Do Gold Humanism Honor Society Inductees Differ From Their Peers in Empathy, Patient-Centeredness, Tolerance of Ambiguity, Coping Style, and Perception of the Learning Environment?

Construct: Induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) during medical school is recognized as an indicator of humanistic orientation and behavior. Various attitudes and interpersonal orientations including empathy and patient-centeredness have been posited to translate into behaviors constituting humanistic care. BACKGROUND: To our knowledge there has never been a longitudinal, multi-institutional empirical study of the attitudinal and interpersonal orientations correlated with GHHS membership status. APPROACH: We used the American Medical Association Learning Environment Study (LES) data set to explore attitudinal correlates associated with students whose behaviors are recognized by their peers as being exceptionally humanistic. Specifically, we examined whether empathy, patient-centeredness, tolerance of ambiguity, coping style, and perceptions of the learning environment are associated with GHHS membership status. We further considered to what extent GHHS members arrive in medical school with these attitudinal correlates and to what extent they change and evolve differentially among GHHS members compared to their non-GHHS peers. Between 2011 and 2015, 585 students from 13 North American medical schools with GHHS chapters participated in the LES, a longitudinal cohort study using a battery of validated psychometric measures including the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale and Tolerance of Ambiguity Questionnaire. In the final survey administration, students self-identified as GHHS inductees or not (non-GHHS). T tests, effect sizes, and longitudinal generalized mixed-effects models examined the differences between GHHS and non-GHHS students. RESULTS: Students inducted into GHHS scored significantly higher on average over 4 years than non-GHHS inductees on clinical empathy, patient-centered beliefs, and tolerance of ambiguity. GHHS students reported higher levels of empathy and patient-centeredness at medical school matriculation. This difference persists in the 4th year of medical school and when controlling for time, race, gender, and school. CONCLUSIONS: GHHS inductees enter medical school with different attitudes and beliefs than their non-GHHS classmates. Although humanistic attitudes and beliefs vary over time during students' 4 years, the gap between the two groups remains constant. Medical schools may want to consider selecting for specific humanistic traits during admissions as well as fostering the development of humanism through curricular interventions.

Direct Observation Assessment of Milestones: Problems with Reliability.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency medicine (EM) milestones are used to assess residents' progress. While some milestone validity evidence exists, there is a lack of standardized tools available to reliably assess residents. Inherent to this is a concern that we may not be truly measuring what we intend to assess. The purpose of this study was to design a direct observation milestone assessment instrument supported by validity and reliability evidence. In addition, such a tool would further lend validity evidence to the EM milestones by demonstrating their accurate measurement. METHODS: This was a multi-center, prospective, observational validity study conducted at eight institutions. The Critical Care Direct Observation Tool (CDOT) was created to assess EM residents during resuscitations. This tool was designed using a modified Delphi method focused on content, response process, and internal structure validity. Paying special attention to content validity, the CDOT was developed by an expert panel, maintaining the use of the EM milestone wording. We built response process and internal consistency by piloting and revising the instrument. Raters were faculty who routinely assess residents on the milestones. A brief training video on utilization of the instrument was completed by all. Raters used the CDOT to assess simulated videos of three residents at different stages of training in a critical care scenario. We measured reliability using Fleiss' kappa and interclass correlations. RESULTS: Two versions of the CDOT were used: one used the milestone levels as global rating scales with anchors, and the second reflected a current trend of a checklist response system. Although the raters who used the CDOT routinely rate residents in their practice, they did not score the residents' performances in the videos comparably, which led to poor reliability. The Fleiss' kappa of each of the items measured on both versions of the CDOT was near zero. CONCLUSION: The validity and reliability of the current EM milestone assessment tools have yet to be determined. This study is a rigorous attempt to collect validity evidence in the development of a direct observation assessment instrument. However, despite strict attention to validity evidence, inter-rater reliability was low. The potential sources of reducible variance include rater- and instrument-based error. Based on this study, there may be concerns for the reliability of other EM milestone assessment tools that are currently in use.

Innovation in internship preparation: an operative anatomy course increases senior medical students' knowledge and confidence.

BACKGROUND: An operative anatomy course was developed within the construct of a surgical internship preparatory curriculum. This course provided fourth-year medical students matching into a surgical residency the opportunity to perform intern-level procedures on cadavers under the guidance of surgical faculty members. METHODS: Senior medical students performed intern-level procedures on cadavers with the assistance of faculty surgeons. Students' confidence, anxiety, and procedural knowledge were evaluated both preoperatively and postoperatively. Preoperative and postoperative data were compared both collectively and based on individual procedures. RESULTS: Student confidence and procedural knowledge significantly increased and anxiety significantly decreased when preoperative and postoperative data were compared (P < .05). Students reported moderate to significant improvement in their ability to perform a variety of surgical tasks. CONCLUSIONS: The consistent improvement in confidence, knowledge, and anxiety justifies further development of an operative anatomy course, with future assessment of the impact on performance in surgical residency.

A model for diversity in admissions: a review of issues and methods and an experimental approach.

PURPOSE: The underrepresentation of certain minorities within medical education and the medical profession continues to be a problem. A review of the relevant research literature suggests current strategies are inadequate to address this important problem. Psychometric issues important in differentiating the unique concerns of medical education must be defined. SUMMARY: A new model that may attain diversity goals and meet standards related to validity and legality is presented. Admissions data describing applicants for one year at a large midwestern medical college are analyzed. The impact of selection techniques on both majority and underrepresented minority applicants is presented. CONCLUSION: The results of the analyses support further research designed to meet the quantitative objectives implied by diversity goals and suggests initiatives aimed at enhancing minority representation within medical education.