Are Physician Assistants Able to Correctly Identify Prescribing Errors? A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: (1) To describe how often physician assistant (PA) students correctly identify prescribing errors and (2) examine between-cohort differences on ability to correctly identify prescribing errors.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 2 cohorts of PA students at one institution. Students were presented with 3 hypothetical prescriptions, 2 of which contained a prescribing error.

Family Conference Simulation Designed for Physician Assistant Students and Chaplain Residents.

Physician Assistants (PAs) are increasingly likely to work in clinical areas where family conference skills are needed, but there is currently a lack of family conference education in PA program curricula. To (1) describe a novel interprofessional education (IPE) event for PA students and chaplain residents; (2) examine whether participating in the IPE event is associated with improvements in attitudes and knowledge regarding interprofessional teams; and (3) describe participant perceptions about the event. Two cohorts of PA students and chaplain residents completed a required interprofessional simulation activity involving a critically ill patient and a family conference.

Development of an Innovative Career Development Program for Early-Career Women Faculty.

Objective: Our institutional Women in Medicine & Science Program (formerly the Office of Women in Medicine and Science) developed the Early Career Development Program for Women to promote the careers of women faculty. At 6 monthly sessions, participants learn relevant content (imposter syndrome, strengths, change style, career management, assertive communication, feedback, personal influence, conflict management, negotiation, importance of mentors, resilience, and self-care); exchange ideas; and expand their professional networks. Here, we report changes in participants' career skills/knowledge, confidence, and perceptions of the current environment after attending the program.

Innovative Strategies for Clinical Microscopy Instruction: Virtual Versus Light Microscopy.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare virtual microscopy with light microscopy to determine differences in learning outcomes and learner attitudes in teaching clinical microscopy to physician assistant (PA) students.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, crossover design study was conducted with a convenience sample of 67 first-year PA students randomized to 2 groups. One group used light microscopes to find microscopic structures, whereas the other group used instructor-directed video streaming of microscopic elements.

Medical student attitudes toward the medically underserved: the USU perspective.

This study examined a cohort of students attending the Uniformed Services University regarding their attitudes toward medical care in underserved populations. Using the previously validated Medical Student Attitudes Toward the Underserved (MSATU), repeated measures analysis of variance showed that student attitudes toward care in underserved populations was less favorable than limited national data at entry and declined over time (Mean MSATU total score Year 1: 46.2 [SD 10.

Perceptions of culturally competent diabetes management in a primary care practice.

To evaluate whether clinicians consider the impact of culture on diabetes management, a survey was mailed to 300 randomly selected patients > or = 50 years with type 2 diabetes and 153 surveys were returned. Data were correlated with A1C values. African Americans (AA) and non-Hispanic whites (NHW), (91.

Are medical students aware of their anti-obesity bias?

Purpose: Anti-obesity prejudices affect the quality of care obese individuals receive. The authors sought to determine the prevalence of weight-related biases among medical students and whether they were aware of their biases.

Method: Between 2008 and 2011, the authors asked all third-year medical students at Wake Forest School of Medicine to complete the Weight Implicit Association Test (IAT), a validated measure of implicit preferences for "fat" or "thin" individuals.

Analysis of empathy in Doctor of Physical Therapy students: a multi-site study.

Background: Empathy is a human emotion that is important in the effective provision of health care and amenable to change through explicit and implicit experiences in an individual's life. This study measured levels of empathy in students pursuing doctoral degrees in physical therapy and compared the influence of professional education at different institutions on these levels.

Methods: Our cross-sectional, two-cohort, multisite study used a modified version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Student Version, to investigate empathy levels at enrollment, mid-curriculum, and end-of-curriculum.

Standardized patient instructors' and physician assistant students' evaluation of diabetes counseling skills.

Purpose: Standardized patient instructors (SPIs) have been used in medical and physician assistant (PA) teaching and have been shown to be a valuable resource for assessing interviewing and clinical skills. This study evaluated the agreement between SPI ratings and student self-ratings in the assessment of counseling skills.

Methods: PA students in three graduating classes (2009-2011) participated in this study.

Measuring medical student attitudes and beliefs regarding patients who are obese.

Purpose: Research shows obesity bias to undermine the patient-doctor relationship and lead to substandard care. The authors developed and tested an instrument to measure medical students' attitudes and beliefs about obese patients.

Method: The authors conducted a literature search to identify validated measures of obesity bias.

Commentary: ambiguity and uncertainty: neglected elements of medical education curricula?

Despite significant advances in scientific knowledge and technology, ambiguity and uncertainty are still intrinsic aspects of contemporary medicine. To practice confidently and competently, a physician must learn rational approaches to complex and ambiguous clinical scenarios and must possess a certain degree of tolerance of ambiguity. In this commentary, the authors discuss the role that ambiguity and uncertainty play in medicine and emphasize why openly addressing these topics in the formal medical education curriculum is critical.

Medical students' perceptions of their teachers' and their own cultural competency: implications for education.

Background: Enhancing the cultural competency of students is emerging as a key issue in medical education; however, students may perceive that they are more able to function within cross-cultural situations than their teachers, reducing the effectiveness of cultural competency educational efforts.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to compare medical students' perceptions of their residents, attendings, and their own cultural competency.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Commentary: Identifying attitudes towards empathy: an essential feature of professionalism.

Preserving and promoting empathy are ethical imperatives in medical education. The authors of this commentary propose that the "hidden curriculum" and mixed messages learners frequently receive during clinical rotations may erode humanistic traits essential to high-quality care. Three articles in this issue focus on assessing attitude towards empathy in the health care setting using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy.

A longitudinal comparison of pharmacy and medical students' attitudes toward the medically underserved.

Objective: To longitudinally assess pharmacy and medical students' attitudes toward the medically underserved.

Methods: The Medical Students' Attitudes Toward the Underserved (MSATU) survey was administered to the entering classes at the schools of pharmacy and medicine at 2 universities in the South. This self-report measure was then completed by these students in each year of the professional curriculum.

Development of an asset map of medical education research activity.

Introduction: Medical education research is gaining recognition as scholarship within academic medical centers. This survey was conducted at a medium-sized academic medical center in the United States. The purpose of the study was to learn faculty interest in research in medical education, so assets could be used to develop educational scholarship further.

Working effectively with interpreters: a model curriculum for physician assistant students.

Background: Effective patient-provider communication is crucial to achieving good health care outcomes. To accomplish this with patients of limited English proficiency, learning to work effectively with interpreters is essential.

Aims: The primary goal of this study was to determine if physician assistant students could effectively use interpreters to communicate with Spanish speaking patients after implementation of a cultural competency and Medical Spanish curriculum.

Medical students' attitudes toward underserved patients: a longitudinal comparison of problem-based and traditional medical curricula.

Medical education has been shown to negatively influence student attitudes toward certain types of patient populations. Past research does not inform current educational practice because today's medical school environment is different from when most of the published research was conducted. There are more female students, curricular innovations such as problem-based learning have changed the framework for educational delivery, and longitudinal studies, which could inform when interventions may be needed, are uncommon.

Training and evaluating tobacco-specific standardized patient instructors.

Background And Objectives: A comprehensive training program to develop tobacco-specific standardized patient instructors (SPIs) was implemented and evaluated at Wake Forest University.

Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to assess SPIs' experience with the training program and medical students' perceptions of the SPI-student interaction. Two standardized scales, used to assess student performance on counseling (Tobacco Intervention Risk Factor Interview Scale [TIRFIS]) and cultural competency (Tobacco Beliefs Management Scale-Tobacco Cultural Concerns Scale [TBMS-TCCS]), were tested for internal and interrater reliability and sensitivity to varied student performance.

Reliability of a Smoking Cessation Risk Factor Interview Scale (SCRFIS) for use with standardized patient instructors.

Background: This study evaluated internal consistency and inter-rater reliability of the smoking cessation risk factor interview scale (SCRFIS).

Methods: Encounters from 16 patient instructors and 414 medical students were used for analyses: Cronbach's alpha and item-to-total correlations measured internal consistency; one-way analysis of variance evaluated comparability of scores across multiple raters, t-tests measured gender bias, and regression analyses compared student counseling skills across three curricula.

Results: The total scale was reliable, there was minimal gender bias, and student counseling skills remained relatively constant over time.

Applying theory to the design of cultural competency training for medical students: a case study.

Although literature suggests that providing culturally sensitive care promotes positive health outcomes for patients, undergraduate medical education currently does not provide adequate cultural competency training. At most schools, cultural competency, as a formal, integrated, and longitudinal thread within the overall curriculum, is still in its infancy. In this article, the authors summarize the current practice of cultural competency training within medical education and describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a theoretically based, year-long cultural competency training course for second-year students at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Creating student awareness to improve cultural competence: creating the critical incident.

Teaching medical students to recognize the need for cultural competence and accept their shortcomings in this area is a challenge. A simulated patient scenario was developed to address this challenge. The objective of the simulation is to enhance students' readiness to learn by moving them from 'unconscious incompetence' to 'conscious incompetence'.