How to play the game of medical education: Sociocultural analyses of educational difficulties among medical residents.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Medical residents in difficulty struggle to comply with educational requirements.

Distributed practice. The more the merrier? A randomised bronchoscopy simulation study.

Introduction: The distribution of practice affects the acquisition of skills. Distributed practice has shown to be more effective for skills acquisition than massed training. However, it remains unknown as to which is the most effective distributed practice schedule for learning bronchoscopy skills through simulation training.

Residents in difficulty: a mixed methods study on the prevalence, characteristics, and sociocultural challenges from the perspective of residency program directors.

Background: The majority of studies on prevalence and characteristics of residents in difficulty have been conducted in English-speaking countries and the existing literature may not reflect the prevalence and characteristics of residents in difficulty in other parts of the world such as the Scandinavian countries, where healthcare systems are slightly different. The aim of this study was to examine prevalence and characteristics of residents in difficulty in one out of three postgraduate medical training regions in Denmark, and to produce both a quantifiable overview and in-depth understanding of the topic.

Methods: We performed a mixed methods study.

Residents in difficulty--just slower learners? A case-control study.

Background: Recent meta-analyses have found small-moderate positive associations between general performance in medical school and postgraduate medical education. In addition, a couple of studies have found an association between poor performance in medical school and disciplinary action against practicing doctors. The aim of this study was to examine if a sample of Danish residents in difficulty tended to struggle already in medical school, and to determine whether administratively observable performance indicators in medical school could predict difficulties in residency.

Dyad practice is efficient practice: a randomised bronchoscopy simulation study.

Context: Medical simulation training requires effective and efficient training strategies. Dyad practice may be a training strategy worth pursuing because it has been proven effective and efficient in motor skills learning. In dyad practice two participants collaborate in learning a task they will eventually perform individually.

Is current surgical training efficient? A national survey.

Objectives: Evaluation of surgical training in Denmark is competency based with no requirement for a specific number of procedures. This may affect monitoring of surgical progress adversely and cause an underestimation of the time needed to acquire surgical competencies. We investigated the number of common surgical procedures performed by trainees.

[Doctors in training for general practice profit from being employed in both orthopaedic and general surgery wards].

In the statement of aims of the education for general practice in Denmark competences in orthopaedic as well as in internal general surgery are specified by the Danish Health and Medicines Authority. In the period 2008-2010 there were three different types of employment for the assessment of competences in surgery. We found that doctors in training who had been employed in both orthopaedic and general surgery wards to a greater extent felt confident about their required competences in orthopaedic surgery.

Effects of modelling examples in complex procedural skills training: a randomised study.

Context: Learning complex procedural skills, such as bronchoscopy, through simulation training, imposes a high cognitive load on novices. Example-based learning has been shown to be an effective way to reduce cognitive load and enhance learning outcomes. Prior research has shown that modelling examples, in which a human model demonstrates the skill to a learner, were effective for learning basic surgical skills.

Young doctors' problem solving strategies on call may be improved.

Introduction: The first year following graduation from medical school is challenging as learning from books changes to workplace-based learning. Analysis and reflection on experience may ease this transition. We used Significant Event Analysis (SEA) as a tool to explore what pre-registration house officers (PRHOs) consider successful and problematic events, and to identify what problem-solving strategies they employ.

[Evaluation of the learning outcome in clinical rotations].

This article examines the learning outcome and obtainment of skills in clinical rotations. The survey involved junior doctors (JDs) and consultants responsible for education (CREs). The questionnaires covered different subjects rated on a scale.

[Active student participation at the medical school at the University of Aarhus shall be increased].

In this paper we describe the first four phases of a curriculum reform covering the three clinical years of medical school at Aarhus University. The reform intends to ease students' transition from medical school to the foundation year, increase focus on communication, create more coherence between subjects, increase students' active participation, and align learning outcomes and assessments. More than 80 stakeholders participated in the first phases and five task forces gave their recommendations on how to achieve the intentions.

Can bone loss be reversed by antithyroid drug therapy in premenopausal women with Graves' disease?

Context: Hyperthyroidism can lead to reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and increased fracture risk particularly in postmenopausal women, but the mechanism behind is still unclear.

Objective: Prospective examination of the influence of thyroid hormones and/or thyroid autoantibodies on BMD in premenopause.

Design: We have examined 32 premenopausal women with untreated active Graves' disease from time of diagnosis, during 18 months of antithyroid drug therapy (ATD) and additionally 18 months after discontinuing ATD.

Measures of educational effort: what is essential to clinical faculty?

Purpose: To enhance the recognition of educational effort and thereby support faculty vitality, the authors aimed to identify essential categories of educational effort from the perspective of clinical faculty and determine whether the emerging categories were in concordance with an organizational perspective.

Method: The authors performed nominal group processes in four groups in 2008, with the participation of 24 clinical faculty members, 6 in each group, representing 18 (medical, surgical, paraclinical, and psychiatric) specialties at 14 hospitals in Denmark. Subsequently, the authors performed a comparative analysis of the emerging essential categories and the organizational work by the national panel on medical education, appointed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

[Intensified training at department of dermatology].

In recent years the Department of Dermatology at Aarhus Hospital has implemented a number of changes in order to improve the training of junior medical doctors. Some of the areas in focus are introduction, more responsibility, supervision, work planning and scheduling, conferences and weekly meetings for the specialists. The changes have a positive effect in many ways as training has become more efficient, motivation among staff has risen and the working environment has improved.

[24-hour nonstop research training course].

The University of Aarhus and Further Training Region North (Danish: Videreuddannelsesregion Nord) arranged a 24-hour experimental course in research training for junior physicians. Previously, the course has been imparted as three course days with daytime training, but this time it had the form of one 24-hour session. The idea behind the new concept is to combine a high professional content with considerable change in the form of the course.

[Feedback in postgraduate medical training].

Feedback may be described as a process comprising communication of information and reactions to such communication. It has been defined as specific information about the difference between a trainee's observed performance and a given standard with the intent of achieving performance improvement. Feedback is essential in medical education and has great implications for the educational climate.