Rethinking empathy decline: results from an OSCE.

Background: The phenomenon of empathy decline among medical students during training is widely accepted, with evidence based largely on studies using self-administered instruments. Recently, researchers have called into question this phenomenon, in light of new findings that suggest a discrepancy between self-administered empathy scores and observed empathic behaviours: for example, during objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). Our objective was to compare observed empathy among medical students in different clerkship years using an OSCE.

Impact of a scholarly track on quality of residency program applicants.

Introduction: It is generally believed that residency programs offering scholarly tracks attract higher quality applicants, although there is little evidence of this in the literature. We explored the impact of a clinician-educator track on the quality of applicants to our residency program by comparing the volume and characteristics of applicants before (2008-2011) and after (2012-2015) the track was introduced.

Methods: The total number of applications received was compared between the pre-track and post-track years.

Qualities of Resident Teachers Valued by Medical Students.

Background And Objectives: Medical students often see residents as the most important teachers on the wards. However, there is a relative lack of data on the qualities that medical students value in their resident teachers. We conducted a qualitative study to determine the teaching behaviors that medical students value in their resident teachers.