Multicenter Validation of a Customizable Scoring Tool for Selection of Trainees for a Residency or Fellowship Program. The EAST-IST Study.

RATIONALE: Few data have been published regarding scoring tools for selection of postgraduate medical trainee candidates that have wide applicability. OBJECTIVES: The authors present a novel scoring tool developed to assist postgraduate programs in generating an institution-specific rank list derived from selected elements of the U.S. Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS) application. METHODS: The authors developed and validated an ERAS and interview day scoring tool at five pulmonary and critical care fellowship programs: the ERAS Application Scoring Tool-Interview Scoring Tool. This scoring tool was then tested for intrarater correlation versus subjective rankings of ERAS applications. The process for development of the tool was performed at four other institutions, and it was performed alongside and compared with the "traditional" ranking methods at the five programs and compared with the submitted National Residency Match Program rank list. RESULTS: The ERAS Application Scoring Tool correlated highly with subjective faculty rankings at the primary institution (average Spearman's r = 0.77). The ERAS Application Scoring Tool-Interview Scoring Tool method correlated well with traditional ranking methodology at all five institutions (Spearman's r = 0.54, 0.65, 0.72, 0.77, and 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: This study validates a process for selecting and weighting components of the ERAS application and interview day to create a customizable, institution-specific tool for ranking candidates to postgraduate medical education programs. This scoring system can be used in future studies to compare the outcomes of fellowship training.

Entrustable professional activities and curricular milestones for fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine: executive summary from the Multi-Society Working Group.

Assessment of graduate medical trainee progress via the accomplishment of competency milestones is an important element of the Next Accreditation System of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This article summarizes the findings of a multisociety working group that was tasked with creating the entrustable professional activities and curricular milestones for fellowship training in pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, and combined programs. Using the Delphi process, experienced medical educators from the American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors reached consensus on the detailed curricular content and expected skill set of graduates of these programs. These are now available to trainees and program directors for the purposes of curriculum design, review, and trainee assessment.

Entrustable professional activities and curricular milestones for fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine: report of a multisociety working group.

This article describes the curricular milestones and entrustable professional activities for trainees in pulmonary, critical care, or combined fellowship programs. Under the Next Accreditation System of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), curricular milestones compose the curriculum or learning objectives for training in these fields. Entrustable professional activities represent the outcomes of training, the activities that society and professional peers can expect fellowship graduates to be able to perform unsupervised. These curricular milestones and entrustable professional activities are the products of a consensus process from a multidisciplinary committee of medical educators representing the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), the American Thoracic Society, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors. After consensus was achieved using the Delphi process, the document was revised with input from the sponsoring societies and program directors. The resulting lists can serve as a roadmap and destination for trainees, program directors, and educators. Together with the reporting milestones, they will help mark trainees' progress in the mastery of the six ACGME core competencies of graduate medical education.

Comparison and agreement between the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale and the Riker Sedation-Agitation Scale in evaluating patients' eligibility for delirium assessment in the ICU.

BACKGROUND: Delirium evaluation in patients in the ICU requires the use of an arousal/sedation assessment tool prior to assessing consciousness. The Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) and the Riker Sedation-Agitation Scale (SAS) are well-validated arousal/sedation tools. We sought to assess the concordance of RASS and SAS assessments in determining eligibility of patients in the ICU for delirium screening using the confusion assessment method for the ICU (CAM-ICU). METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study in the adult medical, surgical, and progressive (step-down) ICUs of a tertiary care, university-affiliated, urban hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. The cohort included 975 admissions to the ICU between January and October 2009. RESULTS: The outcome measures of interest were the correlation and agreement between RASS and SAS measurements. In 2,469 RASS and SAS paired screens, the rank correlation using the Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.91, and the agreement between the two screening tools for assessing CAM-ICU eligibility as estimated by the κ coefficient was 0.93. Analysis showed that 70.1% of screens were eligible for CAM-ICU assessment using RASS (7.1% sedated [RASS −3 to −1]; 62.6% calm [0]; and 0.4% restless, agitated [+1 to +3]), compared with 72.1% using SAS (5% sedated [SAS 3]; 66.5% calm [4]; and 0.6% anxious, agitated [5, 6]). In the mechanically ventilated subgroup, RASS identified 19.1% CAM-ICU eligible patients compared with 24.6% by SAS. The correlation coefficient in this subgroup was 0.70 and the agreement was 0.81. CONCLUSION: Both SAS and RASS led to similar rates of delirium assessment using the CAM-ICU.

Multisociety task force recommendations of competencies in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

RATIONALE: Numerous accrediting organizations are calling for competency-based medical education that would help define specific specialties and serve as a foundation for ongoing assessment throughout a practitioner's career. Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine are two distinct subspecialties, yet many individual physicians have expertise in both because of overlapping content. Establishing specific competencies for these subspecialties identifies educational goals for trainees and guides practitioners through their lifelong learning. OBJECTIVES: To define specific competencies for graduates of fellowships in Pulmonary Medicine and Internal Medicine-based Critical Care. METHODS: A Task Force composed of representatives from key stakeholder societies convened to identify and define specific competencies for both disciplines. Beginning with a detailed list of existing competencies from diverse sources, the Task Force categorized each item into one of six core competency headings. Each individual item was reviewed by committee members individually, in group meetings, and conference calls. Nominal group methods were used for most items to retain the views and opinions of the minority perspective. Controversial items underwent additional whole group discussions with iterative modified-Delphi techniques. Consensus was ultimately determined by a simple majority vote. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The Task Force identified and defined 327 specific competencies for Internal Medicine-based Critical Care and 276 for Pulmonary Medicine, each with a designation as either: (1) relevant, but competency is not essential or (2) competency essential to the specialty. CONCLUSIONS: Specific competencies in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine can be identified and defined using a multisociety collaborative approach. These recommendations serve as a starting point and set the stage for future modification to facilitate maximum quality of care as the specialties evolve.

Resident and faculty perceptions of conflict of interest in medical education.

OBJECTIVE: To determine resident and faculty perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry's influence on medical education. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Anonymous survey of categorical residents and faculty in the department of medicine at a large, Midwestern, urban, independent academic medical center. MAIN RESULTS: Eighty-one residents (69.2%) and 196 faculty (75.7%) responded to the survey. Residents believed that a significantly higher percentage of primary care and subspecialist faculty receives industry income or gifts compared to faculty respondents. Many faculty, and to a significantly greater degree residents, indicated that income or gifts influence the teaching of both internal attending physicians and visiting faculty in a variety of educational settings. The majority of residents (61.7%) and faculty (62.2%) believed that annual income or gifts less than $10,000 could influence an attending physician's teaching. Most residents (65.4%) and faculty (74%) preferred that lecturers report all financial relationships with industry regardless of which relationships the lecturer believes are relevant. CONCLUSIONS: Most internal medicine residents and their faculty perceive that industry influences teaching in different educational settings, and want teachers to disclose all of their financial relationships with industry. This information may guide further development of policies and curricula addressing industry relationships within graduate medical education.