The Florida Clinical Skills Collaborative: A New Regional Consortium for the Assessment of Clinical Skills.

Discontinuation of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) exam and Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) Level 2 Performance Evaluation (2-PE) raised questions about the ability of medical schools to ensure the clinical skills competence of graduating students. In February 2021, representatives from all Florida, United States, allopathic and osteopathic schools initiated a collaboration to address this critically important issue in the evolving landscape of medical education. A 5-point Likert scale survey of all members (n=18/20 individuals representing 10/10 institutions) reveals that initial interest in joining the collaboration was high among both individuals (mean 4.78, SD 0.43) and institutions (mean 4.69, SD 0.48). Most individuals (mean 4.78, SD 0.55) and institutions (mean 4.53, SD 0.72) are highly satisfied with their decision to join. Members most commonly cited a "desire to establish a shared assessment in place of Step 2 CS/2-PE" as their most important reason for joining. Experienced benefits of membership were ranked as the following: 1) Networking, 2) Shared resources for curriculum implementation, 3) Scholarship, and 4) Work towards a shared assessment in place of Step 2 CS/2-PE. Challenges of membership were ranked as the following: 1) Logistics such as scheduling and technology, 2) Agreement on common goals, 3) Total time commitment, and 4) Large group size. Members cited the "administration of a joint assessment pilot" as the highest priority for the coming year. Florida has successfully launched a regional consortium for the assessment of clinical skills competency with high levels of member satisfaction which may serve as a model for future regional consortia.

Advanced Placement Courses for Medical School: A Novel AMed Track to Reduce Financial Burden and Attract Nontraditional Students.

Medical school admissions have become increasingly competitive, creating a pool of nontraditional applicants that seek postbaccalaureate training in biomedical sciences. Several postbaccalaureate and graduate programs developed curricula that, except for learning clinical skills, mirror the learning objectives of the foundational science curricula in medical schools. This education structure provides applicants with a competitive advantage when applying to medical schools. However, basic science curriculum assessments in medical schools have changed to pass/fail scoring systems. As a result, students that participate in preparatory postbaccalaureate and graduate programs cannot show their superior level of knowledge and may find some core foundational science subjects redundant during their pre-clerkship medical education. The aim of this article is to propose an innovative system for matriculation into medical school through the AdvancedMed (AMed) Track, a three-year accelerated medical curriculum in which graduate curricula adopt an advanced placement course called AMed courses. This system would mirror the structure of the high school Advanced Placement (AP) system; therefore, students would take AMed courses similar in rigor to medical school basic science courses. These courses include Anatomy, Histology, Physiology, Cellular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Microbiology, Immunology, Biostatistics, and Epidemiology. All courses would require a scored national standardized test to receive medical school credit toward a three-year accelerated track curriculum. Nontraditional students could choose to study independently and take the AMed standardized examination for credit to enter the AMed Track. Medical schools have the incentive to start an AMed Track because its implementation could lessen the financial burden, reduce time spent in medical school, and increase the participation of nontraditional medical students.

Ultrasound assessment of optic disc edema in patients with headache.

Point-of-care ocular ultrasonography is emerging as a powerful tool to evaluate emergency department (ED) patients at risk for ophthalmologic and intracranial pathology.We present cases of 3 patients in whom optic disc swelling was identified using ocular ultrasound. Causes for optic disc swelling in our patients included idiopathic intracranial hypertension, secondary syphilis, and malignant hypertension with associated hypertensive retinopathy. Because direct visualization of the optic disc may be challenging in an ED setting, ultrasound examination of the optic disc may represent an important adjunct to fundoscopy when assessing patients with headache or visual complaints.