Assessment in medical education: Finding the signal in the noise

This past December it was reported in the Harvard Crimson that the median grade at their prestigious University was an A-.¹ A flood of articles followed bemoaning grade inflation at educational institutions with a former Harvard President noting cheekily that “the most unique honor you could graduate with was none”.² This might be alright if well-developed criterion-based instruments are used to grade the students, but given the variability in courses taught at the University and difficulty of developing such tools, it is unlikely. That being the case, if the median is an A-, one wonders how sub-par performance must be to fail.

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By Brent Thoma, MD MA|2018-01-30T02:54:56-08:00May 24, 2014|Education Articles, Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), Medical Education|

Improving debriefing skills: Two-column case and learning pathways grid

Being a learner in a medical simulation case can be tough. But equally challenging, is the role of the Debriefer. This person has to balance the important task of debriefing the small group, provide feedback, and still maintain a positive and open learning environment. A 2013 paper by Rudolph et al attempts to show methods how to balance these demands while improving as a Debriefer through the use of 2 Column Case Analysis and Learning Pathway Grid.

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By Nikita Joshi, MD|2016-11-11T19:19:57-08:00May 17, 2014|Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), Medical Education, Simulation|

What makes a good clinical educator?

In this constantly evolving world of learner competencies, assessments, and milestones often is forgotten the important role of clinical teachers. We can all remember clinical instructors that stand out despite the grueling years of medical school and residency training. We admired them for various reasons and remember the insights and teaching pearls they bestowed upon us. But what exactly were the qualities that they possessed that other instructors did not have? What exactly did they have that made them a good clinical teacher in medicine?

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By Nikita Joshi, MD|2016-11-11T19:20:03-08:00May 1, 2014|Education Articles, Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), Medical Education|

MEdIC Series: The Case of the Culture Clash: Expert Review and Curated Commentary

The Case of the Culture Clash presented a conflict within a multi-cultural team of doctors. Mary, a registrar was unable to effectively teach all her interns, who had diverse personal and professional backgrounds. Working in teams with many cultural and linguistic difficulties is becoming more and more common worldwide. This month we asked about personal experiences of difficulties with multi-cultural teams, how to overcome these difficulties, and how we as educators can improve our teaching of learners from different backgrounds.

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By Anne Smith, MBChB|2016-12-20T12:26:45-08:00Mar 7, 2014|Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), MEdIC series|

MEdIC Series: The Case of the Terrible Teammate: Expert Review and Curated Commentary

The Case of the Terrible Teammate presented a conflict between a team of chief residents. Sarah got upset because David seemed to be shirking his responsibilities and getting her to do all of the work. While we provided a specific context for the case, interpersonal disagreements over the distribution of work may come up in any work arrangement that splits responsibility between two or more parties. When it does, how should we deal with it? This month Dr. Teresa Chan (@TChanMD) and I (@Brent_Thoma) explored this issue with insights from the ALiEM community and 3 experts.

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By Brent Thoma, MD MA|2017-03-05T14:18:38-08:00Jan 31, 2014|Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), MEdIC series|

Pitfalls in Comparative Simulation Based Research

Sim Simulation based research is tough. We all know that it’s fun, and we think it is safer for the patients. Beyond that, the data is not so strong! And it’s important to care about this. Why? Because those working in the educational fields are fighting for budgets against other strong modalities for education such as ultrasound. Additionally, we are fighting for valuable time and space with the learners, such as medical students and residents. Improving simulation research can give credibility to those educators who seek more money, time, and focus for their learners. But how to improve it?

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By Nikita Joshi, MD|2016-11-11T19:18:04-08:00Jan 9, 2014|Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), Medical Education, Simulation|

MEdIC Series: The Case of the Magnificent Mentor – Expert and Community Response

The Case of the Magnificent Mentor outlined a common dilemma that is likely to occur with most protégés: How does one thanks his/her mentor for all their help over the years? During this time of the year, as we look towards a new year, Brent Thoma (@Brent_Thoma) and I (@Teresa Chan) thought we would engage our readership in a bit of reflection about those who have got us to where we are today. (NB from TC & BT: And yes, we know, this is 100% cheesy and holiday fluff – but we felt like doing something a bit more in keeping with the holiday spirit.

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By Teresa Chan, MD, MHPE|2016-12-15T15:41:02-08:00Jan 3, 2014|Expert Peer Review (Non-Clinical), MEdIC series|

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