A systematic review of medical practitioners' retention and application of basic sciences to clinical practice.

Background: Medical education offers the foundational base for future healthcare professionals, with basic sciences playing a pivotal role in providing essential knowledge and skills for clinical practice. However, the long-term retention and application of this knowledge in clinical practice remain a significant challenge. This systematic review synthesised global evidence from diverse studies on the short / long-term retention and clinical application of basic sciences among medical doctors.

Key elements of effective postgraduate GP educational environments: a mixed methods study.

Objectives: Evidence in the literature suggests that satisfaction with postgraduate general practice (GP) training is associated with the quality of the educational environment. This study aimed to examine GP registrars' level of satisfaction with a distributed model of training in a regional educational environment and investigate the relationship between satisfaction and academic performance.

Study Design: A longitudinal 3-year study was conducted among GP registrars at James Cook University using a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design.

Role of formative assessment in predicting academic success among GP registrars: a retrospective longitudinal study.

Objectives: The James Cook University General Practice Training (JCU GPT) programme's internal formative exams were compared with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) pre-entry exams to determine ability to predict final performance in the RACGP fellowship exams.

Design: A retrospective longitudinal study.

Setting: General Practice (GP) trainees enrolled between 2016 and 2019 at a Registered Training Organisation in regional Queensland, Australia.

Benefits of simulated General Practice clinics in the preparation of medical students for primary healthcare.

The James Cook University (JCU) medical school has a mission to produce doctors who are willing to work across northern Australia and may choose generalist rather than specialist careers. In addition to real-life placements in primary healthcare settings, the medical school has developed simulated General Practice (GP) clinics (simGPclinic) for Year 5 (Y5) students. This study compares the simGPclinic with actual GP placements for authenticity, teaching clinical skills, and preparation for real-life primary healthcare settings.

Perceived clinical relevance and retention of basic sciences across the medical education continuum.

Medical programs are under pressure to maintain currency with scientific and technical advances, as well as prepare graduates for clinical work and a wide range of postgraduate careers. The value of the basic sciences in primary medical education was assessed by exploring the perceived clinical relevance and test performance trends among medical students, interns, residents, and experienced clinicians. A pilot study conducted in 2014 involved administration of a voluntary 60-item multiple-choice question test to 225 medical students and 4 interns.

Validity of the scan of postgraduate educational environment domains (SPEED) questionnaire in a rural general practice training setting.

Background: The educational environment is critical to learning and is determined by social interactions. Trainee satisfaction translates to career commitment, retention and a positive professional attitude as well as being an important factor in assessing the impact of the training program. This study aimed to validate the Scan of Postgraduate Educational Environment Domain (SPEED) tool and assess its appropriateness in evaluating the quality of General Practice (GP) rural postgraduate educational environment.

Improving assessment practice through cross-institutional collaboration: An exercise on the use of OSCEs.

Background: This study was undertaken to improve assessment practice on OSCEs through collaboration across geographically dispersed medical schools in Australia.

Methods: A total of eleven OSCE stations were co-developed by four medical schools and used in summative 2011 and 2012 examinations for the assessment of clinical performance in the early clinical and exit OSCEs in each school's medical course. Partial Credit Rasch Model was used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the shared OSCE data.