Group dynamics and social interaction in a South Asian online learning forum for faculty development of medical teachers.

BACKGROUND: Group dynamics of online medical faculty development programs have not been analyzed and reported in literature. Knowledge of the types of content of posted messages will help to understand group dynamics and promote participation in an asynchronous learning environment. This paper assesses group dynamics and social interactivity in an online learning environment for medical teachers in the South Asian context. METHODS: Participants of a medical education fellowship program conducted by the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Regional Institute at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (CMCL) in India interact on a listserv called the Mentoring-Learning Web (ML-Web). Monthly topics for online discussion are chosen by fellows through a standard tool called "multi-voting". Fellows volunteer to moderate sessions and direct the pace of the discussion. We analyzed the content and process of the discussion of one particular month. The emails were categorized as those that reflected cognitive presence (dealing with construction and exploration of knowledge), teacher presence (dealing with instructional material and learning resources), and social presence, or were administrative in nature. Social emails were further classified as: affective, cohesive and interactive. RESULTS: Social emails constituted one-third of the total emails. Another one-quarter of the emails dealt with sharing of resources and teacher presence, while cognitive emails comprised 36.2% of the total. More than half of the social emails were affective, while a little less than one-third were cohesive. CONCLUSION: Social posts are an inevitable part of online learning. These posts promote bonding between learners and contribute to better interaction and collaboration in online learning. Moderators should be aware of their presence and use them as tools to promote interactivity.

Measuring the effects of an international health professions faculty development fellowship: the FAIMER Institute.

While there are many examples of evaluations of faculty development programs in resource rich countries, evaluation of transnational programs for faculty from developing countries is limited. We describe evaluation of the effects of the FAIMER Institute, an international health professions education fellowship that incorporates not only education content, but also leadership and management topics and, in addition, strives to develop a sustained community of educators. Data were obtained via retrospective pre/post surveys, as well as interviews. Results indicate that participating health professions faculty from developing countries are augmenting their knowledge and skills in education leadership, management, and methodology, and applying that knowledge at their home institutions. Fellows' perceptions of importance of, and their own competence in, all curriculum theme areas increased. Interviews confirmed a nearly universal gain of at least one leadership skill. Findings suggest that the high-engagement experience of the FAIMER model offering integration of education and leadership/management tools necessary to implement change, provides knowledge and skills which are useful across cultural and national contexts and results in the development of a supportive, global, professional network.

Capacity building in medical education and health outcomes in developing countries: the missing link.

BACKGROUND: Finding evidence for the link between capacity building in medical education and improved health outcomes in developing countries is an important challenge. We describe the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Institute, a two year, part-time fellowship in medical education methodology and leadership and its evaluation as a model to bridge this gap by collecting quantitative and qualitative data on intermediary outcomes. METHODS: FAIMER has used the following framework of human capacity building programs: 1) identify young and talented individuals with potential to become agents for change; 2) organize and deliver an effective learning intervention that is relevant for the environment; 3) facilitate the opportunity for real-life application of acquired knowledge and skills with support; and 4) promote development of a sustainable career path with opportunities for growth and advancement. RESULTS: Twenty-three percent of curriculum innovation projects were directly related to community health. Of the 35 fellows in the first three classes of the Institute, there have been 11 promotions, 9 peer-reviewed publications and 14 international poster presentations, indicating development of the medical education field. Other qualitative and quantitative program evaluation data are presented. DISCUSSION: The link between capacity building in medical education and improved health can be demonstrated in several ways: align curriculum with local health needs, place learners in community clinical settings, teach basic healthcare workers, become involved in national policy development and develop the field of medical education. CONCLUSION: While experimental models may not be possible to evaluate the effect of capacity building, methods described may help support the connection between improved medical education and health.

Research on medical migration from sub-Saharan medical schools: usefulness of a feasibility process to define barriers to data collection and develop a practical study.

CONTEXT: The maldistribution of physicians in sub-Saharan Africa is having serious impacts on population health. Understanding the effect requires investigation from both donor and recipient countries. However, investigation from the perspective of donor countries has been lacking. METHODS: This brief communication describes a model process for the design of a research project that addresses medical migration issues from the perspective of eight African medical schools. During an international meeting, the participants designed an initial "ideal" study, and then rapidly tested its feasibility through a brief survey, and group discussion through a listserv, teleconferences and one face-to-face meeting. FINDINGS AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Innovative research ideas can be followed-up with surveys to test the feasibility of an "ideal" research design, modifying the design accordingly. This is currently occurring with our medical migration survey study.

Emergency medicine in undergraduate education. SAEM Education Committee, Undergraduate Subcommittee, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Society has a right to expect that all physicians possess basic knowledge of emergency care and the skills to manage acute problems. Competency in the care of acutely ill and injured patients is one of the fundamental exit goals of most medical schools as mandated by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Several groups have called for strengthening the general components of undergraduate medical education, and surveys during the early years of the development of the field of emergency medicine (EM) showed that only a small percentage of schools required significant education in EM. This paper defines the goals and objectives of undergraduate EM education in order to help guide the development of curricular offerings as the role of EM in undergraduate medical school education increases. This paper was developed by the SAEM Education Committee and presents this committee's beliefs on what all graduating medical students should know about assessment and treatment of acutely sick and injured patients. It also suggests methods by which acquisition of this information can occur in medical school education.

Reliability of performance-based clinical skill assessment of emergency medicine residents.

OBJECTIVE: To test the overall reliability of a performance-based clinical skill assessment for entering emergency medicine (EM) residents. Also, to investigate the reliability of separate reporting of diagnostic and management scores for a standardized patient case, subjective scoring of patient notes, and interstation exercise scores. METHODS: Thirty-four first-year EM residents were tested using a 10-station standardized patient (SP) examination. Following each 10-minute encounter, the residents completed a patient note that included differential diagnosis and management. The residents also were asked to read an ECG or chest x-ray (CXR) associated with each case. History, physical examination, and interpersonal skills were scored by the SPs. The patient note, CXR, and ECG readings were scored by faculty emergency physicians. Intercase reliability was determined for the residents. RESULTS: Global score reliability, Cronbach's alpha = 0.85. Reliabilities for the other components were: history, 0.77; physical examination, 0.83; and interpersonal skills, 0.80. Differential diagnosis and management reliabilities were 0.61 and 0.66, respectively. Subjective scoring of the patient note resulted in acceptable reliability for legibility (0.80), history completeness (0.80), and history organization (0.81). Physical examination completeness and organization reliabilities were 0.74 and 0.73. For ECG and CXR readings, alpha = 0.74 and 0.34, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SPs can be used to reliably assess bedside clinical skills of EM residents. While component reliability levels are slightly lower than the global clinical skill reliability coefficient, they are still high enough to use for identification of individual strengths and weaknesses.

Observation of emergency medicine residents at the bedside: how often does it happen?

OBJECTIVE: To determine how often trainees in emergency medicine (EM) are observed while performing a history, a physical examination, or specific procedures. METHODS: The 26 members of the National Consensus Group on Clinical Skills in Emergency Medicine affiliated with an EM residency program were asked to circulate a survey to their residents during February and March 1994. Twenty-one programs participated, surveying a total of 514 residents. The residents were asked how many times they had been observed by an attending physician while they performed a history, a physical examination, endotracheal intubation, or central vein catheterization during training. The residents also were asked about observation of specific components of the physical examination, such as the heart, lung, and genitourinary systems. RESULTS: Three hundred nineteen residents (62%) responded to the survey. Thirteen percent of the residents reported that they had never been observed taking a history during training. During their PGY1 training, 19% of the residents reported that they had never been observed taking a history, 42% had been observed one to three times, 25% had been observed four to 12 times, and 13% had been observed > 12 times. Six percent of the residents reported that they had never been observed doing a physical examination during training. During their PGY1 training, 10% of the residents had never been observed performing a physical examination, 38% had been observed one to three times, 34% had been observed four to 12 times, and 18% had been observed > 12 times. CONCLUSIONS: Many residents report that they are infrequently observed performing histories and physical examinations during their EM training, with a significant number of residents reporting that they were never observed performing basic bedside clinical skills. More direct observation with trained faculty observers may provide an opportunity for better evaluation and remediation of bedside clinical skills.

Physical diagnosis skills of physicians in training: a focused assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the proficiency of emergency medicine (EM) trainees in the recognition of physical findings pertinent to the care of the critically ill patient. METHODS: Fourteen medical students, 63 internal medicine (IM) residents, and 47 EM residents from three university-affiliated programs in Philadelphia were tested. Proficiency in physical diagnosis was assessed by a multimedia questionnaire targeting findings useful in emergencies or related to diseases frequently encountered in the ED. Attitudes toward diagnosis not based on technology, teaching practices of physical examination during EM training, and self-motivated learning of physical diagnosis also were assessed for all the EM trainees. RESULTS: With the exception of ophthalmology, the EM trainees were never significantly better than the senior students or the IM residents. They were less proficient than the IM residents in cardiology, and not significantly different from the IM residents in all other areas. For no organ system tested, however, did they achieve less than a 42.9% error rate (range: 42.9-72.3%, median = 54.8%). There was no significant improvement in proficiency over the three years of customary EM training. The EM residents who had received supervised teaching in physical diagnosis during training achieved a significantly higher cumulative score. The EM residents attributed great clinical importance to physical diagnosis and wished for more time devoted to its teaching. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm the recently reported deficiencies of physical diagnosis skills among physicians in training. The results are particularly disturbing because they relate to EM trainees and concern skills useful in the ED. Physical diagnosis should gain more attention in both medical schools and residency programs.

Use of standardized patients in a freshman emergency medicine course.

The curriculum of our freshman emergency medicine course now includes group interviews with standardized patients to introduce communication skills more effectively to students. Our goals for the standardized patient encounters are 1) to start the interview learning process in a nonthreatening environment, 2) to begin to use rudimentary techniques to obtain a history of present illness, 3) to gain insight into a patient's perception of a medical interview, and 4) to learn to project empathy and compassion when talking with patients. The standardized patients technique is one method emergency medicine educators can use to maximize effectiveness in undergraduate medical education.

Emergency medicine's role in the education of medical students: directions for change.

Emergency medicine, as a young field emphasizing basic clinical skills, should be in the forefront of the changes in undergraduate medical education. Change needs to occur in our own courses and in our role in the general education of medical students. By graduation, students completing our courses should be able to provide immediate aid, create a problem list, discuss a differential diagnosis for key problems, present a treatment plan for key diagnoses, understand issues pertaining to societal interface with emergency care, and perform essential monitor skills. The general goals of medical education that pertain to strengths of emergency physicians are the ability to use the essential tools of clinical medicine, use data base resources, select the appropriate specialties for consultation, work as a member of a health care team, and use time- and cost-efficient diagnostic adjuncts. Methods for achieving these goals are suggested.

A clinical comparison of lidocaine and bupivacaine.

The drug of choice for local anesthesia in most emergency departments is lidocaine. However, it wears off shortly after suturing is complete and patients may experience pain after closure of the wound. We conducted a study to determine the degree of anesthesia obtained during and after repair of lacerations using lidocaine 1% versus bupivacaine 0.25%, a long-acting local anesthetic. Lidocaine and bupivacaine were administered in a double-blind, randomized fashion to 104 patients. Each patient was asked to rate his pain on a 0 to 10 scale (0, no pain; 10, severe pain) prior to administration of the anesthetic. They then rated pain on an identical scale at 30 minutes, and one, two, three, four, five, six, 12, 18, and 24 hours after completion of suturing. The mean baseline pain was 2.96 for the lidocaine group and 3.07 for the bupivacaine group. This decreased to less than 1.0 in both groups 30 minutes after infiltration. It remained low for the bupivacaine group for the next five hours, but increased almost to preanesthesia levels by two hours in the lidocaine group. A three-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference (P less than .001) between the pain response of the two groups. There was no statistical difference (P greater than .05) between the age of the patients, size of laceration, and amount of drug used. The study shows that patients do experience pain after a wound is sutured and the anesthetic has worn off. It also demonstrates that bupivacaine significantly reduces the pain a patient may experience after repair of a wound.

An analysis of Part II of the National Board of Medical Examiners Test with regard to questions in emergency medicine.

We conducted a study to determine the number of items and successful response rate to questions specific to emergency medicine on the National Board of Medical Examiners Test, Part II (NBME-II). The 1979 and 1983 NBME-II examinations were reviewed by a subcommittee of the Society of Teachers of Emergency Medicine. Items pertaining directly to the core content knowledge base were selected and classified by core content topic and NBME subspecialty. Overall, 14.7% of the 892 items on the 1983 examination pertained to emergency medicine. The successful response rate was 73.3% for the emergency medicine questions. When looked at by sub-specialty categories, the percentage of items pertaining to emergency medicine varied from 1.3% in obstetrics/gynecology to 27.2% of the items in surgery. On the 1979 examination, 13.8% of the questions pertained to emergency medicine, with a successful response rate of 67.1%. Analysis of the data by core content topic showed that some areas (orientation to emergency medicine, ophthalmologic diseases, environmental emergencies, and behavioral emergencies) had two items or fewer on both examinations. Other topics, such as trauma, showed a consistent pattern of questions on both examinations. Our study emphasizes the difficulty of attempting to test competency in the clinical knowledge base of medicine within the artificiality of knowledge base departmental boundaries.

Expansion of emergency medicine's responsibilities for preclinical education of medical students.

Many medical schools have required emergency medicine courses for freshmen medical students, usually through participation in BLS (basic life support) or EMT activities. For several years students at our institution have participated in a required emergency medical technician-ambulance grade (EMT-A) course. While retaining much of the material presented in that original EMT-A course, the course has now been expanded to serve as the medical students' introduction to clinical medicine. This expansion resulted from the belief that emergency medicine provides initial patient contact in the presence of a faculty uniquely suited to introduce the broad domain of clinical medicine to the medical student. Emergency physicians, more than any other specialists, must possess the ability to obtain an incisive history promptly, perform an accurate physical examination, and arrive at an assessment with limited laboratory and radiologic data. Initial access to the clinical education of medical students provides the opportunity to direct their efforts in a prioritized fashion, and thus helps to organize their thought processes for further development as clinicians. Departments of emergency medicine should be willing to accept this incremental responsibility for the introduction of the medical student to the clinical and laboratory assessment of patients.