Using a Modified Delphi Method to Reach Consensus on Best Practices for Medical Education Abstract Submissions to Multiple Conferences.

Purpose: Medical education researchers are often uncertain whether they should submit abstracts to certain conferences. Therefore, we aimed to elicit consensus among medical education conference organizers to answer the question: what are best practices for research abstract submissions to multiple conferences?

Methods: Using a 44-question online survey, we conducted a modified Delphi process to identify best practices for abstract submissions to medical education conferences. Consistent with the Delphi process, we identified conference representatives from non-specialty medical education conferences and across four conference types (institutional, regional, national, and international) to serve as panelists.

What faculty write versus what students see? Perspectives on multiple-choice questions using Bloom's taxonomy.

Background: Using revised Bloom's taxonomy, some medical educators assume they can write multiple choice questions (MCQs) that specifically assess higher (analyze, apply) versus lower-order (recall) learning. The purpose of this study was to determine whether three key stakeholder groups (students, faculty, and education assessment experts) assign MCQs the same higher- or lower-order level.

Methods: In Phase 1, stakeholders' groups assigned 90 MCQs to Bloom's levels.

Number of Operative Performance Ratings Needed to Reliably Assess the Difficulty of Surgical Procedures.

Objective: The profession of surgery is entering a new era of "big data," where analyses of longitudinal trainee assessment data will be used to inform ongoing efforts to improve surgical education. Given the high-stakes implications of these types of analyses, researchers must define the conditions under which estimates derived from these large datasets remain valid. With this study, we determine the number of assessments of residents' performances needed to reliably assess the difficulty of "Core" surgical procedures.

Limited by our limitations.

Study limitations represent weaknesses within a research design that may influence outcomes and conclusions of the research. Researchers have an obligation to the academic community to present complete and honest limitations of a presented study. Too often, authors use generic descriptions to describe study limitations.

Employing a Root Cause Analysis Process to Improve Examination Quality.

Problem: Multiple-choice question (MCQ) examinations represent a primary mode of assessment used by medical schools. It can be challenging for faculty to produce content-aligned, comprehensive, and psychometrically sound MCQs. Despite best efforts, sometimes there are unexpected issues with examinations.

A Hybrid Interview Model for Medical School Interviews: Combining Traditional and Multisampling Formats.

Problem: Most medical schools have either retained a traditional admissions interview or fully adopted an innovative, multisampling format (e.g., the multiple mini-interview) despite there being advantages and disadvantages associated with each format.

Variance in attributes assessed by the multiple mini-interview.

Introduction: While the extant literature has explored the impact of stations on multiple mini- interview (MMI) scores, the influence of station scenarios has been largely overlooked.

Method: A subset of MMI scores was purposively sampled from admissions data at one US medical school. Generalizability (G) theory was used to estimate variance components attributable to applicants and two facets of generalization - scenarios, the content of the station, and items, the attributes assessed.