Mental Health in Swiss Veterinary Medicine Students: Variables Associated with epression Scores.

Mental health and wellbeing in veterinary students have become an important area of study, given the high levels of mental distress compared to other professions. Although research has identified poor mental health of veterinary students, few studies have examined positive factors such as self-compassion, which can have a favorable effect on mental health. The aim of this study was to examine self-reported symptoms of depression and factors influencing this construct, such as loneliness, self-compassion, and various demographic aspects in Swiss veterinary students.

Evaluating the Construct Validity of Competencies: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: A competency-based framework focuses on alignment between professional standards and assessment design. This alignment implies improved measurement validity, yet it has not been established that competence in one context predicts performance in another context. High-stakes competence assessments offer insights into the relationship between assessment design and competencies.

Assessment Practices in Continuing Professional Development Activities in Health Professions: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: In continuing professional development (CPD), educators face the need to develop and implement innovative assessment strategies to adhere to accreditation standards and support lifelong learning. However, little is known about the development and validation of these assessment practices. We aimed to document the breadth and depth of what is known about the development and implementation of assessment practices within CPD activities.

Exploring gender influences in the quality of workplace-based assessments.

Introduction: Workplace-based assessments are an important tool for trainee feedback and as a means of reporting expert judgments of trainee competence in the workplace. However, the literature has demonstrated that gender bias can exist within these assessments. We aimed to determine whether gender differences in the quality of workplace-based assessment data exist in our residency training program.

Is COVID-19 perceived as a threat to equal career opportunities amongst Swiss medical students? A cross-sectional survey study from Bern and Geneva.

Introduction: Students frequently rely on part-time jobs to earn a living wage. We sought to evaluate the sociodemographic status of Swiss medical students and their perception regarding equal career opportunities in view of impaired part-time job opportunities under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted an anonymous online survey among Swiss medical students from Bern and Geneva over a period of 4 months between December 2020 and April 2021.

Analyzing interprofessional teamwork in the operating room: An exploratory observational study using conventional and alternative approaches.

Intraoperative teamwork is vital for patient safety. Conventional tools for studying intraoperative teamwork typically rely on behaviorally anchored rating scales applied at the individual or team level, while others capture narrative information across several units of analysis. This prospective observational study characterizes teamwork using two conventional tools (Operating Theatre Team Non-Technical Skills Assessment Tool [NOTECHS]; Team Emergency Assessment Measure [TEAM]), and one alternative approach (modified-Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety [SEIPS] model).

The Importance of Sociocultural Factors in Moderating the Applicability of Test-Enhanced Learning to Continuing Professional Development.

Many studies have shown that repeated testing promotes learning, an effect known as test-enhanced learning. Although test-enhanced learning has been well-established within health care trainees, there are mixed findings of whether testing facilitates learning within continuing professional development (CPD) contexts. This piece argues that for testing to support learning in CPD, there is need to understand the various social, cultural, and structural factors that influence clinicians' willingness to participate in regular testing activities.

Development and Validation of the Transition Readiness Assessment Instrument in Type 1 Diabetes "On TRAck".

Objectives: Transition to adult care is challenging for youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their caregivers. We have developed the diabetes-specific "On TRAck" transition readiness scale, and in this study we assess its reliability and validity compared with TRANSITION-Q, a generic transition readiness questionnaire.

Methods: We systematically created 3 versions of On TRAck: adolescent, parent and health-care provider (HCP) versions (for case managers and physicians).

Mental Disorder Symptoms and the Relationship with Resilience among Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site.

There is growing recognition in research and policy of a mental health crisis among Canada's paramedics; however, despite this, epidemiological surveillance of the problem is in its infancy. Just weeks before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we surveyed paramedics from a single, large, urban paramedic service in Ontario, Canada to assess for symptom clusters consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder and to identify potential risk factors for each. In total, we received 589 completed surveys (97% completion rate) and found that 11% screened positive for PTSD, 15% screened positive for major depressive disorder, and 15% screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder, with one in four active-duty paramedics screening positive for any of the three as recently as February 2020.

Role Identity, Dissonance, and Distress among Paramedics.

Role identity theory describes the purpose and meaning in life that comes, in part, from occupying social roles. While robustly linked to health and wellbeing, this may become unideal when an individual is unable to fulfill the perceived requirements of an especially salient role in the manner that they believe they should. Amid high rates of mental illness among public safety personnel, we interviewed a purposely selected sample of 21 paramedics from a single service in Ontario, Canada, to explore incongruence between an espoused and able-to-enact paramedic role identity.

Classic test and generalizability theories are both useful for cross-cultural adaptation of an allergic rhinitis health-related quality of life questionnaire.

Background: An instrument to assess Allergic Rhinitis (AR) Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) in adult patients was developed in Spain. No validated instrument is currently cross-culturally adapted for use in daily practice to assess HRQL in AR patients in Colombia.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the measurement performance of an AR-HRQL specific questionnaire, ESPRINT-15 (Cuestionario ESPañol de Calidad de Vida en RINiTis), in Colombian adult patients with AR using the Classic Test Theory (CTT) and the Generalizability theory (G-theory) frameworks.

A pre-clerkship simulation-based procedural skills curriculum: decreasing anxiety and improving confidence of procedural skill performance.

Introduction: Pre-clerkship procedural skills training is not yet a standard across Canadian medical school curricula, resulting in limited exposure to procedures upon entering clerkship. While simulated skills training has been documented in the literature to improve performance in technical ability, anxiety and confidence have yet to be investigated despite their documented impact on performance and learning. This study therefore aims to evaluate the effect of pre-clerkship procedural skills training on medical student anxiety and confidence.

Leading from Behind: An Educational Intervention to Address Faculty and Learner Preparedness for Competence By Design in Psychiatry.

Purpose: Residency training programs across Canada are beginning to implement the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada's new Competence By Design (CBD) framework in medical education. The objective of the current research was to assess faculty members' and learners' understanding of, and preparedness for, the national shift to CBD in psychiatry before and after an educational intervention.

Methods: The current research implemented a pre-test/post-test design to investigate faculty members' and learners' perceptions and attitudes towards competency-based medical education (CBME) and CBD before and after a one-hour educational session delivered by an expert on CBME.

"When in Doubt, Ask the Patient": A Quantitative, Patient-Oriented Approach to Formative Assessment of CanMEDS Roles.

Introduction: Since the introduction of competency-based frameworks into postgraduate medical curricula, educators have struggled to implement robust assessment tools that document the progression of necessary skills. The global movement towards competency-based medical education demands validated assessment tools. Our objective was to provide validity evidence for the Ottawa CanMEDS Competency Assessment Tool (OCCAT), designed to assess clinical performance in the communicator, professional, and health advocate CanMEDS roles.

The McMaster Advanced Communication Competencies Model for Psychiatry (MACC Model).

Objective: Communication is a core competency for all physicians in training. In Canada, the importance of communication during residency is recognized through the CanMEDS framework. Although literature exists around teaching communication skills to residents, research in psychiatry residents is lacking.

One Room Schoolhouse: A Novel Intervention for Inspired Academic Half-Day Learning in Distributed Campus Settings.

Introduction: Some studies on academic half days (AHDs) suggest that learning in this context is associated with a lack of educational engagement. This challenge may be amplified in distributed campus settings, where geographical disadvantages demand reliance on videoconferencing or considerable time spent travelling to in-person learning events. Concerns about the educational effectiveness of AHDs by learners within our distributed campus setting led to the development and evaluation of the One Room Schoolhouse (ORS), a unique, evidence-informed, community-based curriculum that partially replaced the AHD sessions delivered at the main campus.

Breaking bad news to cancer patients in times of COVID-19.

Breaking bad news is a mandatory provision in the professional life of nearly every physician. One of its most frequent occasions is the diagnosis of malignancy. Responding to the recipients' emotions is a critical issue in the delivery of unsettling information, and has an impact on the patient's trust in the treating physician, adjustment to illness and ultimately treatment.

Comparing the Ottawa Emergency Department Shift Observation Tool (O-EDShOT) to the traditional daily encounter card: measuring the quality of documented assessments.

Objectives: The Ottawa Emergency Department Shift Observation Tool (O-EDShOT) is a workplace-based assessment designed to assess a trainee's performance across an entire shift. It was developed in response to validity concerns with traditional end-of-shift workplace-based assessments, such as the daily encounter card. The O-EDShOT previously demonstrated strong psychometric characteristics; however, it remains unknown whether the O-EDShOT facilitates measurable improvements in the quality of documented assessments compared to daily encounter cards.

Identifying essential procedural skills in Canadian undergraduate medical education.

Introduction: We conducted a national survey to characterize current Canadian procedural skills training in Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME). The goals were to identify the most important procedures students should know upon graduation and assess clinician-educator perceptions regarding implementation of a pre-clerkship procedural program.

Methods: We distributed the survey to physician-educators across Canada's 17 medical schools.

Validity of entrustment scales within anesthesiology residency training.

Introduction: Competency-based medical education requires robust assessment in authentic clinical environments. Using work-based assessments, entrustment scales have emerged as a means of describing a trainee's ability to perform competently. Nevertheless, psychometric properties of entrustment-based assessment are relatively unknown, particularly in anesthesiology.

Assessing the process and outcome of the development of practice guidelines and recommendations: PANELVIEW instrument development.

Background: Guideline recommendations may be affected by flaws in the process, inappropriate panel member selection or conduct, conflicts of interest and other factors. To our knowledge, no validated tool exists to evaluate guideline development from the perspective of those directly involved in the process. Our objective was to develop and validate a universal tool, the PANELVIEW instrument, to assess guideline processes, methods and outcomes from the perspective of the participating guideline panellists and group members.

Logging in: a comparative analysis of electronic health records versus anesthesia resident-driven logbooks.

Purpose: Resident logbooks (RLBs) documenting clinical case exposure are widespread in medical education despite evidence of poor accuracy. Electronic health records (e.g.

Development of Learning Curves for Bronchoscopy: Results of a Multicenter Study of Pulmonary Trainees.

Background: There are currently no reference standards for the development of competence in bronchoscopy.

Research Question: The aims of this study were to (1) develop learning curves for bronchoscopy skill development and (2) estimate the number of bronchoscopies required to achieve competence.

Study Design And Methods: Trainees from seven North American academic centers were enrolled at the beginning of their pulmonology training.

Use of the theoretical domains framework and behaviour change wheel to develop a novel intervention to improve the quality of multidisciplinary cancer conference decision-making.

Background: Multidisciplinary Cancer Conferences (MCCs) are prospective meetings involving cancer specialists to discuss treatment plans for patients with cancer. Despite reported gaps in MCC quality, there have been few efforts to improve its functioning. The purpose of this study was to use theoretically-rooted knowledge translation (KT) theories and frameworks to inform the development of a strategy to improve MCC decision-making quality.

Use of the KT-MCC strategy to improve the quality of decision making for multidisciplinary cancer conferences: a pilot study.

Background: Multidisciplinary Cancer Conferences (MCCs) are increasingly used to guide treatment decisions for patients with cancer, though numerous barriers to optimal MCC decision-making quality have been identified. We aimed to improve the quality of MCC decision making through the use of an implementation bundle titled the KT-MCC Strategy. The Strategy included use of discussion tools (standard case intake tool and a synoptic discussion tool), workshops, MCC team and chair training, and audit and feedback.