Learning-by-Concordance (LbC): introducing undergraduate students to the complexity and uncertainty of clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: A current challenge in medical education is the steep exposure to the complexity and uncertainty of clinical practice in early clerkship. The gap between pre-clinical courses and the reality of clinical decision-making can be overwhelming for undergraduate students. The Learning-by-Concordance (LbC) approach aims to bridge this gap by embedding complexity and uncertainty by relying on real-life situations and exposure to expert reasoning processes to support learning. LbC provides three forms of support: 1) expert responses that students compare with their own, 2) expert explanations and 3) recognized scholars' key-messages. METHOD: Three different LbC inspired learning tools were used by 900 undergraduate medical students in three courses: Concordance-of-Reasoning in a 1st-year hematology course; Concordance-of-Perception in a 2nd-year pulmonary physio-pathology course, and; Concordance-of-Professional-Judgment with 3rd-year clerkship students. Thematic analysis was conducted on freely volunteered qualitative comments provided by 404 students. RESULTS: Absence of a right answer was challenging for 1st year concordance-of-reasoning group; the 2nd year visual concordance group found radiology images initially difficult and unnerving and the 3rd year concordance-of-judgment group recognized the importance of divergent expert opinion. CONCLUSIONS: Expert panel answers and explanations constitute an example of "cognitive apprenticeship" that could contribute to the development of appropriate professional reasoning processes.

Learning medical professionalism with the online concordance-of-judgment learning tool (CJLT): A pilot study.

CONTEXT: Professionalism development entails learning to make judgments in ambiguous situations. A Concordance of Judgment Learning Tool (CJLT), comprised of 20 vignettes involving professionalism issues, was developed. Students obtained a measure of how concordant their judgments were with a panel of experts and learned from given explanations. METHOD: Twenty clinical vignettes implying professionalism issues were written including, for each, four possible courses of action. Expert panel, nominated by all clerkship students, was made up of attending physicians that best represented professionalism role models. Experts completed CJLT and gave explanations for their answers. All clerks were invited to answer each vignette, and then received automated expert feedback including explanations. RESULTS: Seventy-nine students sat for the activity. The optimized test included 20 cases and 54 questions (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.64). Student - expert concordance scores ranged from 54 to 77 with a mean at 64.6 (standard deviation 5.1). Satisfaction survey results indicated high satisfaction and relevance of tool despite some pitfalls. Post-test focus group data revealed relevant experiential learning on professionalism issues. DISCUSSION: Students' scores and perceptions suggest pedagogic relevance of the CJLT in fostering professionalism development in clerkship. CJLT is user-friendly and shows promise as a situation experiential learning activity.

Coeliac disease in an adult presenting as intussusception without a lead point.

A case of adult intussusception is presented in which previously undiagnosed coeliac disease was the cause. The diagnosis was made following microscopic examination of a resected segment of small intestine containing multiple intussusception sites. Adult intussusception is rare and in most cases associated with a 'lead point' lesion, often a tumour. As illustrated here, intussusception without a lead point in the adult patient may be the presenting sign of coeliac disease. Recognition of such may allow correct diagnosis and thus prevent unnecessary surgery.

Risk factors for mortality following emergency colectomy for fulminant Clostridium difficile infection.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated risk factors for mortality after emergency colectomy for fulminant Clostridium difficile infection. METHODS: Retrospective study of 130 cases of Clostridium difficile infection that required a colectomy between 1994 and 2007 in four hospitals of Quebec, Canada. Primary outcome was 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Twenty-five cases underwent colectomy in 1994 to 2002, 41 in 2003, 40 in 2004, and 24 in 2005 to 2007. Common indications were septic shock (41 percent) and nonresponse to medical treatment (39 percent). Overall, 30-day mortality was 37 percent. Mortality increased with age but was not influenced by comorbidities burden. Mortality correlated with preoperative lactate (< or =2.1 mmol/L: 26 percent; 2.2-4.9 mmol/L: 52 percent; > or =5.0 mmol/L: 75 percent, P < 0.001), leukocytosis (<20.0 x 10(9)/L: 32 percent; 20.0-49.9 x 10(9)/L: 33 percent; > or =50.0 x 10(9)/L: 73 percent, P = 0.008), albumin (> or =25 g/L: 19 percent; 15-24 g/L: 38 percent; <15 g/L: 52 percent, P = 0.04) and renal failure. In multivariate analysis, risk factors for mortality were age (per year, adjusted odds ratio: 1.03, 95 percent confidence interval: 1.00-1.06), preoperative lactate greater than or equal to 5.0 mmol/L (adjusted odds ratio: 10.32, 95 percent confidence interval: 2.59-41.1), leukocytosis greater than or equal to 50.0 x10(9)/L (adjusted odds ratio: 3.68, 95 percent confidence interval: 0.92-14.8) and albumin less than 15 g/L (adjusted odds ratio, 6.57, 95 percent confidence interval: 1.31-33.1). CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of Clostridium difficile infection-related emergency colectomies increased 20-fold during the epidemic. Postoperative mortality can be predicted by simple laboratory parameters. Three-fourths of patients with leukocytosis greater or equal to 50.0 x10(9)/L or lactate greater or equal to 5.0 mmol/L died. When possible, emergency colectomy should be performed earlier.

Peripherally inserted central venous catheters are not superior to central venous catheters in the acute care of surgical patients on the ward.

BACKGROUND: Peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICC) have supplanted central venous catheters (CVC) for the administration of intravenous antibiotics and total parenteral nutrition to patients in our hospital. From the literature, it appears that this change has occurred in a number of other surgical units. Accounting for the change are the expected advantages of low complication rates at insertion, prolonged use without complications and interruption, and cost- and time-savings. METHODS: We have proceeded with a review of the literature to understand and justify this change in practice. Our hypothesis was that the routine adoption of PICC instead of CVC for the acute care of surgical patients has occurred in the absence of strong scientific evidence. Our aim was to compare the associated infectious, thrombotic, phlebitic, and other common complications, as well as PICC and CVC durability. Articles concerning various aspects of PICC- and CVC-related complications in the acute care of adult patients were selected from the literature. Studies were excluded when they primarily addressed the use of long-term catheters, outpatient care, and pediatric patients. Data were extracted from 48 papers published between 1979 and 2004. RESULTS: Our results show that infectious complications do not significantly differ between PICC and CVC. Thrombotic complications appear to be more significant with PICC and to occur early after catheterization. Phlebitic complications accounted for premature catheter removal in approximately 6% of PICC. Finally, prospective data suggest that approximately 40% of PICC will have to be removed before completion of therapy, possibly more often and earlier than CVC. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that there is no clear evidence that PICC is superior to CVC in acute care settings. Each approach offers its own advantages and a different profile of complications. Therefore, the choice of central venous access should be individualized for surgical patients on the ward. More comparative prospective studies are needed to document the advantages of PICC over CVC.

Phase I study on sentinel lymph node mapping in colon cancer: a preliminary report.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Lymph node (LN) metastasis is one of the most significant prognostic factor in colorectal cancer. In fact, therapeutic decisions are based on LN status. However, multiple studies have reported on the limitations of the conventional pathological LN examination techniques, and therefore, the actual number of patients with LN positive colorectal cancer is probably underestimated. We assume that lymphatic tumor dissemination follows an orderly sequential route. We report here a simple and harmless coloration technique that was recently elaborated, and that allows us to identify the sentinel LN(s) (SLN) or first relay LNs in colorectal cancer patients. The main endpoint of this clinical trial is the feasibility of the technique. METHODS: Twenty patients treated by surgery for a colic cancer were admitted in this protocol. A subserosal peritumoral injection of lymphazurin 1% was performed 10 min before completing the colic resection. A pathologist immediately examined the specimens, harvested the colored SLN, and examined them by serial cuts (200 microm) with H&E staining, followed by immunohistochemical staining (AE1-AE3 cytokeratin markers), when serial sections were classified as cancer free. RESULTS: The preoperative identification of the SLN was impossible in at least 50 of the cases, however, SLNs were identified by the pathologist in 90% of cases. In two patients (10%) SLN was never identified. The average number of SLN was 3.9. Immunohistochemical analysis of the SLN has potentially changed the initial staging (from Dukes B to Dukes C) for 5 of the 20 patients (25%). On the other hand, there was one patient (5%) with hepatic metastasis from adenocarcinoma for whom SLN pathology was negative for metastasis (skip metastasis). CONCLUSIONS: SLN biopsy is readily feasible with identification of SLN in at least 90% of patients with colorectal cancers. Our results indicate that 45% of patients initially staged as Dukes B had tumor cells identified in their SLN when these were subjected to our protocol. This represented a 25% upgrading rate when our complete study population is considered. However, controversy persist about the clinical significance and metastatic potential of these often very small clusters of tumor cells.