Women's Representation Among Members and Leaders of National Medical Specialty Societies.

Purpose: National medical specialty societies speak for their respective fields in policy debates, influence research, affect trainees' specialization decisions, provide career development opportunities, and confer awards and recognitions. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the gender demographics of society members and leaders.

Method: In 2016, the Group on Women in Medicine and Science (of the Association of American Medical Colleges) sought to characterize the gender of members and leaders of specialty societies from 2000 to 2015.

The Importance of Lobbying to Advance Health and Science Policy.

Government funding and policies are critical to academic medicine. Publicfunds sustain the education, research, and patient care missions of medical schools and teaching hospitals, and regulations govern the fulfillment of those missions. Consequently, both individuals and institutions often need to engage with those who develop these policies, including through lobbying.

"It's Almost Like Gay Sex Doesn't Exist:" Parent-Child Sex Communication According to Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Adolescent Sons.

Sex communication interventions facilitate positive sexual health outcomes with heterosexual adolescents. The same has yet to be established for male youth with same-sex attractions, behaviors, and identities. Our study describes the experiences of gay, bisexual and queer-identifying adolescent males with parent-child sex communication.

The Validity of Scores From the New MCAT Exam in Predicting Student Performance: Results From a Multisite Study.

Purpose: The new Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) was introduced in April 2015. This report presents findings from the first study of the validity of scores from the new MCAT exam in predicting student performance in the first year of medical school (M1).

Method: The authors analyzed data from the national population of 2016 matriculants with scores from the new MCAT exam (N = 7,970) and the sample of 2016 matriculants (N = 955) from 16 medical schools who volunteered to participate in the validity research.

The Diversity and Success of Medical School Applicants With Scores in the Middle Third of the MCAT Score Scale.

Admissions officers assemble classes of medical students with different backgrounds and experiences who can contribute to their institutions' service, leadership, and research goals. While schools' local interests vary, they share a common goal: meeting the health needs of an increasingly diverse population. Despite the well-known benefits of diversity, the physician workforce does not yet reflect the nation's diversity by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, or other background characteristics.

The Consequences of Structural Racism on MCAT Scores and Medical School Admissions: The Past Is Prologue.

Those in medical education have a responsibility to prepare a physician workforce that can serve increasingly diverse communities, encourage healthy changes in patients, and advocate for the social changes needed to advance the health of all. The authors of this Perspective discuss many of the likely causes of the observed differences in mean Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores between students from groups well represented in medicine and those from groups underrepresented in medicine. The lower mean MCAT scores of underrepresented groups can present challenges to diversifying the physician workforce if medical schools only admit those applicants with the highest MCAT scores.

Investigating Group Differences in Examinees' Preparation for and Performance on the New MCAT Exam.

In 2015, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) was redesigned to better assess the concepts and reasoning skills students need to be ready for the medical school curriculum. During the new exam's design and rollout, careful attention was paid to the opportunities examinees had to learn the new content and their access to free and low-cost preparation resources. The design committee aimed to mitigate possible unintended effects of the redesign, specifically increasing historical mean group differences in MCAT scores for examinees from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and races/ethnicities underrepresented in medicine compared with those from higher SES backgrounds and races/ethnicities not underrepresented in medicine.

Defining Rural: The Predictive Value of Medical School Applicants' Rural Characteristics on Intent to Practice in a Rural Community.

Purpose: To understand the predictive value of medical student application characteristics on rural practice intent.

Method: The authors constructed a linked database of 2012-2017 medical school matriculants from American Medical College Application Service applications and Association of American Medical Colleges Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ, 2012-2017) and Graduation Questionnaire (GQ, 2016-2018). Using logistic regression, they compared application variables (birth, high school, childhood county, and self-declared geographical origin) to students' MSQ and GQ intent to practice rurally.

Advanced Leadership Training: Pursue an MBA or Other Advanced Degree?

Many leaders consider engaging in formal leadership training that results in the award of a degree. Choosing from several options requires careful consideration given the cost, effort, and attention required for successful completion. Individuals should have a clear understanding as to motivation for pursuing an advanced degree and should be able to clearly articulate what they hope to gain.

The AAMC Standardized Video Interview and the Electronic Standardized Letter of Evaluation in Emergency Medicine: A Comparison of Performance Characteristics.

Purpose: To compare the performance characteristics of the electronic Standardized Letter of Evaluation (eSLOE), a widely used structured assessment of emergency medicine (EM) residency applicants, and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Standardized Video Interview (SVI), a new tool designed by the AAMC to assess interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism knowledge.

Method: The authors matched EM residency applicants with valid SVI total scores and completed eSLOEs in the 2018 Match application cycle. They examined correlations and group differences for both tools, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step exam scores, and honor society memberships.

Healing the Professional Culture of Medicine.

The past decade has been a time of great change for US physicians. Many physicians feel that the care delivery system has become a barrier to providing high-quality care rather than facilitating it. Although physician distress and some of the contributing factors are now widely recognized, much of the distress physicians are experiencing is related to insidious issues affecting the cultures of our profession, our health care organizations, and the health care delivery system.

Strategies for Teaching Linguistic Preparedness for Physicians: Medical Spanish and Global Linguistic Competence in Undergraduate Medical Education.

In accordance with Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) curriculum content standards, medical schools are expected to teach physician communication skills and cultural competence. Given the sustained U.S.

Financial and Clinical Impact of Transfer Patients at Major Teaching Hospitals.

Purpose: The authors examined the "hub-and-spoke" health care system in the United States for patients transferred from one hospital ("spoke") to a major teaching hospital ("hub") and assessed the financial and clinical impact of this system on major teaching hospitals.

Method: The authors surveyed Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems members to collect detailed financial and clinical data from fiscal year 2015 for transfer cases and nontransfer cases (cases directly admitted to the teaching hospital). Data included computed margins (the difference between revenue received and direct and indirect facility costs as estimated by the hospitals) as well as case severity, average length of stay (ALOS), time of admission, surgical or medical status, and other situational variables for All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (APR-DRGs).

Late-Career Expectations: A Survey of Full-Time Faculty Members Who Are 55 or Older at 14 U.S. Medical Schools.

Purpose: The average age of full-time faculty members at U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education was 49.

Late-Career Faculty: A Survey of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development Leaders of U.S. Medical Schools.

Purpose: Individuals 55 or older constitute 28.5% of the U.S.

Does Strategic Planning Matter?

In this Invited Commentary, the author examines the history, use, and effectiveness of strategic planning in higher education, academic medicine, and nonprofit settings. Strategic planning is a process by which an organization differentiates itself from its direct or emergent competition to achieve its mission. This form of planning is distinct from operational planning, in which an organization identifies the ways in which it will continuously improve.

Applicant Reactions to the AAMC Standardized Video Interview During the 2018 Application Cycle.

Purpose: This study examined applicant reactions to the Association of American Medical Colleges Standardized Video Interview (SVI) during its first year of operational use in emergency medicine (EM) residency program selection to identify strategies to improve applicants' SVI experience and attitudes.

Method: Individuals who self-classified as EM applicants applying in the Electronic Residency Application Service 2018 cycle and who completed the SVI in summer 2017 were invited to participate in 2 surveys. Survey 1, which focused on procedural issues, was administered immediately after SVI completion.

Navigating Tumultuous Change in the Medical Profession: The Coalition for Physician Accountability.

Collaboration among the national organizations responsible for self-regulation in medicine in the United States is critical, as achieving the quadruple aim of enhancing the patient experience and improving population health while lowering costs and improving the work life of clinicians and staff is becoming more challenging. The leaders of the national organizations responsible for accreditation, assessment, licensure, and certification recognize this and have come together as the Coalition for Physician Accountability. The coalition, which meets twice per year, was created in 2011 as a discursive space for group discussion and action related to advancing health care, promoting professional accountability, and improving the education, training, and assessment of physicians.

Developing a Culture of Mentorship to Strengthen Academic Medical Centers.

Mentorship is central to academic medicine and its missions, and it has long played a critical role in the training and career development of physicians and scientists. A growing body of literature has documented the positive impact of mentorship on various outcomes, including research productivity, academic promotion, faculty retention, and career satisfaction. These benefits span academic medical centers' missions and have the potential to enhance biomedical research, patient care, education, and faculty diversity and leadership.

HPV vaccine, Twitter, and gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

This study aimed to quantify human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Twitter messaging addressing gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GB+MSM) and describes messaging by vaccine sentiment (attitudes towards vaccine) and characteristics (topic of messaging). Between August 2014 and July 2015, we collected 193 379 HPV-related tweets and classified them by vaccine sentiment and characteristics. We analysed a subsample of tweets containing the terms 'gay', 'bisexual' and 'MSM' (N = 2306), and analysed distributions of sentiment and characteristics using chi-square.