Sex differences and psychological stress: responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

BACKGROUND: About 83,000 COVID-19 patients were confirmed in China up to May 2020. Amid the well-documented threats to physical health, the effects of this public health crisis - and the varied efforts to contain its spread - have altered individuals' "normal" daily functioning. These impacts on social, psychological, and emotional well-being remain relatively unexplored - in particular, the ways in which Chinese men and women experience and respond to potential behavioral stressors. Our study investigated sex differences in psychological stress, emotional reactions, and behavioral responses to COVID-19 and related threats among Chinese residents. METHODS: In late February (2020), an anonymous online questionnaire was disseminated via WeChat, a popular social media platform in China. The cross-sectional study utilized a non-probabilistic "snowball" or convenience sampling of residents from various provinces and regions of China. Basic demographic characteristics (e.g., age and gender) - along with residential living arrangements and conditions - were measured along with psychological stress and emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Three thousand eighty-eight questionnaires were returned: 1749 females (56.6%) and 1339 males (43.4%). The mean stress level,as measured by a visual analog scale, was 3.4 (SD = 2.4) - but differed significantly by sex. Besides sex, factors positively associated with stress included: age (< 45 years), employment (unsteady income, unemployed), risk of infection (exposureto COVID-19, completed medical observation), difficulties encountered (diseases, work/study, financial, mental), and related behaviors (higher desire for COVID-19 knowledge, more time concerning on the COVID-19 outbreak). "Protective" factors included frequent contact with colleagues, calmness of mood comparing with the pre-pandemic, and psychological resilience. Males and females also differed significantly in adapting to current living/working, conditions, responding to run a fever, and needing psychological support services. CONCLUSIONS: The self-reported stress of Chinese residents related to the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly related to sex, age, employment, resilience and coping styles. Future responses to such public health threats may wish to provide sex- and/or age-appropriate supports for psychological health and emotional well-being to those at greatest risk of experiencing stress.

Lack of Diversity in Simulation Technology: An Educational Limitation?

STATEMENT: Despite increased attention on diversity in medicine and healthcare, heterogeneity in simulation technology has been slow to follow suit. In a nonsystematic review of simulation technology available in 2018 with respect to skin tone, age and sex, we found limited diversity in these offerings, suggesting limitations to educators' abilities to represent the full array of patients, conditions, and scenarios encountered in medicine and training. We highlight these limitations and propose basic strategies by which educators can increase awareness of and incorporate diversity into the simulation arena.

Legitimizing Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI): Navigating Rationality in Undergraduate Medical Education.

In July of 2015, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)-the primary accrediting body for North American allopathic medical schools-formally advanced a model of "formative accreditation" by requiring that medical schools engage in "ongoing planning and continuous quality improvement processes that establish short and long-term programmatic goals, result in the achievement of measurable outcomes that are used to improve programmatic quality, and ensure effective monitoring of the medical education program's compliance with accreditation standards."As these and parallel forces redefine undergraduate medical education (UME) in increasingly rationalistic (i.e., operational, measureable, controllable) terms, efforts to implement meaningful continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes may be challenged to overcome perceptions of questionable purpose, worth, and impact often associated with administration mandates. This commentary discusses potential factors underlying the growing rationalism in UME and offers practical strategies to shield CQI from being passively dismissed, excessively routinized, or redirected toward other institutional ends-remaining, instead, purposefully focused on the task at hand: Enhancing teaching and learning in undergraduate medical curricula.

Inspiring the next generation of academic physicians: the academic health careers program.

There is growing evidence in the medical education literature for the aggressive need to recruit and retain the next generation of academic physicians. In 2008, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UK COM) developed an academic health careers (AHCs) program for preclinical medical students as an introduction into the practice of academic medicine. The goals of this elective experience included (1) highly customized training and mentorship experiences in research, teaching, and other aspects of academic medicine; (2) information and perspectives to assist students in making informed career choices, including options for academic careers; (3) access to academic career mentors and role models related to individual faculty research interests and teaching responsibilities; and (4) opportunities to network with UK COM administrators. This short communication provides a detailed overview of the AHC experience - along with preliminary findings from a 2016-17 follow-up of program graduates exploring the program's role in their career aspirations and decisions.

Sources of medical student stress.

BACKGROUND: Key elements in the clinical practice of prevention, health and wellness are best cultivated in medical professionals during undergraduate medical training. This study explores students' self-assessed stress relative to gender, academic expectations, and level of medical training to guide development of targeted wellness interventions. METHODS: In early 2012, undergraduate (M1-M4) students in four Southeastern U.S. allopathic medical schools were surveyed about health-related attitudes and behaviors. RESULTS: A total of 575 students returned completed questionnaires. Students in the preclinical years (M1-M2), especially females, reported significantly higher stress levels. Academic expectations and satisfaction were also significantly implicated. DISCUSSION: These findings highlight the general areas of potential concern regarding stressors associated with medical training. Future research should guide programmatic efforts to enhance students' overall health and wellness vis-à -vis curriculum, skills training, and support services.

Impact of Professional Student Mentored Research Fellowship on Medical Education and Academic Medicine Career Path.

CONTEXT: This study explores the long-term impact of the Professional Student Mentored Research Fellowship (PSMRF) program at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UKCOM) on medical students' research productivity and career paths. METHODS: Demographic characteristics, academic profiles, number of publications and residency placements from 2007 to 2012 were used to assess 119 PSMRF graduates against a comparison cohort of 898 UKCOM (non-PSMRF) students. RESULTS: PSMRF students had higher MCAT scores at admission (31.5 ± 0.6 vs. 30.6 ± 0.2, p = 0.007) and achieved higher USMLE Step 1 scores (228 ± 4.2 vs. 223 ± 1.5, p = 0.03) than comparison group. PSMRF students were more likely to publish PubMed-indexed papers (36.7% vs. 17.9%, p < 0.0001), achieve AOA status (19.3% vs. 8.5%, p = 0.0002) and match to top 25 US News and World Report residency programs (23.4% vs. 12.1%, p = 0.008). A greater proportion of PSMRF fellows matched to top tier competitive specialties (23% vs. 14.2%, p = 0.07), however this difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The PSMRF program shows a significant increase in enrollment, as well as positive associations with indicators of success in medical school and subsequent quality of residency program.

Medical students' comfort with children.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the comfort level of medical students beginning their paediatric clerkships, and to identify students' perceived concerns around interacting with children in a medical setting. METHODS: Prior to beginning required paediatric clerkships, third-year students in two south-eastern US medical schools completed an anonymous, 13-item questionnaire eliciting prior personal experiences with children, as well as comfort levels with selected aspects of paediatric care. RESULTS: Based on 237 responses (76.2% response rate), medical students' total child-related experiences were significantly associated with self-assessed comfort delivering paediatric care. Female students reported more prior experiences than male medical students; however, gender was not associated with comfort working with children. A dose-response curve of experience shows a critical level of two types of experiences for comfort in working with children. Students reported significantly lower levels of comfort in performing a physical exam on a child versus obtaining a child's medical history from a parent/caregiver. Students' child-related experiences were significantly associated with self-assessed comfort delivering paediatric care CONCLUSIONS: Medical students with little to no prior experience with children expressed significantly less comfort interacting with children in paediatric clerkships. A diversity of past experiences appeared to be a more meaningful correlate, as opposed to experience in a specific setting or context. Providing some general exposure to children during the preclinical years could instill in students greater comfort approaching their paediatric training.

Discerning applicants' interests in rural medicine: a textual analysis of admission essays.

BACKGROUND: Despite efforts to construct targeted medical school admission processes using applicant-level correlates of future practice location, accurately gauging applicants' interests in rural medicine remains an imperfect science. This study explores the usefulness of textual analysis to identify rural-oriented themes and values underlying applicants' open-ended responses to admission essays. METHODS: The study population consisted of 75 applicants to the Rural Physician Leadership Program (RPLP) at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Using WordStat, a proprietary text analysis program, applicants' American Medical College Application Service personal statement and an admission essay written at the time of interview were searched for predefined keywords and phrases reflecting rural medical values. From these text searches, derived scores were then examined relative to interviewers' subjective ratings of applicants' overall acceptability for admission to the RPLP program and likelihood of practicing in a rural area. RESULTS: The two interviewer-assigned ratings of likelihood of rural practice and overall acceptability were significantly related. A statistically significant relationship was also found between the rural medical values scores and estimated likelihood of rural practice. However, there was no association between rural medical values scores and subjective ratings of applicant acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: That applicants' rural values in admission essays were not related to interviewers' overall acceptability ratings indicates that other factors played a role in the interviewers' assessments of applicants' acceptability for admission.

End-of-life and palliative care curricula in internal medicine clerkships: a report on the presence, value, and design of curricula as rated by clerkship directors.

PURPOSE: End-of-life and palliative care (EOL/PC) education is a necessary component of undergraduate medical education. The extent of EOL/PC education in internal medicine (IM) clerkships is unknown. The purpose of this national study was to investigate the presence of formal EOL/PC curricula within IM clerkships; the value placed by IM clerkship directors on this type of curricula; curricular design and implementation strategies; and related barriers and resources. METHOD: The Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine conducted its annual survey of its institutional members in April 2012. The authors analyzed responses to survey items pertaining to formal EOL/PC curriculum and content using descriptive statistics. The authors used qualitative techniques to analyze free-text responses. RESULTS: The response rate was 77.0% (94/122). Of those responding, 75.8% (69/91) believed such training should occur in the IM clerkship, and 43.6% (41/94) reported formal curricula in EOL/PC. Multiple instructional modalities were used to deliver this content, with the majority of programs dedicating four or more hours to the curriculum. Curricula covered a wide range of topics, and student assessment tools were varied. Most felt that students valued this education. The qualitative analysis revealed differences in the values clerkship directors placed on teaching EOL/PC within the IM clerkship. CONCLUSIONS: Although many IM clerkship directors have implemented formal curricula in EOL/PC, a substantial gap remains between those who have implemented and those who believe it belongs in the clerkship. Time, faculty, cost, and competing demands are the main barriers to implementation.

A holistic review of the medical school admission process: examining correlates of academic underperformance.

BACKGROUND: Despite medical school admission committees' best efforts, a handful of seemingly capable students invariably struggle during their first year of study. Yet, even as entrance criteria continue to broaden beyond cognitive qualifications, attention inevitably reverts back to such factors when seeking to understand these phenomena. Using a host of applicant, admission, and post-admission variables, the purpose of this inductive study, then, was to identify a constellation of student characteristics that, taken collectively, would be predictive of students at-risk of underperforming during the first year of medical school. In it, we hypothesize that a wider range of factors than previously recognized could conceivably play roles in understanding why students experience academic problems early in the medical educational continuum. METHODS: The study sample consisted of the five most recent matriculant cohorts from a large, southeastern medical school (n=537). Independent variables reflected: 1) the personal demographics of applicants (e.g., age, gender); 2) academic criteria (e.g., undergraduate grade point averages [GPA], medical college admission test); 3) selection processes (e.g., entrance track, interview scores, committee votes); and 4) other indicators of personality and professionalism (e.g., Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test™ emotional intelligence scores, NEO PI-R™ personality profiles, and appearances before the Professional Code Committee [PCC]). The dependent variable, first-year underperformance, was defined as ANY action (repeat, conditionally advance, or dismiss) by the college's Student Progress and Promotions Committee (SPPC) in response to predefined academic criteria. This study protocol was approved by the local medical institutional review board (IRB). RESULTS: Of the 537 students comprising the study sample, 61 (11.4%) met the specified criterion for academic underperformance. Significantly increased academic risks were identified among students who 1) had lower mean undergraduate science GPAs (OR=0.24, p=0.001); 2) entered medical school via an accelerated BS/MD track (OR=16.15, p=0.002); 3) were 31 years of age or older (OR=14.76, p=0.005); and 4) were non-unanimous admission committee admits (OR=0.53, p=0.042). Two dimensions of the NEO PI-R™ personality inventory, openness (+) and conscientiousness (-), were modestly but significantly correlated with academic underperformance. Only for the latter, however, were mean scores found to differ significantly between academic performers and underperformers. Finally, appearing before the college's PCC (OR=4.21, p=0.056) fell just short of statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Our review of various correlates across the matriculation process highlights the heterogeneity of factors underlying students' underperformance during the first year of medical school and challenges medical educators to understand the complexity of predicting who, among admitted matriculants, may be at future academic risk.

Medical student interest in academic medical careers: a multi-institutional study.

Little is known about how medical students view academic medicine. This multi-institutional study explored student perceptions of this career path. During 2009-2010, third- and fourth-year students at three United States medical schools completed a 30-item online survey. In total, 239 students completed the questionnaire (37 % response rate). Significant predictors of students' desires for academic medical careers included interest in teaching (γ = 0.74), research (γ = 0.53), interprofessional practice (γ = 0.34), administration (γ = 0.27), and community service opportunities (γ = 0.16). A positive correlation existed between accumulated debt and interest in academic medicine (γ = 0.20). Student descriptions of the least and most appealing aspects of academic medicine were classified into five categories: professional, research, personal, teaching and mentoring, and patients/patient care. Students are more likely to be interested in a career in academic medicine if they have participated in research or were influenced by a mentor. Factors that may also influence a medical student's decision to pursue a career in academic medicine include age and debt accumulated prior to medical school. Professional aspects of academic medicine (cutting edge environment, resources) and the opportunity to teach were the most appealing aspects.

Does gender moderate medical students' assessments of unprofessional behavior?

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread acceptance of professionalism as a clinical competency, the role of certain contextual factors in assessing certain behaviors remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the potential moderating role of gender in assessing unprofessional behaviors during undergraduate medical training. DESIGN: Randomized, anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety seven (97) third-year students from a southeastern U.S. medical school (participation rate=95.1 %). MAIN MEASURES: Using a 4-point Likert-type scale, subjects reviewed two subsets of randomly administered, equally weighted hypothetical vignettes depicting potentially unprofessional behaviors that could occur during medical students' clinical training. Ratings were categorized from 1 -"Not a Problem" to 4 -"A Severe Problem", based on the perceived degree of unprofessionalism. In each written scenario, trainee gender was systematically varied. KEY RESULTS: Across all scenario subsets, male and female students' mean ratings of hypothetical behaviors did not differ significantly. Further, male and female students tended, on average, to rate behaviors similarly regardless of the trainee's gender. CONCLUSION: Study findings suggest that: (1) neither students' gender nor that of the hypothetical "actor" moderates the assessment of unprofessional behaviors; and (2) male and female students assign roughly the same overall rankings to potentially unprofessional behaviors.

Should Histologic Grade Be Incorporated into the TNM Classification System for Small (T1, T2) Node-Negative Breast Adenocarcinomas?

Prognosis of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) strongly correlates with tumor grade as determined by Nottingham combined histologic grade. While reporting grade as low grade/favorable (G1), intermediate grade/moderately favorable (G2), and high grade/unfavorable (G3) is recommended by American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system, existing TNM (Primary Tumor/Regional Lymph Nodes/Distant Metastasis) classification does not directly incorporate these data. For large tumors (T3, T4), significance of histologic grade may be clinically moot as those are nearly always candidates for adjuvant therapy. However, for small (T1, T2) node-negative (N0) tumors, grade may be clinically relevant in influencing treatment decisions, but data on outcomes are sparse and controversial. This retrospective study analyzes clinical outcome in patients with small N0 IDC on the basis of tumor grade. Our results suggest that the grade does not impact clinical outcome in T1N0 tumors. In T2N0 tumors, however, it might be prognostically significant and relevant in influencing decisions regarding the need for additional adjuvant therapy and optimal management.

Assessing the quality of clinical teaching: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluations in the clinical arena are fraught with problems. Current assessments of clinical teaching typically measure attributes of clinical teachers in overly broad terms, are often subjective and often succumb to the halo effect. This is in contradistinction to measurements of lectures, workshops or online educational content, which can more readily be assessed using objective criteria. As a result, clinical evaluations are often insufficient to provide focused feedback, guide faculty development or identify specific areas for clinical teachers to implement change and improvement. The aim of our study was to offset these limitations. METHODS: We developed a structured, 15-item objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)-type checklist of discrete teaching behaviours intended to be: (i) observable; (ii) applicable to multiple disciplines, and (iii) reliably identifiable. Our goal was to test and utilise this checklist as an objective assessment of clinical teaching across a range of in-patient teaching rounds experiences. During 2007-2008, pairs of external raters on two separate occasions observed nine attending physicians during actual in-patient paediatrics and internal medicine ward rounds at a large, academic medical centre. Observers documented the extent to which specific teaching behaviours did or did not occur. RESULTS: The internal consistency of the 15-item checklist was good (alpha = 0.85). A two-facet, partially nested G study found the generalisability of ratings to be generally acceptable, but inter-rater reliability varied greatly between occasions and across individual checklist items. CONCLUSIONS: Despite attempts to identify discrete and observable target behaviours, placing observers on rounds to detect these behaviours may not be as straightforward as it would seem. Clinical teaching may be a more inherently subjective process, based on different teaching styles of faculty staff. However, a set of objective checklist items to be completed by trained observers on teaching rounds holds promise as a potentially viable means of identifying strengths and weaknesses of clinical instruction. Further research is needed to define what constitutes quality clinical teaching, as well as the most reliable method for assessing it.

Emotional intelligence and medical specialty choice: findings from three empirical studies.

CONTEXT: Despite only modest evidence linking personality-type variables to medical specialty choice, stereotypes involving empathy and 'emotional connectedness' persist, especially between primary care providers and surgeons or subspecialists. This paper examines emotional intelligence (EI) and specialty choice among students at three US medical schools. METHODS: Results from three independent studies are presented. Study 1 used the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) administered to a single cohort of 84 Year 4 medical students. Study 2 used the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) and Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) administered to three cohorts (n = 250) of Year 3 medical students. Study 3 used the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I) administered to two cohorts of Year 1 medical students (n = 292). Results were linked to specialty choice data retrieved from the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). Classifications of specialty choice included: (i) primary care (family practice, internal medicine, paediatrics) versus non-primary care (all others), and (ii) primary care, hospital-based specialties (anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, pathology, radiology), and technical and surgical specialties (neurology, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, and all surgical fields). CONCLUSIONS: Across all three studies - and using both classifications of specialty choice - no significant differences in EI were found between students entering primary care and non-primary care specialties. Limitations are acknowledged, and future directions for research involving EI are identified.

Impact of two types of Internet-based information on medical students' performance in an Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE).

OBJECTIVES: Internet-based information has potential to impact physician-patient relationships. This study examined medical students' interpretation and response to such information presented during an objective clinical examination. METHOD: Ninety-three medical students who had received training for a patient centered response to inquiries about alternative treatments completed a comprehensive examination in their third year. In 1 of 12 objective structured clinical exams, a SP presented Internet-based information on l-theanine - an amino acid available as a supplement. In Condition A, materials were from commercial websites; in Condition B, materials were from the PubMed website. RESULTS: Analyses revealed no significant differences between Conditions in student performance or patient (SP) satisfaction. Students in Condition A rated the information less compelling than students in Condition B (z=-1.78, p=.037), and attributed less of the treatment's action to real vs. placebo effects (z=-1.61, p=.053). CONCLUSIONS: Students trained in a patient centered response to inquiries about alternative treatment perceived the credibility of the two types of Internet-based information differently but were able to respond to the patient without jeopardizing patient satisfaction. Approach to information was superficial. Training in information evaluation may be warranted.

Changes in medical students' emotional intelligence: an exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: The ability to recognize and adapt to affective states in one's self and others, emotional intelligence is thought to connote effective, compassionate doctor-patient communication. Unfortunately, medical training has been shown to erode some of the very attributes it purports to instill in students. PURPOSE: The objective is to examine changes in students' emotional intelligence and empathy across an undergraduate medical curriculum. METHODS: During M1 orientation and again following M3 clerkship training, students in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Class of 2004 completed the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) and Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Baseline changes in specific dimensions were examined for both male and female students. RESULTS: Reliability of subscales was generally acceptable (alpha >or= .70). Sixty-four students provided data at both time points. Compared to baseline, two of three TMMS dimensions--attention to feelings and mood repair--were significantly (p

Toward a sociological understanding of complementary and alternative medicine use.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The wide array of treatments and modalities comprising complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) represent a growing option for many individuals. Seeking to better understand this, much research has centered on identifying sociodemographic (e.g., age, gender, race) or social-psychologic (e.g., absorption, depression, coping) correlates of using CAM therapies. In contrast, sociological perspectives recognize the influence of larger-scale, external forces on individuals' motivations to seek alternative or complementary care. AIM: This paper, then, illustrates current and potential sociological approaches to understanding CAM use, and the importance of social forces that influence persons' decisions to utilize (or not) "unconventional" medical care.