Illness presenteeism among physicians and trainees: Study protocol of a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Illness presenteeism (IP) is the phenomenon where individuals continue to work despite illness. While it has been a prevalent and longstanding issue in medicine, the recent onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing movement to improve physician wellness brings renewed interest in this topic. However, there have been no comprehensive reviews on the state of literature of this topic. PURPOSE: The main aim of this scoping review is to explore what is known about presenteeism in physicians, residents, and medical students in order to map and summarize the literature, identify research gaps and inform future research. More specifically: How has illness presenteeism been defined, problematized or perceived? What methods and approaches have been used to study the phenomenon? Has the literature changed since the pandemic? METHOD: Using the Arksey and O'Malley framework several databases will be searched by an experienced librarian. Through an iterative process, inclusion and exclusion criteria will be developed and a data extraction form refined. Data will be analyzed using quantitative and qualitative content analyses. POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS OF RESULTS: By summarizing the literature on IP, this study will provide a better understanding of the IP phenomena to inform future research and potentially have implications for physician wellness and public health.

"It's What We Can Do Right Now": Professional Identity Formation Among Internal Medicine Residents During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a consequential moment of disruption for medical training that has far-reaching implications for professional identity formation (PIF). To date, this has not been studied. As medical education grapples with a postpandemic era, it is essential to gain insight into how the pandemic has influenced PIF to better support its positive influences and mitigate its more detrimental effects. This study examined how PIF occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic to better adapt future medical training. METHOD: Constructivist grounded theory guided the iterative data collection and analyses. The authors conducted semistructured group interviews with 24 Ontario internal medicine residents in postgraduate years (PGYs) 1 to 3 between November 2020 and July 2021. Participants were asked to reflect on their day-to-day clinical and learning experiences during the pandemic. RESULTS: Twenty-four internal medicine residents were interviewed (12 PGY-1 [50.0%], 9 PGY-2 [37.5%], and 3 PGY-3 [12.5%]). Participants described how navigating patient care and residency training through the pandemic consistently drew their attention to various system problems. How participants responded to these problems was shaped by an interplay among their personal values, their level of personal wellness or burnout, self-efficacy, institutional values, and the values of their supervisors and work community. As they were influenced by these factors, some were led toward acting on the problem(s) they identified, whereas others had a sense of resignation and deferred action. These interactions were evident in participants' experiences with communication, advocacy, and learning. CONCLUSIONS: Residents' professional identities are continuously shaped by how they perceive, reconcile, and address various challenges. As residents navigate tensions between personally held values and apparent system values, individuals in supervisory positions should be mindful of their influence as role models who empower values and practices that are recognized by participants to be important aspects of physician identity.

Evaluating the Quality of Written Feedback Within Entrustable Professional Activities in an Internal Medicine Cohort.

Background: Whether written comments in entrustable professional activities (EPAs) translate into high-quality feedback remains uncertain. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the quality of EPA feedback completed by faculty and senior residents. Methods: Using retrospective descriptive analysis, we assessed the quality of feedback from all EPAs for 34 first-year internal medicine residents from July 2019 to May 2020 at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. We assessed feedback quality on 4 domains: timeliness, task orientation, actionability, and polarity. Four independent reviewers were blinded to names of evaluators and learners and were randomized to assess each EPA for the 4 domains. Statistical analyses were completed using R 3.6.3. Chi-square or Fisher's exact test and Cochran-Armitage test for trend were used to compare the quality of feedback provided by faculty versus student assessors, and to compare the effect of timely versus not timely feedback on task orientation, actionability, and polarity. Results: A total of 2471 EPAs were initiated by junior residents. Eighty percent (n=1981) of these were completed, of which 61% (n=1213) were completed by senior residents. Interrater reliability was almost perfect for timeliness (κ=0.99), moderate for task orientation (κ=0.74), strong for actionability (κ=0.81), and moderate for polarity (κ=0.62). Of completed EPAs, 47% (n=926) were timely, 85% (n=1697) were task oriented, 83% (n=1649) consisted of reinforcing feedback, 4% (n=79) contained mixed feedback, and 12% (n=240) had neutral feedback. Thirty percent (n=595) were semi- or very actionable. Conclusions: The written feedback in the EPAs was task oriented but was neither timely nor actionable. The majority of EPAs were completed by senior residents rather than faculty.

A tale of two curricula: Learning and matching in the final year of medical school.

In this article, I highlight two curricula that I believe are most prominent during the final year of the Canadian medical school experience-that of learning and that of matching to residency. While these two curricula are not mutually exclusive, they can be perceived as conflicting by learners who shift their focus away from learning towards performing in an effort to optimize their chance of matching to their program of choice. Moreover, the higher rates of unmatched students in recent years have likely contributed to this shift while at the same time bringing more stress and anxiety into the lives of medical students. I argue that there needs to be curricular consistency among all stakeholders including undergraduate programs, postgraduate programs, and other third-party organizations.

Dans cet article, je mets en évidence deux curriculums qui, je crois, prévalent durant la dernière année d'étude dans les écoles de médecine au Canada, soit celui de l'apprentissage et celui du jumelage aux postes de résidence. Alors que ces deux cursus ne sont pas mutuellement exclusif ils peuvent être perçus comme étant contradictoires par les apprenants qui, d'abord concentrés sur leurs apprentissages, priorisent ensuite la performance afin d'optimiser leur chance d'être jumelé au programme de leur choix. De plus, la proportion élevée d'étudiants non jumelés des dernières années a probablement contribué à ce changement de priorités infligeant, du même coup, plus de stress et d'anxiété dans leur vie d'étudiants en médecine. J'estime que le cursus soit être cohérent entre toutes les parties prenantes, incluant les programmes prédoctoraux, postdoctoraux, et les organisations de tierce partie.

Learning a new way of living together: a qualitative study exploring the relationship changes and intervention needs of patients with cardiovascular disease and their partners.

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) not only affects the patient, but has implications for the partner. Emerging evidence suggests that supportive couple relationships enhance CVD outcomes and reduce patient and partner distress. To date, however, little research has been done to address the couple relationship as a potentially important component of cardiac care. This article examines the impact of CVD on the couple relationship and assesses the perceived needs and desired intervention components of patients with CVD and their partners. DESIGN: Qualitative study using directed and conventional content analysis. SETTING: Single-centre, tertiary cardiac care hospital that serves a population of 1.4 million in the Champlain region of Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with CVD and their partners (n=32, 16 couples) participated in focus groups. Patients were mainly male (75%), white (87.5%), aged 64.4 years (range 31-81 years), with varied cardiac diagnoses (50% coronary artery disease; 18.75% valve disease; 18.75% heart failure; 12.5% arrhythmia). RESULTS: Five categories were generated from the data reflecting changes within the couple relationship as a result of CVD: (1) emotional and communication disconnection; (2) overprotection of the patient; (3) role changes; (4) adjustment to lifestyle changes; and (5) positive relationship changes. Three categories were constructed regarding intervention needs and desired resources: (1) practical resources; (2) sharing with peers; and (3) relationship enhancement. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the data suggest that there were profound changes in the couple relationship as a result of CVD, and that there is considerable need to better support the caregiving spouses and the couple as a unit. These results call for interventions designed to provide instrumental support, peer-sharing opportunities and relationship quality enhancement to help couples cope with CVD. Future studies should examine whether couples-based programming embedded into cardiac rehabilitation can be effective at improving relationship quality and reducing patient and partner stress in the aftermath of a cardiac event.

No observed effect from a student-led mock objective structured clinical examination on subsequent performance scores in medical students in Canada.

Student-led peer-assisted mock objective structured clinical examinations (MOSCEs) have been used in different settings to help students prepare for subsequent higher-stakes, faculty-run OSCEs. MOSCE participants generally valued feedback from peers and report benefits to learning. Our study investigated whether participation in a peer-assisted MOSCE affects subsequent OSCE performance. To determine whether mean OSCE scores differed depending on whether medical students participated in the MOSCE, we conducted a between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA), with cohort (2016 vs. 2017) and MOSCE participation (MOSCE vs. No MOSCE) as independent variables and mean OSCE score as the dependent variable. Participation in the MOSCE had no influence on mean OSCE scores (P=0.19). There was a significant correlation between mean MOSCE scores and mean OSCE scores (Pearson's r = 0.52, P<0.001). Whereas previous studies report self-reported benefits from participation in student-lead MOSCEs, it was not associated with objective benefits in this study.

Self-assessment differences between genders in a low-stakes objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).

OBJECTIVE: Physicians and medical students are generally poor-self assessors. Research suggests that this inaccuracy in self-assessment differs by gender among medical students whereby females underestimate their performance compared to their male counterparts. However, whether this gender difference in self-assessment is observable in low-stakes scenarios remains unclear. Our study's objective was to determine whether self-assessment differed between male and female medical students when compared to peer-assessment in a low-stakes objective structured clinical examination. RESULTS: Thirty-three (15 males, 18 females) third-year students participated in a 5-station mock objective structured clinical examination. Trained fourth-year student examiners scored their performance on a 6-point Likert-type global rating scale. Examinees also scored themselves using the same scale. To examine gender differences in medical students' self-assessment abilities, mean self-assessment global rating scores were compared with peer-assessment global rating scores using an independent samples t test. Overall, female students' self-assessment scores were significantly lower compared to peer-assessment (p < 0.001), whereas no significant difference was found between self- and peer-assessment scores for male examinees (p = 0.228). This study provides further evidence that underestimation in self-assessment among females is observable even in a low-stakes formative objective structured clinical examination facilitated by fellow medical students.

A student-initiated objective structured clinical examination as a sustainable cost-effective learning experience.

BACKGROUND: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has gained widespread use as a form of performance assessment. However, opportunities for students to participate in practice OSCEs are limited by the financial, faculty and administrative investments required. OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of a student-run mock OSCE (MOSCE) as a learning experience for medical students of all 4 years. DESIGN: We conducted a five-station MOSCE for third-year students. This involved fourth-year students as examiners and first-/second-year students as standardized patients (SPs). Each examiner scored examinees using a checklist and global rating scale while providing written and verbal feedback. MOSCE stations and checklists were designed by students and reviewed by a faculty supervisor. Following the MOSCE, participants completed surveys which elucidated their perceptions on the roles they took during the MOSCE. RESULTS: Fifty examinees participated in the MOSCE. Of these, 42 (84%) consented to participate in the study and submitted completed questionnaires. Twenty-four examiners participated in the OSCE and consented to participate in the study, with 22 (92%) submitting completed questionnaires. Fifty-three of 60 SPs (88%) agreed to take part in this study, and 51 (85%) completed questionnaires. The internal consistency of the five-station OSCE was calculated as a Cronbach's alpha of 0.443. Students commented positively on having the opportunity to network and engage in mentorship activities and reinforce clinical concepts. CONCLUSIONS: Examinees, examiners, and SPs all perceived the MOSCE to be a beneficial learning experience. We found the MOSCE to be a feasible and acceptable means of providing additional OSCE practice to students prior to higher-stakes evaluations.