Faculty Vitality in Osteopathic Medical Schools: A Pilot Study.

Context: Faculty vitality is defined as the synergy between high levels of satisfaction, productivity, and engagement that enables faculty members to maximize their professional success and achieve goals in concert with institutional goals. Many studies have examined faculty development efforts with regard to satisfaction, retention, or vitality, but, to the authors' knowledge, they have all been conducted in allopathic medical schools and academic health centers. Objective: To examine faculty vitality in osteopathic medical schools and address contributors to productivity, engagement, and career satisfaction. Methods: This multi-institutional exploratory survey-based study included faculty members from 4 osteopathic medical schools. Surveys with items related to productivity, engagement, career satisfaction, primary department climate and leadership, professional development, and career and life management were sent to faculty members at the 4 participating schools. Most item responses were ranked on Likert-type scales, ranging from 1 (low) to 5 (high). Open-ended questions that explored the participants' experience at their college, factors outside the institution that may affect vitality, and perceived faculty development needs were included at the end of the survey. The overall vitality index was calculated by taking the average of the 3 vitality indicator scores (ie, productivity, engagement, and career satisfaction). Results: Of 236 potential participants, 105 returned the survey for analysis. The mean overall faculty vitality index was 3.2 (range, 1-5). Regarding the 3 contributors to faculty vitality, the mean productivity score was 2.3; professional engagement, 3.5; and career satisfaction, 3.7. Primary department climate and leadership was a significant predictor of faculty vitality (P=.001). The influence of individual vitality factors did not differ between basic science and clinical faculty members. Open-ended questions generated the following themes related to faculty vitality: leadership support, organizational climate, collegiality and value, workload, research funding climate, and family/home life. Participants listed a variety of faculty development needs in the areas of teaching, research, leadership, and professional development. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that career satisfaction is a significant contributor to vitality in osteopathic medical school faculty members. Additionally, primary department climate and leadership is a significant predictor of faculty vitality. Responses to the open-ended questions further elucidated extrinsic factors that positively and negatively affect vitality, including family and home life and dwindling funding from national medical research agencies. Faculty development efforts should be directed toward enhancing contributors to vitality.

Student Perceptions of iPad Applications-Assisted Instruction in Health Professions Education.

The purpose of this study was to examine student's perceptions of the iPad applications-assisted instruction as part of their learning. In this study, multiple features and applications were evaluated as an instructional tool. Fifteen participants responded to the survey indicating their perceptions of the iPad and applications used as part of their course delivery. Overall, participants favored the use of this technology as an instructional tool in their learning and indicated several aspects that could be improved.

Developing, evaluating and validating a scoring rubric for written case reports.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate Family Medicine Clerkship students' writing skills using an anchored scoring rubric. In this study, we report on the assessment of a current scoring rubric (SR) used to grade written case description papers (CDP) for medical students, describe the development of a revised SR with examination of scoring consistency among faculty raters, and report on feedback from students regarding SR revisions and written CDP. METHODS: Five faculty members scored a total of eighty-three written CDP using both the Original SR (OSR) and the Revised SR1 (RSR1) during the 2009-2010 academic years. RESULTS: Overall increased faculty inter-rater reliability was obtained using the RSR1. Additionally, this subset analysis revealed that the five faculty using the Revised SR2 (RSR2) had a high measure of inter-rater reliability on their scoring of this subset of papers (as measured by intra-class correlation (ICC) with ICC = 0.93, p = 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this research have implications for medical education, by highlighting the importance of the assessment and development of reliable evaluation tools for medical student writing projects.

Open book tests: assessment of academic learning in clerkships.

An examination of an open-book testing approach in a family medicine clerkship seeks to determine whether this method more closely mirrors the discipline of family medicine, where practitioners refer daily to written resource materials in order to make clinical decisions without compromising the learning and assessment process. Student scores on the multiple-choice test were analysed by year, by quarter and by site using ANOVA. Students in the experimental site were interviewed to determine preparation style, use of text during test, as well as attitudes toward open-book testing. Analysis of variance showed that the interaction of site and year was significant at p = 0.03. The mean score of 88.2 for Maine students in 2002 was significantly different from the other three mean scores. The desired qualitative outcomes of the intervention were confirmed: reducing the anxiety of students, wider reading of the textbook, knowing the structure of the textbook as a learning resource, and deeper understanding of concepts and principles rather than time spent on memorization. While the difference in scores did reach statistical significance, it is important to note that the difference in mean score was only four points on a 100-point scale. Given the percentage of the total grade represented by the test score, it is unlikely that this difference represents any real difference in grade for students in Maine compared with Vermont. The students appeared to approach the textbook and therefore, perhaps, the body of knowledge as a whole with the orientation of a generalist. The MMC Clerkship Director recommended the implementation of the open-book approach to the Family Practice clerkship at all sites and the University of Vermont Medical School accepted the proposal. This recommendation supports advising students on the preparation for an open-book test and on tactics for the best use of the textbook during the test.