"Time-In": A Tool for Interrupting Bias in Medical School Admissions Committee Meetings.

Problem: During high-stakes committee meetings, bias is often expressed but goes uninterrupted because there is no formal structure to interrupt it. Bias impacts decision making and can further disadvantage those from backgrounds that have been marginalized.

Approach: The MD and MD-PhD admissions committees at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NY in the 2020-2021 admissions season introduced a "Time-In" tool to interrupt bias during committee meetings.

Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: The Role of Medical Students.

Unlabelled: We conducted a survey study at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to assess COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and behaviors among medical students. Almost all respondents (96.5%,  = 222) believed vaccines were effective and reported being asked about the COVID-19 vaccine by family members (79.

Social Determinants, Risk Factors, and Needs: A New Paradigm for Medical Education.

COVID-19 and the escalation of racism and bias that has come in its wake have had a devastating impact on health professions students. In addition to academic challenges and personal health risks, aspects of students' lives that have often gone unnoticed or inadequately addressed have come to light. Financial constraints that impact access to housing and food, neighborhood safety in light of the spike in hate crimes, and the bias inherent in the continuum from premedical education to undergraduate and graduate medical education are some examples.

All We Can Be: Innovations to Improve the Pipeline of Military Veterans in Medical Schools.

Issue: Medical schools are increasingly identifying military veteran applicants as a source of diversity, resiliency, and commitment-often derived from their personal experiences in the military. Yet, veterans remain significantly under-represented in entering classes; moreover, those veterans who do matriculate are not yet fully reflective of the diversity that the Armed Forces have to offer. Fortunately, specific measures have been shown to be effective at increasing both the number and diversity of student veterans in medical school.

Key Insights From the Development and Implementation of a Novel Virtual Interview Process for Medical School Admissions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Problem: During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical schools have offered a virtual application process. Minimal literature is available to guide best practices.

Approach: The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) implemented a completely virtual interview (VI) process in April/May 2020.

Guiding principles for undergraduate medical education in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City's medical schools experienced dramatic disruptions in every aspect of medical education. Remote learning was created, seemingly overnight, clerkships were disrupted, licensing examinations were cancelled, teaching faculty were redeployed, student volunteers rallied, and everyone was required to shelter at home. Seismic changes were required to adapt the authors' educational programs to a constantly evolving, unpredictable, and ever-worsening public health crisis.

Longitudinal assessment of medical student attitudes toward older people.

Delivering adequate care to older people requires an increasing number of physicians competent in the treatment of this expanding subpopulation. Attitudes toward older adults are important as predictors of the quality of care of older people and of medical trainee likelihood to enter the geriatrics field. This study assessed the attitudes of 404 US medical students (MS) from the start of medical school to graduation using the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Geriatrics Attitude Scale.

Easing the transition: medical students' perceptions of critical skills required for the clerkships.

Objectives: The preclinical years of undergraduate medical education provide educational content in a structured learning environment whereas clerkships provide clinical training in a more experiential manner. Although early clinical skills training is emphasized in many medical schools, students still feel unprepared and anxious about starting their clerkships. This study identifies the skills medical students perceive as essential and those skill areas students are most anxious about prior to starting clerkship rotations.

Symptom assessment of patients with advanced cancer and AIDS and their family caregivers: the results of a quality-of-life pilot study.

This longitudinal pilot study examined differences in demographic characteristics of 101 patients with advanced illness (cancer, AIDS) and 81 Family caregivers, evaluated the reliability of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale for these patients and their family caregivers; obtained preliminary data regarding similarities or differences in the symptom experience oF these patients and their family caregivers and changes in symptoms over time; and identified demographic variables that may be potential covariates related to the symptom experience. All demographic variables were significantly different for patients with advanced cancer and AIDS, and their symptom experience is similar only with regard to psychologic symptoms; however, based on the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, cancer and AIDS patients and their family caregivers have similar symptom experiences, indicating the need for palliative care for both patients and family. Further research is needed to establish the reliability of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale for use with family caregivers.

Quality of life of patients with advanced cancer and acquired immune deficiency syndrome and their family caregivers.

Background: Although definitions of palliative care include quality of life as a central concern, little research has been published about both the quality of life of patients with advanced illness and their family members, and particularly the changes in their quality of life over time.

Objectives: The aims of this prospective longitudinal pilot study were to: (1) establish the reliability of multidimensional quality of life instruments based on patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and patients with cancer and caregivers; (2) identify differences in quality of life between patients with advanced AIDS and cancer, and their family caregivers with consideration of mortality, attrition, and compliance rates; and (3) examine differences in demographic variables and their potential confounding effect when measuring quality of life.

Methods: The sample included 101 patients with advanced illness (63 patients with advanced AIDS and 38 with advanced cancer) and 81 family caregivers (43 caregivers for patients with AIDS and 38 caregivers for patients with cancer).

Spiritual well-being as a dimension of quality of life for patients with advanced cancer and AIDS and their family caregivers: results of a longitudinal study.

Based on a longitudinal, quality-of-life study, this article presents pilot data regarding the spiritual well-being of patients with advanced cancer or AIDS and their family caregivers. Data include similarities and differences between the patient and caregiver populations and patient/family caregiver dyads as well as trends with regard to changes in spiritual well-being during the illness and dying process. The reliability of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale was examined for patient and caregiver groups, as was the relationship between selected demographic variables and spiritual well-being.

Recruitment and retention in a longitudinal palliative care study.

A longitudinal feasibility study regarding quality of life and interventions for patients with advanced cancer or AIDS and their family caregivers was conducted to determine issues related to their recruitment and retention and to obtain pilot data relevant to the development of a larger study. At the completion of the study, a focus group consisting of the members of the palliative care research team was convened to identify barriers to and facilitators of the research process based on their research experience. The purpose of this article is to (1) describe recruitment, mortality rates, attrition rates, and compliance with data collection of patients and family caregivers experiencing an advanced illness and to (2) examine the researchers' perspectives regarding barriers to and facilitators of the research process that relate to patients and family caregivers, institutions, the data collection process, and their personal experiences.