Exploring Competency-Based Medical Education Through the Lens of the UME-GME Transition: A Qualitative Study.

PURPOSE: Competency-based medical education (CBME) represents a shift to a paradigm with shared definitions, explicit outcomes, and assessments of competence. The groundwork has been laid to ensure all learners achieve the desired outcomes along the medical education continuum using the principles of CBME. However, this continuum spans the major transition from undergraduate medical education (UME) to graduate medical education (GME) that is also evolving. This study explores the experiences of medical educators working to use CBME assessments in the context of the UME-GME transition and their perspectives on the existing challenges. METHOD: This study used a constructivist-oriented qualitative methodology. In-depth, semistructured interviews of UME and GME leaders in CBME were performed between February 2019 and January 2020 via Zoom. When possible, each interviewee was interviewed by 2 team members, one with UME and one with GME experience, which allowed follow-up questions to be pursued that reflected the perspectives of both UME and GME educators more fully. A multistep iterative process of thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcripts and identify patterns across interviews. RESULTS: The 9 interviewees represented a broad swath of UME and GME leadership positions, though most had an internal medicine training background. Analysis identified 4 overarching themes: mistrust (a trust chasm exists between UME and GME); misaligned goals (the residency selection process is antithetical to CBME); inadequate communication (communication regarding competence is infrequent, often unidirectional, and lacks a shared language); and inflexible timeframes (current training timeframes do not account for individual learners' competency trajectories). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the mutual desire and commitment to move to CBME across the continuum, mistrust, misaligned goals, inadequate communication, and inflexible timeframes confound such efforts of individual schools and programs. If current efforts to improve the UME-GME transition address the themes identified, educators may be more successful implementing CBME along the continuum.

Using a boundary crossing lens to understand basic science educator and clinical educator collaboration in instructional design.

PURPOSE: Collaborations between basic science educators (BE) and clinical educators (CE) in medical education are common and necessary to create integrated learning materials. However, few studies describe experiences of or processes used by educators engaged in interdisciplinary teamwork. We use the lens of boundary crossing to explore processes described by BE and CE that support the co-creation of integrated learning materials, and the impact that this work has on them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted qualitative content analysis on program evaluation data from 27 BE and CE who worked on 12 teams as part of a multi-institutional instructional design project. RESULTS: BE and CE productively engaged in collaboration using boundary crossing mechanisms. These included respecting diverse perspectives and expertise and finding efficient processes for completing shared work that allow BE and CE to build on each other's contributions. BE and CE developed confidence in connecting clinical concepts with causal explanations, and willingness to engage in and support such collaborations at their own institutions. CONCLUSIONS: BE and CE report the use of boundary crossing mechanisms that support collaboration in instructional design. Such practices could be harnessed in future collaborations between BE and CE.

Competency-Based Medical Education in the Internal Medicine Clerkship: A Report From the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine Undergraduate Medical Education Task Force.

As medical educators continue to redefine learning and assessment across the continuum, implementation of competency-based medical education in the undergraduate setting has become a focus of many medical schools. While standards of competency have been defined for the graduating student, there is no uniform approach for defining competency expectations for students during their core clerkship year. The authors describe the process by which an Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine task force developed a paradigm for competency-based assessment of students during their inpatient internal medicine (IM) clerkship. Building on work at the resident and fellowship levels, the task force focused on the development of key learning outcomes as defined by entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that were specific to educational experiences on the IM clerkship, as well as identification of high-priority assessment domains. The work was informed by a national survey of clerkship directors.Six key EPAs emerged: generating a differential diagnosis, obtaining a complete and accurate history and physical exam, obtaining focused histories and clinically relevant physical exams, preparing an oral presentation, interpreting the results of basic diagnostic studies, and providing well-organized clinical documentation. A model for assessment was proposed, with descriptors aligned to the scale of supervision and mapped to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education domains of competence. The proposed paradigm offers a standardized template that may be used across IM clerkships, and which would effectively bridge competency evaluation in the clerkship to fourth-year assessment as well as eventual postgraduate training.

Describing Failure in a Clinical Clerkship: Implications for Identification, Assessment and Remediation for Struggling Learners.

BACKGROUND: In addition to training future members of the profession, medical schools perform the critical role of identifying students who are failing to meet minimum standards in core competencies. OBJECTIVE: To better understand reasons for failure in an internal medicine clerkship. DESIGN: A qualitative content analysis of letters describing reasons for students' failure. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three students (31 men) who failed the internal medicine clerkship at the University of Minnesota Medical School, 2002-2013. APPROACH: We conducted a qualitative content analysis of the 43 letters describing reasons for students' failure. We coded critical deficiencies and mapped them to the Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS) competency domains and classified them into two categories: conduct (unprofessional behaviors) and knowledge and skills specific to the practice of medicine. We then calculated the frequency of each critical deficiency. We statistically tested for relationships between gender and critical deficiencies in each of the competency domains. KEY RESULTS: We coded 50 critical deficiencies with all codes mapping to a PCRS competency domain. The most frequently cited deficiencies were "insufficient knowledge" (79 % of students) and "inadequate patient presentation skills" (74 %). Students exhibited critical deficiencies in all eight competency domains, with the highest concentrations in Knowledge for Practice (98 %) and Interpersonal and Communication Skills (91 %). All students demonstrated deficiencies in multiple competencies, with 98 % having deficiencies in three or more. All 43 students demonstrated deficits in the knowledge and skills category, and 81 % had concurrent conduct issues. There were no statistically significant relationships between gender and critical deficiencies in any competency domain. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights both the diversity and commonality of reasons that students fail a clinical clerkship. Knowing the range of areas where students struggle, as well as the most likely areas of difficulty, may aid faculty in identifying students who are failing and in developing remediation strategies.

Abstracts From the Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine (CDIM).

Since its inception in 1989, Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) has promoted excellence in medical student education. CDIM members move medical education forward by sharing innovations in curriculum and assessment and discoveries related to educating our students and administering our programs. The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, of which CDIM is a founding member, broadens the umbrella beyond student education to include five academically focused specialty organizations representing departments of medicine, teaching hospitals, and medical schools working together to advance learning, discovery, and caring. CDIM held its 2015 annual meeting at Academic Internal Medicine Week in Atlanta, Georgia. This year 36 innovation and research submissions were selected for either oral abstract or poster presentation. The quality of the presentations was outstanding this year and included many of the most important issues in medical education. The CDIM research committee selected the following seven abstracts as being of the highest quality, the most generalizable, and relevant to the readership of Teaching and Learning in Medicine. Two abstracts include information from the CDIM annual survey, which remains a rich source for answering questions about student education on a national level. Looking at trends in medical education, three of the seven selected abstracts mention entrustable professional activities. Three of the abstracts address how we assess student skill and provide them with appropriate feedback. These include two schools' approach to bringing milestones into the medical student realm, use of objective structured clinical exam for assessing clinical skill in clerkship, and what students want in terms of feedback. Four articles deal with curricular innovation. These include interprofessional education, high-value care, transitions of care, and internship preparation. We are pleased to share these abstracts, which represent the breadth and quality of thought of our CDIM members.

Point-of-care ultrasonography improves the diagnosis of splenomegaly in hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: It is important to detect splenomegaly as it can have important diagnostic implications. Previous studies, however, have shown that the traditional physical examination is limited in its ability to rule in or rule out splenomegaly. OBJECTIVE: To determine if performing point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) in addition to the traditional physical examination improves the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing splenomegaly. METHODS: This was a prospective trial of diagnostic accuracy. Physical and sonographic examinations for splenomegaly were performed by students, residents and attending physicians enrolled in an ultrasound training course. Participants received less than 1 h training for ultrasound diagnosis of splenomegaly. The findings were compared to radiographic interpretation of gold standard studies. SETTING/PATIENTS: Hospitalized adult patients at an academic medical center without severe abdominal pain or recent surgery who had abdominal CT, MRI or ultrasound performed within previous 48 h. RESULTS: Thirty-nine subjects were enrolled. Five patients had splenomegaly (12.5 %). The physical examination for splenomegaly had a sensitivity of 40 % (95 % CI 12-77 %) and specificity of 88 % (95 % CI 74-95 %) while physical examination plus POCUS had a sensitivity of 100 % (95 % CI 57-100 %) and specificity of 74 % (95 % CI 57-85 %). Physical examination alone for splenomegaly had an LR+ of 3.4 (95 % CI 0.83-14) and LR- of 0.68 (95 % CI 0.33-1.41); for physical exam plus POCUS the LR+ was 3.8 (2.16-6.62) and LR- was 0. CONCLUSIONS: Point-of-care ultrasonography significantly improves examiners' sensitivity in diagnosing splenomegaly.

The effect of resident duty-hours restrictions on internal medicine clerkship experiences: surveys of medical students and clerkship directors.

UNLABELLED: PHENOMENON: Medical students receive much of their inpatient teaching from residents who now experience restructured teaching services to accommodate the 2011 duty-hour regulations (DHR). The effect of DHR on medical student educational experiences is unknown. We examined medical students' and clerkship directors' perceptions of the effects of the 2011 DHR on internal medicine clerkship students' experiences with teaching, feedback and evaluation, and patient care. APPROACH: Students at 14 institutions responded to surveys after their medicine clerkship or subinternship. Students who completed their clerkship (n = 839) and subinternship (n = 228) March to June 2011 (pre-DHR historical controls) were compared to clerkship students (n = 895) and subinterns (n = 377) completing these rotations March to June 2012 (post-DHR). Z tests for proportions correcting for multiple comparisons were performed to assess attitude changes. The Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine annual survey queried institutional members about the 2011 DHR just after implementation. FINDINGS: Survey response rates were 64% and 50% for clerkship students and 60% and 48% for subinterns in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and 82% (99/121) for clerkship directors. Post-DHR, more clerkship students agreed that attendings (p =.011) and interns (p =.044) provided effective teaching. Clerkship students (p =.013) and subinterns (p =.001) believed patient care became more fragmented. The percentage of holdover patients clerkship students (p =.001) and subinterns (p =.012) admitted increased. Clerkship directors perceived negative effects of DHR for students on all survey items. Most disagreed that interns (63.1%), residents (67.8%), or attendings (71.1%) had more time to teach. Most disagreed that students received more feedback from interns (56.0%) or residents (58.2%). Fifty-nine percent felt that students participated in more patient handoffs. INSIGHTS: Students perceive few adverse consequences of the 2011 DHR on their internal medicine experiences, whereas their clerkship director educators have negative perceptions. Future research should explore the impact of fragmented patient care on the student-patient relationship and students' clinical skills acquisition.

How we developed and piloted an electronic key features examination for the internal medicine clerkship based on a US national curriculum.

BACKGROUND: Key features examinations (KFEs) have been used to assess clinical decision making in medical education, yet there are no reports of an online KFE-based on a national curriculum for the internal medicine clerkship. What we did: The authors developed and pilot tested an electronic KFE based on the US Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine core curriculum. Teams, with expert oversight and peer review, developed key features (KFs) and cases. EVALUATION: The exam was pilot tested at eight medical schools with 162 third and fourth year medical students, of whom 96 (59.3%) responded to a survey. While most students reported that the exam was more difficult than a multiple choice question exam, 61 (83.3%) students agreed that it reflected problems seen in clinical practice and 51 (69.9%) students reported that it more accurately assessed the ability to make clinical decisions. CONCLUSIONS: The development of an electronic KFs exam is a time-intensive process. A team approach offers built-in peer review and accountability. Students, although not familiar with this format in the US, recognized it as authentically assessing clinical decision-making for problems commonly seen in the clerkship.

Should we Google it? Resource use by internal medicine residents for point-of-care clinical decision making.

PURPOSE: To determine which resources residents use at the point-of-care (POC) for decision making, the drivers for selection of these resources, and how residents use Google/Google Scholar to answer clinical questions at the POC. METHOD: In January 2012, 299 residents from three internal medicine residencies were sent an electronic survey regarding resources used for POC decision making. Resource use frequency and factors influencing choice were determined using descriptive statistics. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine relationships between the independent variables. RESULTS: A total of 167 residents (56%) responded; similar numbers responded at each level of training. Residents most frequently reported using UpToDate and Google at the POC at least daily (85% and 63%, respectively), with speed and trust in the quality of information being the primary drivers of selection. Google, used by 68% of residents, was used primarily to locate Web sites and general information about diseases, whereas Google Scholar, used by 30% of residents, tended to be used for treatment and management decisions or locating a journal article. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that internal medicine residents use UpToDate most frequently, followed by consultation with faculty and the search engines Google and Google Scholar; speed, trust, and portability are the biggest drivers for resource selection; and time and information overload appear to be the biggest barriers to resources such as Ovid MEDLINE. Residents frequently used Google and may benefit from further training in information management skills.

A collaborative model for developing and maintaining virtual patients for medical education.

There is great interest in using computer-assisted instruction in medical education, but getting computer-assisted instruction materials used broadly is difficult to achieve. We describe a successful model for the development and maintenance of a specific type of computer-assisted instruction - virtual patients - in medical education. The collaborative model's seven key components are described and compared to other models of diffusion of innovation and curriculum development. The collaborative development model that began in one medical discipline is now extended to two additional disciplines, through partnerships with their respective clerkship director organizations. We believe that the ability to achieve broad use of virtual patients, and to transition the programs from successfully relying on grant funding to financially self-sustaining, resulted directly from the collaborative development and maintenance process. This process can be used in other learning environments and for the development of other types of computer-assisted instruction programs.

From the educational bench to the clinical bedside: translating the Dreyfus developmental model to the learning of clinical skills.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Outcome Project has shifted the focus of residents' education to competency-based outcomes of learning. The challenge of meaningful assessment of learner competence has stimulated interest in the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Model, a framework for assessing skill acquisition that describes developmental stages beginning with novice and progressing through advanced beginner, competent, proficient, expert, and master. Many educators have adopted this model, but no consensus about its adaptation to clinical medicine has been documented. In this article, the authors seek to integrate generally accepted knowledge and beliefs about how one learns to practice clinical medicine into a coherent developmental framework using the Dreyfus and Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. Using the general domain of patient care, the characteristics and skills of learners at each stage of development are translated into typical behaviors. A tangible picture of this model in real-world practice is provided through snapshots of typical learner performance at discrete moments in time along the developmental continuum. The Dreyfus and Dreyfus model is discussed in the context of other developmental models of assessment of learner competence. The limitations of the model, in particular the controversy around the behaviors of "experts," are discussed in light of other interpretations of expertise in the literature. Support for descriptive developmental models of assessment is presented in the context of a discussion of the deconstructing versus reconstructing of competencies.

Effects of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education work hour restrictions on medical student experience.

BACKGROUND: Residents have a major role in teaching students, yet little has been written about the effects of resident work hour restrictions on medical student education. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine the effects of resident work hour restrictions on medical student education. DESIGN: We compared student responses pre work hour restrictions with those completed post work hour restrictions. PARTICIPANTS: Students on required Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Pediatric clerkships at the University of Minnesota. MEASUREMENTS: Two thousand eight hundred twenty-five student responses on end-of-clerkship surveys. RESULTS: Students reported 1.6 more hours per week of teaching by residents (95%CI 0.8-2.6) in the post work hours era. Students' ratings of the overall quality of their teaching on the ward did not change appreciably, 0.05 points' decline on a 5-point scale (P = .05). Like the residents, students worked fewer hours per week (avg. 1.5 hours less, 95%CI 0.4-2.6). There was no change in quality or quantity of attending teaching, students' relationships with their patients, or the overall value of the clerkships. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas resident duty hour restrictions at our institution have had minimal effect on students' ratings of the overall teaching quality, they do report being taught more by their residents. This may be a factor of decreased resident fatigue or an increased sense of well-being; but more study is needed to clarify the causes of our observations.