Medical student perceptions of assessments of clinical reasoning in a general surgery clerkship.

Background: Components factoring into general surgery clerkship grades vary by institution, and while evaluators attempt to remain unbiased when evaluating medical student performance, subjectivity and implicit bias remain an issue. Our institution recently implemented a case-based structured oral examination to provide the general surgery clerkship director objective insight into students' clinical reasoning skills. We hypothesized that medical students believe this exam, along with graded clinical documentation and the Observed Standardized Clinical Encounter (OSCE), are fair assessments and increase students' awareness of their clinical reasoning skills.

Psychologic assessment in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

Background: Psychological Clearance level (PCL) for patients undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is a critical step for successful postoperative outcomes. This study aims to assess the relationship between the level of psychologic fitness and postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing MBS.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who underwent MBS (laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy [LSG] and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass [LRYGB]) and completed two years follow-up, between 2012 and 2019, in a single medical center.

Error and bias in race and ethnicity descriptions in medical examiner records in New Mexico: Consequences for understanding mortality among Hispanic/Latinos.

Researchers use public records from deceased individuals to identify trends in manners and causes of death. Errors in the description of race and ethnicity can affect the inferences researchers draw, adversely impacting public health policies designed to eliminate health inequity. Using the New Mexico Decedent Image Database, we examine: 1) the accuracy of death investigator descriptions of race and ethnicity by comparing their reports to those from next of kin (NOK), 2) the impact of decedent age and sex on disagreement between death investigators and NOK, and 3) the relationship between investigators' descriptions of decedent race and ethnicity and cause and manner of death from forensic pathologists (n = 1813).

Extracting Data from the Electronic Health Record of Patients with ADHD Reveals Pediatricians' Discussions of Educational Support and Document Collection.

Primary care physicians (PCPs) have an important role in the identification and management of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There is a paucity of research on PCPs' practices related to the discussion of educational interventions. We conducted a retrospective chart review using Natural Language Processing to extract data on how often PCPs in an outpatient clinic: 1) discuss educational support with patients and caregivers; and 2) obtain educational records.

The relationship between a single-item measure of burnout and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in family medicine residents.

Objective: Burnout during residency education is a phenomenon which requires careful study. A single item for measuring burnout shows promise for its brevity and concordance with the most commonly used measure of burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, but has not been compared to the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. We compared the single-item measure of burnout question to the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory to assess the convergence between these two measures of burnout.

Workplace Violence in Imaging Departments.

Purpose: To investigate the types and frequency of workplace violence experienced by radiologic technologists and to identify which technologists using specific imaging modalities are at increased risk.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed using a research electronic data capture (REDCap; Vanderbilt University) survey designed to establish information on radiologic technologists' self-reported experiences with workplace violence. The survey was distributed to a random sample of 10 000 radiologic technologists working with various imaging disciplines.

Refined, regionally-specific data standards reveal heterogeneity in Hispanic death records.

Hispanic ethnicity can be captured with differing levels of granularity using various data standards, including those from the Office of Management and Budget, Health and Human Services and National Academy of Medicine. Previous research identified seven subgroups of Hispanics in New Mexico using open-ended interviews and information about the culture/history of the state. We examined age and manner of death to determine whether differences among subgroups are hidden by less-refined categorization.

An Investigation of MR Imaging Scanner Noise and its Effect on Technologists.

Purpose: To investigate the level of noise that magnetic resonance (MR) technologists are exposed to during daily tasks, and prevalence of hearing loss among MR technologists.

Methods: Decibel levels at the scanner control panel were measured and recorded at clinical facilities. A survey was distributed to MR technologists, which included questions about demographics, workplace habits, and self-reported hearing loss.

The Association Between Race and Stroke Prevalence in a Patient Cohort in Mississippi.

The risk factors for stroke, including hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, heavy alcohol use, and prior history of stroke, are well known. In Mississippi, there is often a wider gulf of socioeconomic disparities between racial groups than in other regions within the United States. This increases the effect of these disparities in minority populations.

Extracting and Standardizing Medical Examiner Data to Improve Health.

Data from medical examiner offices are not commonly used in informatics but may contain information not in medical records. However, the vast majority of data is not standardized and is available only in large free text fields. We sought to extract information from the medical examiner database using Canary, a natural language processing tool.

Standardizing Data from the Dead.

A database of full-body CT scans and associated lifestyle and health data from decedents who underwent an autopsy at the Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) is under construction. The dataset has 68 metadata fields containing data from the OMI's database and interviews with next of kin. Some metadata fields could be mapped to existing standards, but the majority of fields required some modifications to current standards or the creation of new standards.