A workshop to train medicine faculty to teach clinical reasoning.

Background Clinical reasoning (CR) is a core competency in medical education. Few studies have examined efforts to train faculty to teach CR and lead CR curricula in medical schools and residencies. In this report, we describe the development and preliminary evaluation of a faculty development workshop to teach CR grounded in CR theory. Methods Twenty-six medicine faculty (nine hospitalists and 17 subspecialists) participated in a workshop that introduced a framework to teach CR using an interactive, case-based didactic followed by role-play exercises. Faculty participated in pre- and post-Group Observed Structured Teaching Exercises (GOSTE), completed retrospective pre-post assessments (RPPs), and made commitment to change statements (CTCs). Results In the post-GOSTE, participants significantly improved in their use of problem representation and illness scripts to teach CR. RPPs revealed that faculty were more confident in their ability and more likely to teach CR using educational strategies grounded in CR educational theory. At 2-month follow-up, 81% of participants reported partially implementing these teaching techniques. Conclusions After participating in this 3-h workshop, faculty demonstrated increased ability to use these teaching techniques and expressed greater confidence and an increased likelihood to teach CR. The majority of faculty reported implementing these newly learned educational strategies into practice.

Flow switching in microfluidic networks using passive features and frequency tuning.

Manipulating fluids in microchips remains a persistent challenge in the development of inexpensive and portable point-of-care diagnostic tools. Flow in microfluidic chips can be controlled via frequency tuning, wherein the excitation frequency of a pressure source is matched with the characteristic frequencies of network branches. The characteristic frequencies of each branch arise from coupling between fluid in the channels and passive deformable features, and can be programmed by adjusting the dimensions and stiffness of the features. In contrast to quasi-static 'on-off' valves, such networks require only a single active element and relatively small dynamic displacements. To achieve effective flow switching between different pathways in the chip, well-separated peak frequencies and narrow bandwidths are required (such that branches are independently addressable). This paper illustrates that high selectivity can be achieved in fluidic networks that exploit fluidic inertia, with flow driven selectively at peak frequencies between ~1-100 Hz with bandwidths less than ~25% of the peak frequency. Precise frequency-based flow switching between two on-chip microchannels is demonstrated. A simple theoretical framework is presented that predicts the characteristic frequencies in terms of feature properties, thus facilitating the design of networks with specific activation frequencies. The approach provides a clear pathway to simplification and miniaturization of flow-control hardware for microchips with several fluidic domains.