Evaluating the Impact of an Adolescent Sexuality Education Workshop on Medical Student Communication in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination.

PURPOSE: Gaps still exist in medical education about the sexual health needs of sexual diverse populations, and little is known about how translatable current learning modules are to patient encounters. Efforts at an academic medical institution have been made to address this need, including a two-hour adolescent sexuality workshop during the Core Clerkship in Pediatrics. This workshop's efficacy was evaluated in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) given to rising fourth-year medical students, where the standardized patient case focused on an adolescent cisgender male with dysuria and in a new, same-sex relationship. METHODS: Performance of students who completed the workshop prior to the OSCE (n = 48) were compared to those of students who did not participate in the workshop prior to the OSCE (n = 17). The encounters were recorded and transcribed, and the deidentified transcripts were scored on a rubric focusing on five domains: sexual identity disclosure, behavioral assessment, psychosocial history, counseling and anticipatory guidance, and relationship building. RESULTS: Student's t-test comparison of the scores found significantly higher scores for the psychosocial history domain (p = .04), particularly concerning disclosure of a new boyfriend and recent sexual activity (p = .008), for students who had the workshop before the OSCE. DISCUSSION: Students who took the adolescent sexuality workshop performed better in gathering psychosocial information in an OSCE encounter a sexual minority adolescent. These results affirm prior work that active learning on sexual diverse health in medical school curricula may prepare students for effective engagement with adolescents exploring their sexuality.

Medical Student Note Quality on a Pediatrics Core Clerkship Differs by Service.

Introduction Medical students rotate on various clinical disciplines with the same professional goal of learning medical documentation. This study investigated differences between medical student notes on inpatient general and subspecialty pediatric services by comparing note quality, length, and file time. Methods In a single-site, observational cohort study, medical students in the Core Clerkship in Pediatrics (CCP) from July 2020 to June 2021 participated in a note-writing didactic course. We compared notes from medical students completing their inpatient assignment on a general pediatric service to those who completed it on a pediatric subspecialty service. Primary outcomes were note quality measured by Physician Documentation Quality Instrument-9 (PDQI9), note length (measured by line count), and file time (measured by hours to completion since 6 AM on the morning of note initiation). Results We evaluated 84 notes from 84 medical students on the general pediatric services and 50 notes from 49 medical students on the pediatric subspecialty services. Note quality measured by PDQI9 was significantly higher for general pediatric service notes compared to pediatric subspecialty service notes (p = 0.03). General pediatric service notes were significantly shorter (p < 0.001). We found no difference in file time (p = 0.23). Conclusion Medical student notes on pediatric subspecialty services scored significantly lower in quality and were longer compared to general pediatric services, demonstrating the need for a more tailored note-writing curriculum and note template based on service.

Disseminating evidence in medical education: journal club as a virtual community of practice.

BACKGROUND: This study explores the impacts of the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics (COMSEP) Journal Club, a unique means of providing monthly professional development for a large international community of pediatric undergraduate medical educators. In particular, we sought to establish member engagement with the Journal Club, identify factors impacting member contributions to the Journal Club, and determine perceived benefits of and barriers to participation as a Journal Club reviewer. METHODS: Using an established Annual Survey as a study instrument, six survey questions were distributed to members of COMSEP. Items were pilot tested prior to inclusion. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis.. RESULTS: Of 125 respondents who completed the survey, 38% reported reading the Journal Club most months or always. Level of engagement varied. Reasons for reading included a topic of interest, keeping up to date on medical education literature, gaining practical tips for teaching and implementing new curricula. Motivators for writing a review included keeping up to date, contributing to a professional organization, and developing skill in analyzing medical education literature, with a minority citing reasons of enhancing their educational portfolio or academic promotion. The most commonly cited barriers were lack of time and lack of confidence or training in ability to analyze medical education literature. CONCLUSION: As a strategy to disseminate the latest evidence in medical education to its membership, the COMSEP Journal Club is effective. Its format is ideally suited for busy educators and may help in members' professional development and in the development of a community of practice.

Promoting clinical reasoning with meta-memory techniques to teach broad differential diagnosis generation in a pediatric core clerkship.

OBJECTIVES: Clinical reasoning with generation and prioritization of differential diagnoses (DDx) is a key skill for medical students, but no consensus exists on the best method to teach these skills. Meta-memory techniques (MMTs) may be useful, but the efficacy of individual MMTs is unclear. METHODS: We designed a 3-part curriculum for pediatric clerkship students to teach one of 3 MMTs and provide practice in DDx generation through case-based sessions. Students submitted DDx lists during two sessions and completed pre- and post-curriculum surveys assessing self-reported confidence and perceived helpfulness of the curriculum. Results were analyzed using ANOVA with multiple linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 130 students participated in the curriculum, with 96 % (125/130) completing at least one DDx session, and 44 % (57/130) completing the post-curriculum survey. On average, 66 % of students rated all three sessions as "quite helpful" (4/5 on 5-point Likert scale) or "extremely helpful" (5/5) without difference between MMT groups. Students generated an average of 8.8, 7.1 and 6.4 diagnoses using the VINDICATES, Mental CT, and Constellations methods, respectively. When controlling for case, case order, and number of prior rotations, students using VINDICATES produced 2.8 more diagnoses than those using Constellations (95 % CI [1.1,4.5], p<0.001). There was no significant difference between VINDICATES and Mental CT (Δ=1.6, 95 % CI [-0.2,3.4], p=0.11) or Mental CT and Constellations (Δ=1.2, 95 % CI [-0.7,3.1], p=0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Medical education should include curricula focused on enhancing DDx development. Although VINDICATES helped students produce the most DDx, further research is needed to identify which MMT generates more accurate DDx.

A novel virtual course to teach medical students high-value decision-making.

BACKGROUND: Although a clinician's ability to employ high-value decision-making is influenced by training, many undergraduate medical education programmes lack a formal curriculum in high-value, cost-conscious care. We present a curriculum developed through a cross-institutional collaboration that was used to teach students at two institutions about this topic and can serve as a framework for other institutions to develop similar curricula. APPROACH: The faculty from the University of Virginia and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine created a 2-week-long online course to teach medical students the fundamentals of high-value care. The course consisted of learning modules, clinical cases, textbook studies, journal clubs and a competitive 'Shark Tank' final project where students proposed a realistic intervention to promote high-value clinical care. EVALUATION: Over two-thirds of students rated the course's quality as excellent or very good. Most found the online modules (92%), assigned textbook readings (89%) and 'Shark Tank' competition (83%) useful. To evaluate the student's ability to apply the concepts learned during the course in clinical contexts, we developed a scoring rubric based on the New World Kirkpatrick Model to evaluate students' proposals. Groups chosen as finalists (as determined by faculty judges) were more likely to be fourth-year students (56%), achieved higher overall scores (p = 0.03), better incorporated cost impact at several levels (patient, hospital and national) (p = 0.001) and discussed both positive and negative impacts on patient safety (p = 0.04). IMPLICATIONS: This course provides a framework for medical schools to use in their teaching of high-value care. Cross-institutional collaboration and online content overcame local barriers such as contextual factors and lack of faculty expertise, allowed for greater flexibility, and enabled focused curricular time to be spent on a capstone project competition. Prior clinical experience amongst medical students may be an enabling factor in promoting application of learning related to high-value care.

Bronchiolitis Simulation Module in the Pediatric Preclerkship Educational Exercises (PRECEDE) Curriculum.

Introduction: Acute bronchiolitis is a viral infection infecting 90% of children under the age of 2 years, with approximately 200,000 deaths per year. The current standard of care remains largely respiratory support and prevention. Therefore, understanding how to assess and escalate respiratory supportive care is paramount for health care providers taking care of children. Methods: We used a high-fidelity simulator to simulate an infant with progressing respiratory distress in the setting of acute bronchiolitis. The participants were pediatric clerkship medical students during their preclerkship educational exercises (PRECEDE). The students were asked to evaluate and treat the simulated patient. After debriefing, the students repeated the simulation. We assessed both performances via a weighted checklist specifically developed for this case to measure team performance. Students also completed an overall course evaluation. Results: Ninety out of 121 pediatric clerkship students were enrolled. Performance improved from 57% to 86% ( p < .05). Donning appropriate personal protection equipment was the most missed item both pre- and postdebriefing. Overall, the course was well liked and received. Participants requested more simulation opportunities within PRECEDE as well as a summary document to reinforce learning. Discussion: Pediatric clerkship students improved their performance managing progressing respiratory distress due to acute bronchiolitis via a performance-based assessment tool with sound validity evidence. Improvements going forward include improving faculty diversity and offering more simulation opportunities.

Improvement of Medical Student Performance in Telemedicine Standardized Patient Encounters Following an Educational Intervention.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Association of American Medical Colleges identifies telemedicine competence as an important skill for graduating medical students, but which educational methods are effective in improving student performance is unclear. We aimed to assess the impact of two educational interventions on student performance in telemedicine standardized patient encounters. METHODS: Sixty second-year medical students participated in the telemedicine curriculum during their required longitudinal ambulatory clerkship. Students first completed a preintervention telemedicine standardized patient (SP) encounter in October 2020. They subsequently were assigned to two intervention groups (ie, a role-play intervention, N=30; a faculty demonstration, N=30) and completed a teaching case. In December 2020, they completed a postintervention telemedicine SP encounter. Each case was a unique clinical scenario. SPs scored the encounters across six domains based on a standardized performance checklist. We compared the median scores for these domains and the median total score pre- and postintervention (using Wilcoxon signed rank and rank-sum tests) and the difference in median score by intervention type. RESULTS: Students scored highly in history-taking and communication performance but had low physical exam (PE) and assessment/plan scores. Postintervention, median scores in PE (ie, median score difference 2, interquartile ranges [IQR] 1-3.5, P<.001), assessment/plan (ie, median score difference 0.5, IQR 0-2, P=.005), and overall performance improved significantly (ie, median score difference 3, IQR 0-5, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Early medical students had low performance at baseline in telemedicine PE and assessment/plan skills, but both a role-play intervention and faculty demonstration led to significant increases in student performance.

An Educational Needs Assessment of Telehealth in Primary Care Among US Internal Medicine Residents.

OBJECTIVES: As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, many Internal Medicine (IM) residency programs converted to telehealth for primary care. Our objectives in this study were to better understand resident past and present telehealth education, their perceived barriers to telehealth practice, and their perceived solutions to improving telehealth use and education. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional needs assessment survey between November 2020 and February 2021 among residents at 10 IM residency programs across the United States. Our primary measures were telehealth use in resident continuity clinics before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, telehealth training, and confidence and barriers in using telehealth. RESULTS: Of 857 residents contacted, 314 (36.6%) responded. Residents reported low rates of education in telehealth prepandemic with significant improvements after the start of the pandemic across all visit domains (range of 10.7%-19.6% prepandemic compared with 25.6%-55.7% postpandemic, all P < 0.001). Resident confidence levels were significantly lower (P < 0.001) for video visits and telephone visits compared with in-person visiting across domains of communication, history taking, using an interpreter, making a diagnosis, counseling patients, providing psychosocial support, performing medical management, and coordinating after-visit care. Reported barriers included patient resources, clinic resources, lack of preceptor feedback, and lack of observation. Reported resources for improvement included tutorials on physical examination techniques, clinical space for telehealth, and patient resources for telehealth. CONCLUSIONS: To effectively address the educational needs for telehealth practice by IM residents, educators must consider not only curricular needs but also clinical, preceptor, and patient barriers to the high-quality use of telehealth for primary care.

Telehealth Curricula in the Pediatric Core Clerkship: Results From a Survey of Clerkship Directors.

OBJECTIVE: Given the increasing prevalence of telehealth, medical students require dedicated instruction in the practice of high-quality telehealth. This study characterizes telehealth practices and curricula in pediatric core clerkships across the United States and Canada. METHODS: We surveyed pediatric core clerkship directors and site directors through the 2020 Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics (COMSEP) annual member survey. We analyzed the results using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Of 104 medical schools represented, 28 responded (26.9%). Directors reported students spent little time on telehealth during their pediatric core clerkships (average 8.2% of clerkship; SD 10.4). Only 10.7% (n=3) of clerkships had dedicated telehealth curricula. The instructional methods, content, and modes of evaluation varied across the clerkships' curricula. Barriers to implementation of telehealth curricula included lack of dedicated time in the existing curriculum (64.0%), lack of faculty time to teach (44.0%), lack of curricular materials (44.0%), students not participating in telehealth activities (40.0%) and lack of faculty expertise (36.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Most pediatric core clerkships do not include dedicated telehealth curricula, and the characteristics of existing curricula vary. Considering the rapid adoption of telemedicine, pediatric core clerkships merit additional support and guidance for the training of medical students in telehealth practice.

Assessing the Impact of a Note-Writing Session and Standardized Note Template on Medical Student Note Length and Quality.

PURPOSE: To determine whether a formal note-writing session and note template for medical students (MS) during the Core Clerkship in Pediatrics (CCP) increase note quality, shortens note length, and decreases time of documentation. METHODS: In this single site, prospective study, MS participating in an 8-week CCP received a didactic session on note-writing in the electronic health record (EHR) and utilized EHR template developed for the study. We assessed note quality (measured by Physician Documentation Quality Instrument-9 [PDQI-9]), note length and note documentation time in this group compared to MS notes on the CCP in the prior academic year. We used descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis tests for analysis. RESULTS: We analyzed 121 notes written by 40 students in the control group and 92 notes writing by 41 students in the intervention group. Notes from the intervention group were more "up to date," "accurate," "organized," and "comprehensible" compared to the control group (P = 0.02, P = 0.04, P = 0.01, and P = 0.02, respectively). Intervention group notes received higher cumulative PDQI-9 scores compared to the control group (median score 38 (IQR 34-42) versus 36 (IQR 32-40) out of 45 total, P = 0.04). Intervention group notes were approximately 35% shorter than the control group notes (median 68.5 lines vs 105 lines, P < 0.0001) and were signed earlier than control group notes (median file time 316 minute vs 352 minute, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The intervention successfully decreased note length, improved note quality based on standardized metrics, and reduced time to completion of note documentation.

Multimodal Intervention Assessing the Appropriateness of Acid Suppression Therapy is Associated With Reduced Prescriptions at the Time of Discharge for Hospitalized Inpatients.

Background: Acid suppression therapy (AST), including proton pump inhibitors and histamine 2 receptor antagonists, are an overused class of medications. When used inappropriately, AST leads to polypharmacy, increased healthcare costs, and possible negative health consequences. Objective: To assess whether an intervention including prescriber education combined with a pharmacist-driven protocol was effective in reducing the percentage of patients who were discharged with inappropriate AST. Methods: This was a prospective pre-post study of adult patients who were prescribed AST before or during their admission to an internal medicine teaching service. All internal medicine resident physicians received education on appropriate AST prescribing. During the 4-week intervention period, dedicated pharmacists assessed the appropriateness of AST and made recommendations regarding deprescribing if no appropriate indication was identified. Results: During the study period, there were 14 166 admissions during which patients were prescribed AST. Out of the 1143 admissions during the intervention period, appropriateness of AST was assessed by a pharmacist for 163 patients. AST was determined to be inappropriate for 52.8% (n = 86) of patients and discontinuation or de-escalate of therapy occurred in 79.1% (n = 68) of these cases. The percentage of patients discharged on AST decreased from 42.5% before the intervention to 39.9% after the intervention (P = .007). Conclusion: This study suggests that a multimodal deprescribing intervention reduced prescriptions for AST without an appropriate indication at the time of discharge. To increase the efficiency of the pharmacist assessment several workflow improvements were identified. Further study is necessary to understand the long-term outcomes of this intervention.

Reimagining Undergraduate Medical Education in a Post-COVID-19 Landscape.

Online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused many medical schools to increasingly employ asynchronous and virtual learning that favored student independence and flexibility. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted existing shortcomings of the healthcare field in providing for marginalized and underserved communities. This perspective piece details the authors' opinions as medical students and medical educators on how to leverage the aspects of pandemic medical education to train physicians who can better address these needs.

Telemedicine Clinical Skills Needs Assessment in Early Medical Students.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: As clinicians increasingly rely on telemedicine, medical students will need to learn how to appropriately use telemedicine in patient care. A formal approach to curriculum development is needed to identify gaps and needs in early medical student performance. METHODS: In October 2020, 120 second-year medical students completed a telemedicine visit with a standardized patient with chronic essential hypertension. Students were assessed across five domains (history-gathering, communication, vitals, physical exam, and assessment/management). An anonymous, voluntary survey was distributed to assess self-efficacy in telemedicine skills. RESULTS: Students perform well in history-gathering and communication (98% of student scored 4 or 5 out of 5 on history, 100% of students received a 7 or 8 out of 8 on communication). Students perform poorly in obtaining vital signs (23% scored 3 or 4 out of 4) and assessment/management (14% scored 3 or 4 out of 4). Students received their lowest scores in physical examination (2% score 4 or 5 out of 5). The number of telemedicine visits completed with patients prior to the standardized patient exercise had no impact on student performance during the exercise. Student response rate on the postexercise survey was 88%. Self-efficacy was lowest in physical examination telemedicine skills compared to other domains. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that early medical students are able to gather history and communicate over telemedicine, but perform poorly on telemedicine physical examination skills. More robust curriculum development addressing telemedicine physical examinations skills is needed early in medical training.

Time Management and Task Prioritization Curriculum for Pediatric and Internal Medicine Subinternship Students.

Introduction: As a physician, it is important to develop time management and task prioritization skills early to promote future career success. In medical education, there is minimal structured time to teach these skills prior to residency. Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix Technique (TMMT) is one strategy that can be used to develop these skills. This technique categorizes tasks into a four-quadrant table based on importance and urgency. Using this technique as a model, the authors developed a workshop for medical students on an inpatient pediatric or internal medicine subinternship. Methods: Prior to the workshop, students read an article and completed a survey and two self-directed exercises. The exercises asked students to create a list of tasks, develop an individualized TMMT model, and review specialty-specific patient cases. The workshop consisted of discussions on the presession work and group exercises on prioritizing tasks and responding to patient-related pages. Students evaluated the curriculum after the workshop with a survey. Results: Most participants (82%) strongly agreed or agreed that the workshop improved their ability to manage time effectively and prioritize tasks on a clinical rotation. There was a statistically significant increase in both median time management and task prioritization confidence scores after completion of the workshop (p < .05). Discussion: This workshop provides one strategy that can be implemented within undergraduate medical education to enhance time management skills prior to residency. Future studies should be aimed at evaluating these skills within the clinical setting.

Indications for the Use of Proton Pump Inhibitors for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis and Peptic Ulcer Bleeding in Hospitalized Patients.

Proton pump inhibitors are widely used throughout the world for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders that are related to acid secretion, such as peptic ulcer disease and dyspepsia. Another common indication for proton pump inhibitors is stress ulcer prophylaxis. Proton pump inhibitors have proven efficacy for the treatment of acid-related gastrointestinal disorders, but there is concern that their use may be associated with the development of significant complications, such as fractures, Clostridium difficile infection, acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and hypomagnesemia. Proton pump inhibitors are overused in the hospital setting, both for stress ulcer prophylaxis and gastrointestinal bleeding, and then they are often inappropriately continued after discharge from the hospital. This narrative review article outlines the evidence surrounding appropriate proton pump inhibitor use for stress ulcer prophylaxis and peptic ulcer bleeding.