How Full Is Your Tank? A Qualitative Exploration of Faculty Volunteerism in a National Professional Development Program.

Objective: Professional development programs (PDPs) within academic professional organizations rely on faculty volunteers, but little is known about the volunteering process and experience. Our aim was to gain insights into the initial decision to volunteer, the experience of volunteering and the decision to re-volunteer or not (ie, remain or leave as a volunteer). The study setting was a PDP of the Academic Pediatric Association, the Educational Scholars Program.

If You Build It, Will They Come? A Hard Lesson for Enthusiastic Medical Educators Developing a New Curriculum.

Background: Primary care forms a critical part of pediatricians' practices, yet the most effective ways to teach primary care during residency are not known.

Objective: We established a new primary care curriculum based on Malcolm Knowles' theory of andragogy, with brief clinical content that is easily accessible and available in different formats.

Methods: We used Kern's model to create a curriculum.

Crossing the Gap: Using Competency-Based Assessment to Determine Whether Learners Are Ready for the Undergraduate-to-Graduate Transition.

In 2011, the Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum (EPAC) Study Group recruited four medical schools (University of California, San Francisco; University of Colorado; University of Minnesota; and University of Utah) and their associated pediatrics clerkship and residency program directors to be part of a consortium to pilot a model designed to advance learners from undergraduate medical education (UME) to graduate medical education (GME) and then to fellowship or practice based on competence rather than time spent in training. The central design features of this pilot included predetermined expectations of performance and transition criteria to ensure readiness to progress from UME to GME, using the Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency (Core EPAs) as a common assessment framework. Using this framework, each site team (which included, but was not limited to, the EPAC course, pediatric clerkship, and pediatric residency program directors) monitored learners' progress, with the site's clinical competency committee marking the point of readiness to transition from UME to GME (i.

Beyond Nutrition Knowledge and Tools-What Do Pediatric Providers Really Need?

Nutrition counseling continues to be a concern for pediatric providers. This study aimed to extend the understanding of the perceptions of pediatric providers regarding nutrition care. Individual semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted using a purposive sampling technique.

Tools for Learning About the Referral and Consultation Process for Pediatric Residents.

Management of referral and consultation is an entrustable professional activity for pediatric residents; however, few tools exist to teach these skills. We designed and implemented tools to prompt discussion, feedback, and reflection about the process of referral, notably including the family's perspective.

Narrative Derived From Medical Student Reflection in Action: Lessons Learned and Implications for Assessment.

A process and tool that prompts learners to think about and reflect on their clinical performance was implemented. Learner narrative reflections about their work and faculty feedback, both captured in the moment, provided data for decisions about level of performance in a competency-based assessment system.

Designing a National Longitudinal Faculty Development Curriculum Focused on Educational Scholarship: Process, Outcomes, and Lessons Learned.

Problem: Clinical educators at U.S. academic health centers are frequently disadvantaged in the academic promotion system, lacking needed faculty development, mentoring, and networking support.

Positive Impact of Transition From Noon Conference to Academic Half Day in a Pediatric Residency Program.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of transitioning from noon conference (NC) to academic half day (AHD) on conference attendance, interruptions, and perceived protected educational time and to describe pediatric resident experiences with AHD.

Methods: In this mixed-methods study, data before and after AHD implementation were collected. Quantitative data were analyzed with a 2-variable t test or chi-square test.

The JeffSTARS Advocacy and Community Partnership Elective: A Closer Look at Child Health Advocacy in Action.

Introduction: Advocacy and service-learning increasingly are being incorporated into medical education and residency training. The Jefferson Service Training in Advocacy for Residents and Students (JeffSTARS) curriculum is an educational program for Thomas Jefferson University and Nemours trainees. The JeffSTARS Advocacy and Community Partnership Elective is one of two core components of the larger curriculum.

Ward Rounds With or Without an Attending Physician: How Interns Learn Most Successfully.

Objective: To explore pediatric interns' perspectives on the educational value of general pediatric ward rounds, in particular their rounding experiences with and without an attending physician.

Methods: Qualitative study using individual interviews of pediatric interns (2013-2014) rotating on 2 general pediatric inpatient services at different institutions with different rounding team structures. In accordance with grounded theory methodology, data were analyzed using the constant comparative method.

Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Three Zoo Elephants and a Human Contact - Oregon, 2013.

In 2013, public health officials in Multnomah County, Oregon, started an investigation of a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak among elephants and humans at a local zoo. The investigation ultimately identified three bull elephants with active TB and 118 human contacts of the elephants. Ninety-six (81%) contacts were evaluated, and seven close contacts were found to have latent TB infection.

Medical students' experiences working with frequently rotating pediatric inpatient attending physicians.

Objective: To explore medical students' experiences working with frequently rotating pediatric inpatient attending physicians.

Methods: We performed a qualitative study using focus groups and individual interviews of medical students who rotated on the general pediatric inpatient service at Children's Hospital Colorado. The majority of inpatient pediatric attending physicians worked 1-week blocks.

A longitudinal career-focused block for third-year pediatrics residents.

Background: The traditional 1-month training blocks in pediatrics may fail to provide sufficient exposure to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes residents need for practice and may not be conducive to mentoring relationships with faculty and continuity with patients.

Intervention: We created a 4-month career-focused experience (CFE) for third-year residents. The CFE included block time and longitudinal experiences in different content areas related to residents' choice of urban and rural primary care, hospitalist medicine, or subspecialty care (prefellowship).

Narrative descriptions should replace grades and numerical ratings for clinical performance in medical education in the United States.

Background: In medical education, evaluation of clinical performance is based almost universally on rating scales for defined aspects of performance and scores on examinations and checklists. Unfortunately, scores and grades do not capture progress and competence among learners in the complex tasks and roles required to practice medicine. While the literature suggests serious problems with the validity and reliability of ratings of clinical performance based on numerical scores, the critical issue is not that judgments about what is observed vary from rater to rater but that these judgments are lost when translated into numbers on a scale.

Assessing residents' written learning goals and goal writing skill: validity evidence for the learning goal scoring rubric.

Purpose: To provide validity evidence for use of the Learning Goal Scoring Rubric to assess the quality of written learning goals and residents' goal writing skills.

Method: This two-part study used the rubric to assess University of Colorado third-year pediatric residents' written learning goals to obtain validity evidence. In study 1, five raters independently scored 48 goals written in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 by 48 residents, who also responded to the Jefferson Scale of Physician Lifelong Learning (JeffSPLL).

Attitudes of affiliate faculty members toward medical student summative evaluation for clinical clerkships: a qualitative analysis.

Background: Summative evaluation of medical students is a critical component of the educational process. Despite extensive literature on evaluation, few studies have centered on affiliate faculty members' attitudes toward summative evaluation of students, though it has been suggested that these attitudes influence their effectiveness as evaluators.

Purpose: The objective is to examine affiliate faculty members' attitudes toward clinical clerkship evaluation using primarily qualitative research methods.

Observation of resident clinical skills: outcomes of a program of direct observation in the continuity clinic setting.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of a new multi-institutional program of direct observation and report what faculty observed and the feedback they provided.

Methods: A program of direct observation of real patient encounters was implemented in 3 pediatric residency programs using a structured clinical observation (SCO) form to document what was observed and the feedback given. Outcome variables included the number of observations made, the nature of the feedback provided, resident attitudes about direct observation before and after implementation, and the response of the faculty.

Evaluating the performance of medical educators: a novel analysis tool to demonstrate the quality and impact of educational activities.

Purpose: Traditional promotion standards rely heavily on quantification of research grants and publications in the curriculum vitae. The promotion and retention of educators is challenged by the lack of accepted standards to evaluate the depth, breadth, quality, and impact of educational activities. The authors sought to develop a practical analysis tool for the evaluation of educator portfolios (EPs), based on measurable outcomes that allow reproducible analysis of the quality and impact of educational activities.

Development and evaluation of an interactive multimedia clinical skills teaching program designed for the pediatric clerkship.

Background And Purpose: We evaluated the physical-examination section of a multimedia program developed to teach infant history and physical-examination skills.

Methods: A total of 71 students participated: one group viewed only the physical-examination section (PX), one the history section (HX), one none of the program (CX). We assessed physical-examination skills by direct observation of medical students performing an abdominal exam and scored using a checklist at baseline, immediately after intervention, and at the end of the pediatric clerkship.

Using standardized patient outcome to measure the effect of teaching asthma-related patient education and information-giving skills to medical students.

Background: Patient education and giving information is a core skill that improves patient adherence and medical outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of a teaching intervention on 3rd-year students' competency in patient education and information giving about asthma medication delivery.

Methods: Students (n=81) completed a 1-hr teaching intervention of didactics followed by role playing of asthma patient education scenarios.

Improving the interviewing and self-assessment skills of medical students: is it time to readopt videotaping as an educational tool?

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a videotaping program on third-year medical students' interviewing and self-assessment skills.

Methods: A self-assessment manual, listing and explaining 21 core elements of the medical interview, was developed. After reading the manual, students videotaped an interview and self-assessed their performances.