Written as satire when published first, The House of God polarized the medical community. Doctors in training cheered the book as a voice for their generation to describe the grueling nature of medical training. Others were appalled by the crass language and apparent lack of humanity when describing patient care. Reading the book became a rite of passage for young trainees. (more…)
On August 30th I posted the first case of the MEdIC (Medical Education In Cases) series that will be facilitated by Dr. Teresa Chan (@TChanMD) and I (@BoringEM). The Case of the Difficult Consult involved a junior resident in the emergency department who had a consult go bad. Our readers were thrust into the role of an attending physician wanting to help.
Motivation is one of those important elements in our personalities that helps us have a drive for improvement. Motivation can come in two flavors internal and external. Self determination theory (SDT) is a psychological term which explains people’s internal motivation and determination to their behavior. Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan explored SDT further and determined there were three basic needs in every human, which are universal, not learned, and seen across gender and culture.
![Desouza, Natalie[2]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aliem.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Desouza-Natalie2.jpg?ssl=1)
There are many things that print journals do well. One of the best ideas that I have seen from the Annals of Emergency Medicine is the unique idea of having a Resident Editor on the executive team. This provides the resident exposure to the behind-the-scenes operational processes of running a journal under a mentored environment. Similarly, ALiEM has experienced such rapid growth in the past year with the addition of amazing regular bloggers that we are ready to welcome our first Resident Editor Dr. Natalie Desouza (UCSF-SFGH EM senior resident).
Simulations are routine now in medical training. But sometimes routine can start to get boring! All learners now know, especially for high fidelity simulations, to prepare for the unexpected. The stable patient will inevitably crash, maybe when your back is turned; the confederate in the room may or may not be a friend or a foe, you may never know! But these twists have become so integral to the simulation case that most learners know how to deal with it, or at the least know to anticipate it. But here is an idea for adding a new challenge to a stale simulation case. Blindfold the leader!
The Internet has not only facilitated connectivity between people, but it has also helped us to connect with educational material quite different from that of a physical textbook. We are consuming information at a much more rapid rate, and we are also becoming producers of content online. With the use of hyperlinks we are also connecting one content material with another, allowing for a more dynamic-instantaneous flow of knowledge as opposed to the static print in a physical textbook. People have started seeing the potential that this brings to education and are placing educational content online. These educational materials include lectures, videos, images, textbooks to name a few.
Inspired by the Harvard Business Review Cases and led by Dr. Teresa Chan (@TChanMD) and Dr. Brent Thoma (@BoringEM), the Medical Education In Cases (MEdIC) series puts difficult medical education cases under a microscope. On the fourth Friday of the month we will pose a challenging hypothetical dilemma, moderate a discussion on potential approaches, and recruit medical education experts to provide “Gold Standard” responses. Cases and responses will be made available for download in pdf format – feel free to use them!
If you’re a medical educator with a pedagogical problem, we want to get you a MEdiC. Send us your most difficult dilemmas and help the rest of us to bring our teaching game to the next level.