Effects of vegetation degradation on soil microbial communities and ecosystem multifunctionality in a karst region, southwest China.

Vegetation degradation caused by intense human disturbances poses a significant challenge to the preservation and improvement of ecosystem functions and services in the karst region of southwest China. Soil microorganisms are major regulators of ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). Currently, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the effects of vegetation degradation on soil microbial communities and their corresponding multiple ecosystem functions in karst regions.

Development and Results of the First Certification Examination in the American Board of Medical Specialties Neurocritical Care Subspecialty.

This article reviews the development of the American Board of Medical Specialties subspecialty in neurocritical care (NCC) and describes the requirements for certification and the results of the first certification examination administered in October 2021. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) is the administrative board, and the sponsoring boards are the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), and American Board of Neurological Surgery. The American Board of Medical Specialties approved the subspecialty in 2018, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education developed and approved the training requirements in 2021.

An Article-Based Format for Medical Specialty and Subspecialty Maintenance of Certification.

Introduction: This article describes an article-based alternative for maintenance of certification that the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology developed and began pilot testing in 2019. The rationale for and components of the pilot program are presented along with data on participant performance and feedback from the first year of implementation in three primary specialties (neurology, child neurology, and psychiatry) and one subspecialty (child and adolescent psychiatry).

Methods: Evaluation of the pilot program was guided by a widely used validity framework.

Analysis and Research on Human Movement in Sports Scene.

As a whole-body sport, skipping rope plays an increasingly important role in daily life. In rope-skipping education, due to the lack of professional teachers, the training efficiency of students is low. The rope-skipping monitoring device is heavy and expensive, and the cost of labor statistics and energy consumption are high.

Performance of Certification and Recertification Examinees on Multiple Choice Test Items: Does Physician Age Have an Impact?

Introduction: The development of recertification programs (now referred to as Maintenance of Certification or MOC) by the members of the American Board of Medical Specialties provides the opportunity to study knowledge base across the professional lifespan of physicians. Research results to date are mixed with some studies finding negative associations between age and various measures of competency and others finding no or minimal relationships.

Methods: Four groups of multiple choice test items that were independently developed for certification and MOC examinations in psychiatry and neurology were administered to certification and MOC examinees within each specialty.

Comparison of Certification and Recertification Examinee Performance on Multiple-Choice Items in Forensic Psychiatry.

Research on the association between age and performance on tests of medical knowledge has generally shown an inverse relationship, which is of concern because of the positive association between measures of knowledge and measures of clinical performance. Because the certification and maintenance of certification (MOC) examinations in the subspecialty of forensic psychiatry draw on a common item bank, performance of the two groups of examinees on the same items could be compared. In addition, the relationship between age and test performance was analyzed.

The promise and challenge of including multimedia items in medical licensure examinations: some insights from an empirical trial.

Background: The Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination conducted a trial of multimedia items in the 2008-2009 Level 3 testing cycle to determine (1) if multimedia items were able to test additional elements of medical knowledge and skills and (2) how to develop effective multimedia items.

Method: Forty-four content-matched multimedia and text multiple-choice items were randomly delivered to Level 3 candidates. Logistic regression and paired-samples t tests were used for pairwise and group-level comparisons, respectively.

A departmental outcome assessment to evaluate educational achievement.

Defining and addressing outcome objectives is a crucial process in medical science and education. One outcome objective of the Physiology/ Pharmacology Department at Des Moines University is to prepare students to successfully complete Part I of the national licensure examination. This study assesses the effectiveness of the departmental curriculum in helping the students achieve success on Part I of the licensure examination.

Predictive validity of osteopathic medical licensing examinations for osteopathic medical knowledge measured by graduate written examinations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive validity of osteopathic medical licensing examinations for osteopathic medical knowledge measured by graduate written medical examinations. Performances on the three osteopathic initial licensing examinations, the three osteopathic internal medicine in-service examinations, and the osteopathic internal medicine board certification examinations were analyzed for a cohort of the most recent osteopathic internal medicine board certification examination candidates (N = 82). Multiple regressions were performed for the predictive value of licensing examination scores for the late examination scores.

Relationship of osteopathic medical licensure examinations with undergraduate admission measures and predictive value of identifying future performance in osteopathic principles and practice/osteopathic manipulative medicine courses and rotations.

Two hundred sixty-five students from four classes at one school of osteopathic medicine were studied to determine the correlation between several frequently used premedical admission criteria to predict performance on the early and current versions of the osteopathic medical licensure examinations. Further analysis evaluated the predictive value of the examination of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) and its successor, the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination-USA (COMLEX-USA) in determining subsequent performance in the ascending levels of the examination sequence, as well as to predict performance in the courses and rotations of osteopathic principles and practice (OPP) and osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). This study also investigated the relationship between the early and later parts of the osteopathic medical licensure examinations.

Progress Testing for Postgraduate Medical Education: a Four-Year Experiment of American College of Osteopathic Surgeons Resident Examinations.

An experiment of progress testing for postgraduate medical education was evaluated for the psychometric properties and evaluation utilities of its outcome. Psychometric analysis emphasized reliability, construct validity, exam structure, and equating quality, while analysis of evaluation value focused on growth trajectories of several cohorts of residents. The analyses concluded that progress testing for postgraduate education was feasible.