Structure and quality of bedside teaching: A videographic analysis.

Bedside teaching (BST) is a core element of medical education. In light of a reported decrease in BST, evidence on how to use BST time most efficiently should be developed. Given that little research into the tangible quality characteristics of good BST has been reported, we investigated the influence of various teacher and structural characteristics on the perceived quality of BST. We filmed and coded 36 BSTs involving 24 lecturers and 259 students. Structural characteristics of interest were: number of students and patients, overall duration, and the proportion of clinical examination. Lecturer questionnaires provided insight into teaching experience and intrinsic motivation, and student evaluations assessed the quality of BSTs in three dimensions. Correlations are reported using the Pearson r and a linear mixed model (LMM). The intrinsic motivation of lecturers was significantly positively correlated with perceived quality, but their experience was only weakly so correlated. In the LMM, a significant association was observed for the quality dimension of clinical teaching with the number of patients and the proportion of time spent on clinical examination. Based on our findings, we recommend including multiple patients in BSTs, and providing substantial opportunities for clinical examination. Regarding lecturers, motivation matters more than experience.

Reflect to interact - fostering medical students' communication through reflection-focused e-learning.

BACKGROUND: Previous research indicates that reflection can foster medical communication competence. However, best practices for embedding reflection in online medical education are missing. This study examined how reflection processes can be promoted and embedded in an e-learning course on physician-patient communication to foster learning. METHODS: We investigated three differently designed e-learning conditions featuring different proportions of reflection triggers and compared their effects on students' reflections. We had 114 medical students in their first clinical year complete one of the variants: video modelling (VM, n = 39), video reflection (VR, n = 39), or a variant merging both approaches (VMR, n = 36). Each student wrote a total of nine reflections based on the same guiding questions at three time points embedded in the course. The students' levels of reflection were measured using an adapted version of the REFLECT rubric (scale 0-18). RESULTS: Students of all course variants achieved good levels of reflection beyond the descriptive level at all three time points, with no significant differences between the variants. The mean reflection scores at the end of the course were M = 14.22 for VM (SD = 2.23), M = 13.56 for VR (SD = 2.48), and M = 13.24 for VMR (SD = 2.21). Students who completed VM showed significantly improved levels of reflection over the course, whereas we found no statistically significant development for those in VR or VMR. The reflection scores correlated significantly positively with each other, as did the text lengths of the written reflections. Reflection scores also correlated significantly positively with text length. CONCLUSIONS: Our study offers a teaching strategy that can foster good levels of reflection, as demonstrated in the three e-learning variants. The developed reflection prompts can be easily embedded in various e-learning environments and enable reflections of good quality, even in settings with limited available teaching time.

Student mistakes and teacher reactions in bedside teaching.

We analyse interactions between teachers and students during video-recorded bedside teaching sessions in internal medicine, orthopaedics and neurology. Multiple raters used a high-inference categorical scheme on 36 sessions. Our research questions concern the types of student mistakes, clinical teachers' reactions to them and if they use different strategies to address different types of mistakes. We used a Poisson model and generalized mixed models to analyse these research questions. Most frequently, students made reproduction mistakes. Relatively high rates of rejection and a similar prevalence of low and high levels of elaboration and correction time for students were observed. Reproduction mistakes were associated with the highest level of rejection and the lowest level of elaboration. High levels of elaboration were observed when students were applying skills in new situations. Students were most often allowed time to correct when mistakes in the areas of analysis or application of skills and knowledge had occurred. There is a decrease in the rate of making mistakes for neurology and orthopaedics compared to internal medicine. Reproduction mistakes influence significantly the outcome feedback compared to application mistakes. Analytic and reproduction mistakes influence elaboration significantly compared to application mistakes. We found a significant effect whether the lecturer allows time for correction of reproduction mistakes compared to application mistakes. These results contribute to the understanding of interactive, patient-centred clinical teaching as well as student mistakes and how teachers are reacting to them. Our descriptive findings provide an empirical basis for clinical teachers to react to student mistakes in didactically fruitful ways.

Structured interviews on self-regulated learning strategies of medical students in the final year of medical school.

BACKGROUND: In the final year of medical school, the educational focus is on experiences in the clinical environment. This is where students acquire most of their practical knowledge for their future career and need to optimise their Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies. Hence, the current study aims to explore which SRL strategies medical students use during their clerkships in different learning settings. METHODS: Structured interviews were conducted between May 2019 and December 2020 with 43 medical students during their final year in Munich, Germany. The students were surveyed about their SRL strategies. The transcribed data were thematically analysed using the measurements Strategy Use (SU) and Strategy Frequency (SF). RESULTS: Interview data were organized into 11 SRL strategy categories. The most used SRL strategy in general was "seeking information in the internet in form of a text" (SU: 1; SF: 2.605), with an e-learning tool; followed by "seeking social assistance from doctors" (SU: 0.977; SF: 1.884), and "seeking information in books" (SU: 0.884; SF: 1.419). There were differences in the usage of SRL in different learning contexts between female and male students. For example, 95.3% of students are "seeking social assistance from doctors" when having difficulties on the ward, but only 55.8% when they need help with written tasks (e.g. medical letter). The results show a difference in SRL usage when preparing for oral-practical (79.1% books) and written (97.7% e-learning tool) exam. However, it also appears that some students do not have SRL strategies for certain situations, mostly due to a lack of time. CONCLUSION: Medical students in the clinical phase are adapting their SRL strategy to the learning situation. To better support students´ SRL, it is necessary to ensure availability for their preferred resources: e-learning tool and experienced physicians as supervisors. Future research should focus on strategies to handle the limited time during clerkships.

Measuring informal workplace learning outcomes in residency training: a validation study.

BACKGROUND: Informal workplace learning (WPL) has no concrete learning objective and takes place without a responsible supervisor, which makes it difficult to assess its learning outcomes. Formal learning situations, as they are known from universities or schools, do not exist in this context and make a conventional assessment of learning goals and achievements impossible. Informal learning in the workplace is of central importance, and the assessment of informal learning outcomes in medical education is an under-researched area. The aim of our study was to adapt and validate an informal WPL questionnaire (originally developed for social workers) to assess learning outcomes due to informal WPL in residency training. METHODS: A total of 528 residents (n = 339 female; age: M = 29.79; SD = 3.37 years) completed an adapted questionnaire on informal WPL outcomes and the Freiburg Questionnaire to Assess Competencies in Medicine (i.e. medical knowledge, communication, and scholarship). Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the underlying factor structure. The reliability of the factors was tested using McDonald's omega, and the correlation between the factors and the three subscales of the Freiburg questionnaire was tested using Spearman's rho correlation coefficient. To investigate construct validity, a structural equation model was calculated to examine the relationships between medical competencies and informal learning outcomes. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor solution that best fit the data. The scores of all four factors (GLO-CD: generic learning outcomes-competence development, GLO-R: generic learning outcomes-reflection, JSLO: job-specific learning outcomes, and OLLO: organisational learning outcomes) showed good internal consistency (Ω ≥ .69). The structural equation model showed that "medical expertise" had an impact on all four factors of informal learning at work. "Scholarship" seemed to predict GLO-CD and GLO-R. CONCLUSIONS: Our four-factor model reveals meaningful determinants of informal WPL in relation to residency training. The instrument is therefore the first promising attempt to assess informal WPL in the broader context of medical education during residency, thus supporting its construct validity.

Experiences of medical students and nursing trainees from unexpected death through simulation training.

BACKGROUND: Dying in simulation training is controversially discussed. On the one hand, the danger of an emotional overload of the learners is pointed out. On the other hand, dying in simulation settings is addressed as an opportunity to prepare future health professionals to deal with patient death. The present study investigates how medical students and nursing trainees experience the sudden death of a simulated patient and how and under which conditions it can be valuable to simulate the patient's death. METHODS: At the TUM School of Medicine in Munich, Germany, we developed an interprofessional, simulation-based course in which participants were unexpectedly confronted with a cardiac arrest scenario within which resuscitation had to be discontinued due to an advanced directive. After the course, focus groups were conducted with nine medical students and six nursing trainees. Data were analysed using Grounded Theory techniques. RESULTS: The participants reported low to high emotional involvement. The active renunciation of life-sustaining measures was felt to be particularly formative and caused a strange feeling and helplessness. Questions of what could have been done differently determined interviewees' thoughts. The participants appreciated the opportunity to experience what it feels like to lose a patient. The course experience encouraged interviewees to reflect on dying and the interviewees explained that they feel better prepared to face death after the course. The unexpected character of the confrontation, presence of the advanced directive and debriefing positively affected the impact of the simulation. CONCLUSIONS: The study recognises simulation training as a promising approach for preparing future health care professionals to encounter a patient's death.

Programs to encourage working as a general practitioner in rural areas: why do medical students not want to participate? A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In many countries, not enough students are interested to work as general practitioners in rural areas. To solve this problem, several, sometimes partly extracurricular, programs have been developed. Most of these programs are based on continuity, which means that students stay in a rural region for an extended period of time, by completing clerkships. Although the effects of these programs are positive, it is often difficult to motivate students to participate. The purpose of the present study is to get insight into the reasons why students choose not to participate in these programs. METHODS: We carried out a questionnaire study among medical students in the clinical phase of the Technical University of Munich in Germany. First, we asked the students whether they actively informed themselves about the program which aims to reduce the shortage of general practitioners in rural areas in Bavaria. Furthermore, the questionnaire focused on the reasons for not participating in this program. RESULTS: Based on the answers of 442 students from study years 3-6, the most frequently chosen reason for not participating in the program is "identification with another discipline" with 61.0%, directly followed by "not willing to commit long-term" (56.1%). In third place is "personal connections to another region" with 30.5%. In the open comments, we find the same reasons: many students do not want to commit to a certain direction too early. In addition, students indicate that the number of regions where this program is offered is too limited for them. CONCLUSIONS: Offering programs to prepare and motivate students for work as general practitioners in rural areas can contribute to increasing the pool of future general practitioners. To encourage students to participate in such a program, it is important to consider the motives of students. Many students who might be interested in general practice do not choose to take part in such a program because they do not want to commit to a particular specialty or region at an early stage. It is important to take these insights into account when designing and implementing these programs.

How is modern bedside teaching structured? A video analysis of learning content, social and spatial structures.

BACKGROUND: Bedside teaching (BST) is an essential and traditional clinical teaching format. It has been subject to various impediments and has transformed over time. Besides a decrease in bedside time, there has also been a didactic diversification. In order to use time at the bedside effectively and understand the current design of BST, we here offer an evidence-based insight into how BST is practiced. This may serve as a basis for a refinement of its didactic design. METHODS: In the current study, we investigate the interrelationships between learning content and the social as well as spatial structures of BST. To this end, we have empirically analysed almost 80 hours of video material from a total of 36 BST sessions with good interrater reliability. RESULTS: BST lasted on average 125 min, most of which was spent in plenary and less than a third of the time at the patient's bedside. History taking was primarily practiced at the bedside while case presentations, clinical reasoning and theoretical knowledge were largely taught away from the patient. Clinical examination took place to a similar extent in the patient's room and in the theory room. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the filmed BSTs are not purely "bedside", the teaching format investigated here is a typical example of undergraduate medical education. In order to maximize the teaching time available, a suitable learning space should be provided in addition to the bedside. Moreover, the clinical examination should be revised in its general sequence prior to the BST, and conscious decisions should be made regarding the social structure so as to optimize the potential of small groups and plenary sessions.

Changes in medical students´ and anesthesia technician trainees´ attitudes towards interprofessionality - experience from an interprofessional simulation-based course.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional simulation based education (IPSBE) programs positively impact participants' attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration and learning. However, the extent to which students in different health professions benefit and the underlying reasons for this are subject of ongoing debate. METHODS: We developed a 14-h IPSBE course with scenarios of critical incidents or emergency cases. Participants were final year medical students (FYMS) and final year anesthesia technician trainees (FYATT). To assess attitudes towards interprofessionalism, the University of the West of England Interprofessional Questionnaire was administrated before and after the course. Using focus group illustration maps, qualitative data were obtained from a subcohort of the participants (n = 15). RESULTS: After the course, self-assessment of communication and teamwork skills, attitudes towards interprofessional interactions and relationships showed comparative improvement in both professions. Attitudes towards interprofessional learning improved only in FYMS. Qualitative data revealed teamwork, communication, hierarchy and the perception of one's own and other health profession as main topics that might underlie the changes in participants' attitudes. An important factor was that participants got to know each other during the course and understood each other's tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Since adequate communication and teamwork skills and positive attitudes towards interprofessionality account to effective interprofessional collaboration, our data support intensifying IPSBE in undergraduate health care education.

Radiation oncology as part of medical education-current status and possible digital future prospects.

PURPOSE: Education as part of medical education is currently changing rapidly. Not least because of the corona crisis, more and more digital teaching formats and innovative teaching concepts such as the flipped classroom model are finding their way into teaching. We analyzed the acceptance and effectiveness of traditional teaching methods as well as the interest in innovative e­learning methods among medical students in the field of radiation oncology at the medical school of the Technical University of Munich. METHODS: We carried out an online-based survey as well as a knowledge test on all students from two terms who had completed the seminar series of radiation oncology. The survey comprised seven questions on the frequency of participation, acceptance, and judgment of the effectiveness in terms of learning and on a potential use of e­learning methods using a six-point Likert scale. The test consisted of 10 multiple-choice questions. RESULTS: Traditional teaching methods are largely accepted by students and most students consider the current learning format to be effective in terms of the teaching effect in the field of radiation oncology. However, only about 50% of all knowledge questions were answered correctly. The possible use of e­learning methods was judged critically or desired in roughly equal parts among the students. CONCLUSION: Traditional seminars enjoy a high level of acceptance among students. Effectiveness with regard to the internalization of content taught, however, should be increased. After all, the future seems to lie in the integration of e­learning in the form of educational videos and practical seminars.

Measuring hygiene competence: the picture-based situational judgement test HygiKo.

BACKGROUND: With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020, the crucial role of hygiene in healthcare settings has once again become very clear. For diagnostic and for didactic purposes, standardized and reliable tests suitable to assess the competencies involved in "working hygienically" are required. However, existing tests usually use self-report questionnaires, which are suboptimal for this purpose. In the present study, we introduce the newly developed, competence-oriented HygiKo test instrument focusing health-care professionals' hygiene competence and report empirical evidence regarding its psychometric properties. METHODS: HygiKo is a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) to assess hygiene competence. The HygiKo-test consists of twenty pictures (items), each item presents only one unambiguous hygiene lapse. For each item, test respondents are asked (1) whether they recognize a problem in the picture with respect to hygiene guidelines and, (2) if yes, to describe the problem in a short verbal response. Our sample comprised n = 149 health care professionals (79.1 % female; age: M = 26.7 years, SD = 7.3 years) working as clinicians or nurses. The written responses were rated by two independent raters with high agreement (α > 0.80), indicating high reliability of the measurement. We used Item Response Theory (IRT) for further data analysis. RESULTS: We report IRT analyses that show that the HygiKo-test is suitable to assess hygiene competence and that it allows to distinguish between persons demonstrating different levels of ability for seventeen of the twenty items), especially for the range of low to medium person abilities. Hence, the HygiKo-SJT is suitable to get a reliable and competence-oriented measure for hygiene-competence. CONCLUSIONS: In its present form, the HygiKo-test can be used to assess the hygiene competence of medical students, medical doctors, nurses and trainee nurses in cross-sectional measurements. In order to broaden the difficulty spectrum of the current test, additional test items with higher difficulty should be developed. The Situational Judgement Test designed to assess hygiene competence can be helpful in testing and teaching the ability of working hygienically. Further research for validity is needed.

Medical Trainees' Experiences With Dying and Death.

This study investigates medical trainees' experiences with dying and death, by means of semistructured interviews. Nine medical students and nine residents reported a total of 114 experiences. The great majority of these experiences took place during the final year of medical school. The authors identified the latent characteristics, which illustrate an in-depth understanding of the significance of the described experiences. Three main themes emerged: circumstances of death, personal relationship, and one's own role. The age of the dying person, the extent of suffering, time frame and setting, and the patients' behaviors were factors that influence the perceptions of the experiences. The interviewees reported powerful emotional consternation by the patients' deaths with whom they had developed a close relationship. Failure, helplessness, and guilt were negatively associated perceptions of one's own role. This study illustrates the tension between emotional concern and professional detachment. It highlights the continuing existence of a physician image, in which control represents the key issue.

Entrustable professional activities and facets of competence in a simulated workplace-based assessment for advanced medical students.

Background: Competence-based assessment formats in medical education usually focus on individual facets of competence (FOCs). The concept of 'Entrustable Professional Activities' (EPAs) encompasses supervisors' decisions on which level of supervision a trainee requires to perform a professional activity including several FOCs. How the different FOCs as perceived by clinician raters contribute to entrustment decisions is yet unclear.Objective: How do FOC perceptions relate to entrustment-decisions?Methods: Sixty-seven advanced medical students participated in an assessment simulating the first day of a resident physician. Participants were rated by supervisors for seven FOCs and twelve EPAs.Results: There was a positive correlation between FOC and EPA scores. Each EPA displayed a different correlation pattern with FOC ratings.Discussion: For most EPAs high levels of entrustment were associated with high ratings for selected FOCs. The results are in alignment with the assumption that each EPA encompasses a different set of FOCs.Conclusions: In our simulated workplace-based assessment, entrustment decisions for EPAs reflect the FOCs observed in a trainee. Thus, assessment of FOCs alongside with EPA ratings could add to the understanding of factors contributing to entrustment decisions.

Implicit expression of uncertainty - suggestion of an empirically derived framework.

BACKGROUND: Uncertainty occurs in physicians' daily work in almost every clinical context and is also present in the clinical reasoning process. The way physicians communicate uncertainty in their thinking process during handoffs is crucial for patient safety because uncertainty has diverse effects on individuals involved in patient care. Dealing with uncertainty and expressing uncertainty are important processes in the development of professional identity of undergraduate medical students. Many studies focused on how to deal with uncertainty and whether uncertainty is explicitly expressed. Hardly any research has been done regarding implicit expression of uncertainty. Therefore, we studied the ways in which medical students in the role of beginning residents implicitly express uncertainty during simulated handoffs. METHODS: Sixty-seven advanced undergraduate medical students participated in a simulated first day of residency including a consultation hour, a patient management phase with interprofessional interaction, and a patient handoff. We transcribed the videographed handoffs verbatim and extracted language with respect to expression of uncertainty using a grounded theory approach. Text sequences expressing patient related information were analyzed and coded with respect to language aspects which implicitly modified plain information with respect to increasing or decreasing uncertainty. Concepts and categories were developed and discussed until saturation of all aspects was reached. RESULTS: We discovered a framework of implicit expressions of uncertainty regarding diagnostic and treatment-related decisions within four categories: "Statement", "Assessment", "Consideration", and "Implication". Each category was related to either the subcategory "Actions" or "Results" within the diagnostic or therapeutic decisions. Within each category and subcategory, we found a subset of expressions, which implicitly attenuated or strengthened plain information thereby increasing uncertainty or certainty, respectively. Language that implicitly attenuated plain information belonged to the categories questionable, incomplete, alterable, and unreliable while we could ascribe implicit strengtheners to the categories assertive, adequate, focused, and reliable. CONCLUSIONS: Our suggested framework of implicit expression of uncertainty may help to raise the awareness for expression of uncertainty in the clinical reasoning process and provide support for making uncertainty explicit in the teaching process. This may lead to more transparent communication processes among health care professionals and eventually to improved patient safety.

Assessing clinical reasoning in undergraduate medical students during history taking with an empirically derived scale for clinical reasoning indicators.

BACKGROUND: The clinical reasoning process, which requires biomedical knowledge, knowledge about problem-solving strategies, and knowledge about reasons for diagnostic procedures, is a key element of physicians' daily practice but difficult to assess. The aim of this study was to empirically develop a Clinical Reasoning Indicators-History Taking-Scale (CRI-HT-S) and to assess the clinical reasoning ability of advanced medical students during a simulation involving history taking. METHODS: The Clinical Reasoning Indictors-History Taking-Scale (CRI-HT-S) including a 5-point Likert scale for assessment was designed from clinical reasoning indicators identified in a qualitative study in 2017. To assess indicators of clinical reasoning ability, 65 advanced medical students (semester 10, n = 25 versus final year, n = 40) from three medical schools participated in a 360-degree competence assessment in the role of beginning residents during a simulated first workday in hospital. This assessment included a consultation hour with five simulated patients which was videotaped. Videos of 325 patient consultations were assessed using the CRI-HT-S. A factor analysis was conducted and the students' results were compared according to their advancement in undergraduate medical training. RESULTS: The clinical reasoning indicators of the CRI-HT-S loaded on three factors relevant for clinical reasoning: 1) focusing questions, 2) creating context, and 3) securing information. Students reached significantly different scores (p < .001) for the three factors (factor 1: 4.07 ± .47, factor 2: 3.72 ± .43, factor 3: 2.79 ± .83). Students in semester 10 reached significantly lower scores for factor 3 than students in their final year (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The newly developed CRI-HT-S worked well for quantitative assessment of clinical reasoning indicators during history taking. Its three-factored structure helped to explore different aspects of clinical reasoning. Whether the CRI-HT-S has the potential to be used as a scale in objective structured clinical examinations (OCSEs) or in workplace-based assessments of clinical reasoning has to be investigated in further studies with larger student cohorts.

Validation of a competence-based assessment of medical students' performance in the physician's role.

BACKGROUND: Assessing competence of advanced undergraduate medical students based on performance in the clinical context is the ultimate, yet challenging goal for medical educators to provide constructive alignment between undergraduate medical training and professional work of physicians. Therefore, we designed and validated a performance-based 360-degree assessment for competences of advanced undergraduate medical students. METHODS: This study was conducted in three steps: 1) Ten facets of competence considered to be most important for beginning residents were determined by a ranking study with 102 internists and 100 surgeons. 2) Based on these facets of competence we developed a 360-degree assessment simulating a first day of residency. Advanced undergraduate medical students (year 5 and 6) participated in the physician's role. Additionally knowledge was assessed by a multiple-choice test. The assessment was performed twice (t1 and t2) and included three phases: a consultation hour, a patient management phase, and a patient handover. Sixty-seven (t1) and eighty-nine (t2) undergraduate medical students participated. 3) The participants completed the Group Assessment of Performance (GAP)-test for flight school applicants to assess medical students' facets of competence in a non-medical context for validation purposes. We aimed to provide a validity argument for our newly designed assessment based on Messick's six aspects of validation: (1) content validity, (2) substantive/cognitive validity, (3) structural validity, (4) generalizability, (5) external validity, and (6) consequential validity. RESULTS: Our assessment proved to be well operationalised to enable undergraduate medical students to show their competences in performance on the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Its generalisability was underscored by its authenticity in respect of workplace reality and its underlying facets of competence relevant for beginning residents. The moderate concordance with facets of competence of the validated GAP-test provides arguments of convergent validity for our assessment. Since five aspects of Messick's validation approach could be defended, our competence-based 360-degree assessment format shows good arguments for its validity. CONCLUSION: According to these validation arguments, our assessment instrument seems to be a good option to assess competence in advanced undergraduate medical students in a summative or formative way. Developments towards assessment of postgraduate medical trainees should be explored.

"Imagine Neuro-Oncology"- a one week course with medical and technical students: students' reflections about multidisciplinarity and its practical relevance.

Modern medicine requires tight multidisciplinary collaboration and communication among several technical disciplines. Nevertheless, multidisciplinary medical courses are rare and even less often scientifically evaluated. The aim was to evaluate an innovative neuro-oncology course for medical students (MED) and students of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) so that they learn and practice mutual understanding, communication and cooperation. 10 MED and 9 STEM were trained together during a one-week-course on the topic of "brain tumor" in imaging, surgical planning, surgery, pathological diagnosis, and adjuvant therapy. Evaluation was undertaken via focus groups and accompanying questionnaires about motivation, course acceptance, and multidisciplinary attitude. Students evaluated course structure, content, and multidisciplinary setting positively and showed high intrinsic motivation. However, the students sensed an "artificial dividing line" between both groups, which was conceptually encouraged by the deliberate temporary subdivision into "monodisciplinary" seminars and during the preparation of presentations. Students' opinion of the concept was generally positive as they learned about the challenges in finding a "common scientific language". Nevertheless, some criticisms were raised concerning the dividing line between the disciplines, which in part led to organizational changes. Even though the current reality may be reflected here, the goal of future interprofessional courses should definitely be to dissolve this dividing line.

Interprofessional assessment of medical students' competences with an instrument suitable for physicians and nurses.

BACKGROUND: Physicians need a set of specific competences to perform well in interprofessional teams in their first year of residency. These competences should be achieved with graduation from medical school. Assessments during undergraduate medical studies are mostly rated by supervisors only. The aim of our study was to compare the rating of core facets of competence of medical students late in their undergraduate training as well as the rating confidence between three different groups of assessors (supervisors, residents, and nurses) in an assessment simulating the first day of residency. METHODS: Sixty-seven advanced medical students from three different medical schools (Hamburg, Oldenburg and Munich) participated in a 360-degree assessment simulating the first working day of a resident. Each participant was rated by three assessors - a supervisor, a resident and a nurse - in seven facets of competence relevant for the first year of residency: (1) responsibility, (2) teamwork and collegiality, (3) knowing and maintaining own personal bounds and possibilities, (4) structure, work planning and priorities, (5) coping with mistakes, (6) scientifically and empirically grounded method of working, and (7) verbal communication with colleagues and supervisors. Means of all assessed competences and confidences of judgement of the three rating groups were compared. Additionally, correlations between assessed competences and confidence of judgement within each group of raters were computed. RESULTS: All rating groups showed consistent assessment decisions (Cronbach's α: supervisors = .90, residents = .80, nurses = .78). Nurses assessed the participants significantly higher in all competences compared to supervisors and residents (all p ≤ .05) with moderate and high effect sizes (d = .667-1.068). While supervisors' and residents' ratings were highest for "teamwork and collegiality", participants received the highest rating by nurses for "responsibility". Competences assessed by nurses were strongly positively correlated with their confidence of judgment while supervisors' assessments correlated only moderately with their confidence of judgment in two competences. CONCLUSIONS: Different professional perspectives provide differentiated competence ratings for medical students in the role of a beginning resident. Rating confidence should be enhanced by empirically derived behavior checklists with anchors, which need to be included in rater training to decrease raters' subjectivity.

Correlation of online assessment parameters with summative exam performance in undergraduate medical education of pharmacology: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Learning analytics aims to improve learning outcomes through the systematic measurement and analysis of learning-related data. However, which parameters have the highest predictive power for academic performance remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of different online assessment parameters with summative exam performance in undergraduate medical education of pharmacology. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted with a cohort of undergraduate medical students enrolled in a pharmacology course at Technical University of Munich, Germany. After a four-week teaching and learning period, students were given access to an online assessment platform consisting of 440 multiple choice (MC) questions. After 12 days, a final written summative exam was performed. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed for different online assessment parameters as predictors and summative exam performance as dependent variable. Self-perceived pharmacology competence was measured by questionnaires pre- and postintervention. RESULTS: A total of 224 out of 393 (57%) students participated in the study and were included in the analysis. There was no significant correlation for the parameters "number of logins" (r = 0.01, p = 0.893), "number of MC-questions answered" (r = 0.02, p = 0.813) and "time spent on the assessment platform" (r = - 0.05, p = 0.459) with exam performance. The variable "time per question" was statistically significant (p = 0.006), but correlated negatively (r = - 0.18) with academic performance of study participants. Only "total score" (r = 0.71, p < 0.001) and the "score of first attempt" (r = 0.72, p < 0.001) were significantly correlated with final grades. In a multiple regression analysis, "score first attempt" accounted for 52% of the variation of "score final exam", and "time per question" and "total score" for additional 5 and 1.4%, respectively. No gender-specific differences were observed. Finally, online assessments resulted in improved self-perceived pharmacology competence of students. CONCLUSION: In this prospective cohort study, we systematically assessed the correlation of different online assessments parameters with exam performance and their gender-neutrality. Our findings may help to improve predictive models of academic performance in undergraduate medical education of pharmacology.

Specific feedback makes medical students better communicators.

BACKGROUND: Feedback is regarded a key element in teaching communication skills. However, specific aspects of feedback have not been systematically investigated in this context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of communication skills training (CST) integrating specific, structured and behavioral feedback. METHODS: We condensed best practice recommendations for feedback in a CST for undergraduate medical students and compared the effect of specific, structured and behavior-orientated feedback (intervention group CST-behav) to general, experience-orientated feedback (CST- exp. as our control group) in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). We investigated changes on communication skills evaluated by independent raters, and evaluated by standardized patients (SP). To do that, every student was video-recorded in a pre and post assessment. RESULTS: Sixty-six undergraduate medical students participated voluntarily in our study. Randomization did not result in equally skilled groups at baseline, so valid inter-group comparisons were not possible. Therefore, we analyzed the results of 34 students of our intervention group (CST-behav). Five out of seven domains in communication skills as evaluated by independent raters improved significantly, and there was a significant change in the global evaluation by SP. CONCLUSIONS: Although we were unable to make between-group comparisons, the results of the within group pre-post evaluation suggest that specific feedback helps improve communication skills.