing Machine Learning Models and Human Raters When Ranking Medical Student Performance Evaluations.

Background: The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE), a narrative summary of each student's academic and professional performance in US medical school is long, making it challenging for residency programs evaluating large numbers of applicants.

Objective: To create a rubric to assess MSPE narratives and to compare the ability of 3 commercially available machine learning models (MLMs) to rank MSPEs in order of positivity.

Methods: Thirty out of a possible 120 MSPEs from the University of Central Florida class of 2020 were de-identified and subjected to manual scoring and ranking by a pair of faculty members using a new rubric based on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies, and to global sentiment analysis by the MLMs.

A metacognitive confidence calibration (MCC) tool to help medical students scaffold diagnostic reasoning in decision-making during high-fidelity patient simulations.

The purpose of this study was to ) help novice students scaffold problem-solving and engage safely in the deliberate practice of diagnostic reasoning and medical decision-making in real time; ) assess how accurately students gather and apply data in medical reasoning and treatment during high-fidelity patient simulations (HFPSs); ) identify students' scientific misconceptions related to the case; ) promote student metacognitive processing, self-assessment, and self-efficacy; and ) facilitate the explicit calibration of student confidence in deliberate reasoning with patient outcomes. In a mixed-method design, a metacognitive calibration self-assessing (MCC) survey tool was applied to HFPS ( = 80, 20 teams of 6 medical students) and semistructured interviews were conducted with faculty ( = 5). When scored by faculty with a rubric, the mean student accuracy ranged from 23% to 74%, whereas their self-assessment of confidence ranged from 71% to 86%.

Understanding reasons for electing gap years between undergraduate education and medical school and the impact of gap years on the student experience of medical education.

Gap years have grown in popularity among students attempting to go to medical school in recent years. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), more than half of matriculated students now have taken time off between their undergraduate studies and medical school. Although many claim benefits to taking gap years, research on the impacts of these experiences on medical students is largely nonexistent.

Effects of voluntary attendance patterns on first-year medical students' wellness and academic performance during COVID-19.

There is increasing evidence that attendance is not a reliable predictor of academic performance, which invites the question of whether attendance may have alternative positive effects such as increased student wellness. While conducting an observational cohort study on the relationship of attendance to performance and wellness, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown changed the ability of students to attend class. Matriculating medical students were recruited to participate at the beginning of their first year in August 2019.

Using the physiology of normal aging as a capstone integration exercise in a medical physiology course.

As the Baby Boomer generation reaches old age, there has been a significant increase in the number of older adults needing healthcare over the past decade. The physiology of aging is therefore a highly relevant topic for the preclinical medical curriculum. I describe a new capstone unit on the physiology of aging, placed at the end a medical physiology course, to provide a vehicle for integration of prior learning about physiology of each individual body system.

Patterns of medical student engagement in a second-year pathophysiology course: relationship to USMLE Step 1 performance.

Historically, attendance has been a marker of academic performance, but the current medical education literature has had mixed results. In addition, attendance is dropping in the preclinical curricula, whereas, at the same time, the focus on United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 performance is increasing. This present study is a mixed-method approach correlating student attendance and access to the formal curriculum in a second-year pathophysiology course to performance on Step 1.

Relationship between classroom attendance and examination performance in a second-year medical pathophysiology class.

Studies completed with undergraduate populations have shown that attendance positively correlates with academic performance. A marked decline in classroom attendance within medical school has recently been noticed with the availability of video capture of lectures and other online material. This study compares these in the era of online material.

Developing a tool for observing group critical thinking skills in first-year medical students: a pilot study using physiology-based, high-fidelity patient simulations.

Most assessments of physiology in medical school use multiple choice tests that may not provide information about a student's critical thinking (CT) process. There are limited performance assessments, but high-fidelity patient simulations (HFPS) may be a feasible platform. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether a group's CT process could be observed over a series of HFPS.

Understanding factors affecting participation in online formative quizzes: an interview study.

A positive correlation between performance and participation in formative quizzes and final summative examinations has been reported many times. The goal of the present interview study was to construct a model to explain why students may elect not to engage with formative assessment opportunities. Our medical school's preclinical curriculum has an established policy of offering weekly online quizzes in all courses during the first 2 yr.

Current Practices in Assessing Professionalism in United States and Canadian Allopathic Medical Students and Residents.

Professionalism is a critically important competency that must be evaluated in medical trainees but is a complex construct that is hard to assess. A systematic review was undertaken to give insight into the current best practices for assessment of professionalism in medical trainees and to identify new research priorities in the field. A search was conducted on PubMed for behavioral assessments of medical students and residents among the United States and Canadian allopathic schools in the last 15 years.

Best practices in summative assessment.

The goal of this review is to highlight key elements underpinning excellent high-stakes summative assessment. This guide is primarily aimed at faculty members with the responsibility of assigning student grades and is intended to be a practical tool to help throughout the process of planning, developing, and deploying tests as well as monitoring their effectiveness. After a brief overview of the criteria for high-quality assessment, the guide runs through best practices for aligning assessment with learning outcomes and compares common testing modalities.

Team-based learning in large enrollment classes.

The goal of this review is to highlight the key elements needed to successfully deploy team-based learning (TBL) in any class, but especially in large enrolment classes, where smooth logistics are essential. The text is based on a lecture and workshop given at the American Physiological Society's Institute on Teaching and Learning in Madison, WI, in June 2016. After a short overview of the TBL method, its underpinning in learning theory, and a summary of current evidence for its effectiveness, we present two case studies from our own teaching practices in a new medical school.

Application of a utility analysis to evaluate a novel assessment tool for clinically oriented physiology and pharmacology.

Multiple-choice questions are a gold-standard tool in medical school for assessment of knowledge and are the mainstay of licensing examinations. However, multiple-choice questions items can be criticized for lacking the ability to test higher-order learning or integrative thinking across multiple disciplines. Our objective was to develop a novel assessment that would address understanding of pathophysiology and pharmacology, evaluate learning at the levels of application, evaluation and synthesis, and allow students to demonstrate clinical reasoning.

Learning theories 101: application to everyday teaching and scholarship.

Shifts in educational research, in how scholarship in higher education is defined, and in how funding is appropriated suggest that educators within basic science fields can benefit from increased understanding of learning theory and how it applies to classroom practice. This article uses a mock curriculum design scenario as a framework for the introduction of five major learning theories. Foundational constructs and principles from each theory and how they apply to the proposed curriculum designs are described.

Use of the NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Examination as a progress test in the preclerkship curriculum of a new medical school.

In the present study, we describe the innovative use of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Comprehensive Basic Science Examination (CBSE) as a progress test during the preclerkship medical curriculum. The main aim of this study was to provide external validation of internally developed multiple-choice assessments in a new medical school. The CBSE is a practice exam for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and is purchased directly from the NBME.

Faculty reflections on the process of building an integrated preclerkship curriculum: a new school perspective.

This is a reflective essay based on the experience of developing a structure and function module within a new integrated medical curriculum. Our hope is that the insights we gained during a 4-yr journey in a new medical school will be transferable to others engaged with curriculum development. Here, we present an interpretive analysis of our personal experiences together with some original research data and a synthesis of the literature.

Development and evaluation of an interactive electronic laboratory manual for cooperative learning of medical histology.

This article describes the development of an interactive computer-based laboratory manual, created to facilitate the teaching and learning of medical histology. The overarching goal of developing the manual is to facilitate self-directed group interactivities that actively engage students during laboratory sessions. The design of the manual includes guided instruction for students to navigate virtual slides, exercises for students to monitor learning, and cases to provide clinical relevance.

Are faculty predictions or item taxonomies useful for estimating the outcome of multiple-choice examinations?

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether multiple-choice item difficulty could be predicted either by a subjective judgment by the question author or by applying a learning taxonomy to the items. Eight physiology faculty members teaching an upper-level undergraduate human physiology course consented to participate in the study. The faculty members annotated questions before exams with the descriptors "easy," "moderate," or "hard" and classified them according to whether they tested knowledge, comprehension, or application.

Insights gained from the analysis of performance and participation in online formative assessment.

Background: Online quizzes are simple, cost-effective methods to provide formative assessment, but their effectiveness in enhancing learning and performance in medical education is unclear.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to determine the extent to which online quiz performance and participation enhances students' performance on summative examinations.

Methods: A retrospective case study investigating relationships between formative and summative assessment in terms of use and outcomes.