Simulation can contribute a part of cardiorespiratory physiotherapy clinical education: two randomized trials.

Introduction: Simulated learning environments (SLEs) are used worldwide in health professional education, including physiotherapy, to train certain attributes and skills. To date, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) has evaluated whether education in SLEs can partly replace time in the clinical environment for physiotherapy cardiorespiratory practice.

Methods: Two independent single-blind multi-institutional RCTs were conducted in parallel using a noninferiority design.

Student approaches for learning in medicine: what does it tell us about the informal curriculum?

Background: It has long been acknowledged that medical students frequently focus their learning on that which will enable them to pass examinations, and that they use a range of study approaches and resources in preparing for their examinations. A recent qualitative study identified that in addition to the formal curriculum, students are using a range of resources and study strategies which could be attributed to the informal curriculum. What is not clearly established is the extent to which these informal learning resources and strategies are utilized by medical students.

Medical school selection criteria and the prediction of academic performance.

Objective: To assess how well prior academic performance, admission tests, and interviews predict academic performance in a graduate medical school.

Design, Setting And Participants: Analysis of academic performance of 706 students in three consecutive cohorts of the 4-year graduate-entry medical program at the University of Queensland.

Main Outcome Measures: Proportion of academic performance during the medical program explained by selection criteria, and correlation between selection criteria and performance.