An Interprofessional Faculty Development Program for Workplace-Based Learning.

Background: Most faculty development programs in health professions education, pivotal in cultivating competent and effective teachers, focus on systematic, planned and formal learning opportunities. A large part of clinical teaching however, encompasses ad-hoc, informal and interprofessional workplace-based learning whereby individuals learn as part of everyday work activities. To fully harness the educational potential embedded in daily healthcare practices, prioritizing interprofessional faculty development for workplace-based learning is crucial. Approach: Utilizing the 'ADDIE' instructional design framework we developed, implemented and evaluated an interprofessional faculty development program for workplace-based learning. This program, encompassing seven formal training sessions each with a different theme and five individual workplace-based assignments, aimed to support clinical teachers in recognizing and optimizing informal learning. Outcomes: The pilot program (n = 10) and first two regular courses (n = 13 each) were evaluated using questionnaires containing Likert scale items and open textboxes for narrative comments. The quality and relevance of the program to the clinical work-place were highly appreciated. Additional valued elements included practical knowledge provided and tools for informal workplace-based teaching, the interprofessional aspect of the program and the workplace-based assignments. Since its development, the program has undergone minor revisions twice and has now become a successful interprofessional workplace-based alternative to existing faculty development programs. Reflection: This faculty development program addresses the specific needs of healthcare professionals teaching in clinical settings. It stands out by prioritizing informal learning, fostering collaboration, and supporting integration of formal training into daily practice, ensuring practical application of learned knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it emphasizes interprofessional teaching and learning, enhancing workplace environments.

Medical Students' General Beliefs and Specific Perceptions about Patient Feedback Before and after Training in a Clinical Context.

Introduction: Despite its high potential, patient feedback does not always result in learning. For feedback to be effective students must engage with it, which partly depends on their perceptions of feedback. To better understand student engagement with patient feedback in a clinical context, this study explored the following research questions: 1) What are medical students' general beliefs about patient feedback and what are their specific perceptions of feedback messages? 2) What is the difference between these general beliefs and feedback message perceptions before and after patient feedback training? Methods: The study context was a 12-week clerkship combining Pediatrics and Gynecology, which included feedback training for students and asking for patient feedback. Ninety 4th-year medical students completed pre- and post-clerkship questionnaires. The questionnaires (Beliefs about Patient Feedback Questionnaire, Feedback Perception Questionnaire) were adapted from validated peer-feedback questionnaires. Questionnaires were quantitatively analyzed. Results: Both pre- and post-clerkship, students had positive general beliefs about patient feedback and positive perceptions of the feedback messages they received. However, paired t-tests showed that students' general beliefs and feedback message perceptions became less positive after feedback training and experience. Discussion: Patient feedback is not an easy means to learn and students do not become feedback literate in terms of patient feedback overnight. We suggest that future researchers further explore reasons for the decline in positive perceptions of patient feedback. We suggest implementing longitudinal feedback training in medical curricula, where students are guided and supported in the complex task of learning from patients through feedback.

Living on Site While Renovating; Flexible Instructional Design of Post-Graduate Medical Training.

Background: Developing theoretical courses for post-graduate medical training that are aligned to current workplace-based learning practices and adaptive to change in the field is challenging, especially in (sub) specialties where time for re-design is limited and needs to be performed while education continues. Approach: An instructional design method was applied based on flexible co-design to improve post-graduate theoretical courses in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) in the Netherlands. In four phases over a period of three years, courses were re-designed at a national level. Evaluation: Once common vision and learning goals were agreed upon and the prototype was developed (phases 1 and 2), the first courses could be tested in daily practice (phase 3). Phase 4 refined these courses in brief iterative cycles and allowed for designing additional courses building on and adding to previous experiences in brief iterative cycles. The resulting national theoretical courses re-allocated resources previously spent on a local level using easily accessible online tools. This allowed trainees to align content with their clinical rotations, personal preferences and training schedules. Reflection: The development of theoretical courses for post-graduate medical training in smaller medical (sub-)specialties with limited resources may profit from a flexible instructional design method. We consider the potential merit of such a method to other medical specialties and other (inter-)national efforts to develop theoretical teaching courses. A longer-term implementation evaluation is needed to show to what extent the investment made in the re-design proves to be future-proof and enables rapid adaptation to changes in the field.

The effects of gaze-display feedback on medical students' self-monitoring and learning in radiology.

Self-monitoring is essential for effectively regulating learning, but difficult in visual diagnostic tasks such as radiograph interpretation. Eye-tracking technology can visualize viewing behavior in gaze displays, thereby providing information about visual search and decision-making. We hypothesized that individually adaptive gaze-display feedback improves posttest performance and self-monitoring of medical students who learn to detect nodules in radiographs. We investigated the effects of: (1) Search displays, showing which part of the image was searched by the participant; and (2) Decision displays, showing which parts of the image received prolonged attention in 78 medical students. After a pretest and instruction, participants practiced identifying nodules in 16 cases under search-display, decision-display, or no feedback conditions (n = 26 per condition). A 10-case posttest, without feedback, was administered to assess learning outcomes. After each case, participants provided self-monitoring and confidence judgments. Afterward, participants reported on self-efficacy, perceived competence, feedback use, and perceived usefulness of the feedback. Bayesian analyses showed no benefits of gaze displays for post-test performance, monitoring accuracy (absolute difference between participants' estimated and their actual test performance), completeness of viewing behavior, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. Participants receiving search-displays reported greater feedback utilization than participants receiving decision-displays, and also found the feedback more useful when the gaze data displayed was precise and accurate. As the completeness of search was not related to posttest performance, search displays might not have been sufficiently informative to improve self-monitoring. Information from decision displays was rarely used to inform self-monitoring. Further research should address if and when gaze displays can support learning.

Investigating First Year Surgery Residents' Expectations of Demand, Control, and Support During Training.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a more granular understanding of the expectations of general surgery interns regarding workplace demand, control, and support prior to starting training. SUMMARY/BACKGROUND DATA: General surgery (GS) interns are at highest risk for burnout and attrition. Maslach frames burnout as resulting from a mismatch between workplace expectations and reality. Occupational science demonstrates workplace demand, control, and support (DCS) as strong influencers of job strain. GS interns' realistic expectations of demands are associated with decreased likelihood of attrition, but their expectations regarding this factor are poorly understood. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 incoming surgical residents at UCSF: University of California, San Francisco (57% women, 71% non-White), exploring expectations regarding workplace DCS. Transcripts were uploaded to analytic software and coded in dyads using an iterative approach to consensus. Transcripts were thematically analyzed using inductive and deductive reasoning, applying job-demand-resource theory frameworks, and following a published 6-step approach. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged: past experiences, expected rewards, anticipated challenges, and the desire to belong. Past experiences describes the expectation to successfully cope with future stressors via self-reliance. Rewards such as professional mastery, personal growth, and sense of meaning were expected outcomes seen as balancing anticipated challenges. Anticipated challenges included low control, toxic cultural elements, and discrimination. Desire to belong (i.e., earned recognition as a peer, inclusion in an elite culture) emerged as a powerful motivator, with survival connotations for women and non-Whites. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest incoming interns overestimate the efficacy of self-reliance for coping; count on specific rewards; express realistic expectations regarding challenges; and see inclusion among surgeons as an aspiration that off-sets prolonged effort. Further study is warranted to understand expectation-reality mismatch and potential interventions to target dissonance. MINI-ABSTRACT: In this institutional study of general surgery interns, we provide a more granular understanding of the expectations of general surgery interns regarding workplace demand, control, and support prior to starting training, and how we might target "expectations-reality" mismatch and the "desire to belong" as a means of mitigating burnout and minimizing attrition from training.

Disentangling pain and fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome: a resting state connectivity study before and after cognitive behavioral therapy.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a central feature of myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), but many ME/CFS patients also report comorbid pain symptoms. It remains unclear whether these symptoms are related to similar or dissociable brain networks. This study used resting-state fMRI to disentangle networks associated with fatigue and pain symptoms in ME/CFS patients, and to link changes in those networks to clinical improvements following cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). METHODS: Relationships between pain and fatigue symptoms and cortico-cortical connectivity were assessed within ME/CFS patients at baseline (N = 72) and after CBT (N = 33) and waiting list (WL, N = 18) and compared to healthy controls (HC, N = 29). The analyses focused on four networks previously associated with pain and/or fatigue, i.e. the fronto-parietal network (FPN), premotor network (PMN), somatomotor network (SMN), and default mode network (DMN). RESULTS: At baseline, variation in pain and fatigue symptoms related to partially dissociable brain networks. Fatigue was associated with higher SMN-PMN connectivity and lower SMN-DMN connectivity. Pain was associated with lower PMN-DMN connectivity. CBT improved SMN-DMN connectivity, compared to WL. Larger clinical improvements were associated with larger increases in frontal SMN-DMN connectivity. No CBT effects were observed for PMN-DMN or SMN-PMN connectivity. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide insight into the dissociable neural mechanisms underlying fatigue and pain symptoms in ME/CFS and how they are affected by CBT in successfully treated patients. Further investigation of how and in whom behavioral and biomedical treatments affect these networks is warranted to improve and individualize existing or new treatments for ME/CFS.

Preparing Medical and Nursing Students for Interprofessional Feedback Dialogues.

Background: In healthcare education, preparing students for interprofessional feedback dialogues is vital. However, guidance regarding developing interprofessional feedback training programs is sparse. In response to this gap, the Westerveld framework, which offers principles for interprofessional feedback dialogue, was developed. Approach: Using the Westerveld framework, we developed and implemented an interprofessional feedback intervention for 4th-year nursing and 5th-year medical students. It encompasses two half-day workshops comprising small group sessions, interactive lectures, and a goal-setting assignment for the rotations. This paper describes the intervention and reflects on students' self-reported goals, as learning outcomes, to inform future interprofessional feedback dialogue education. Outcomes: To understand student's learning outcomes, we coded the content and specificity of 288 responses to the goal-setting assignment. Students indicated they mainly aimed to improve their feedback actionability, but contrastingly set - largely unspecific - goals, addressing the initiation of feedback dialogues. To better understand the process of setting these goals, we held three focus groups (N = 11): aside from the Westerveld framework, students used previous experience in rotations, outcome expectations, and personal characteristics as sources in their goal-setting process. Reflection: The contrast between students' aims to improve their actionability and their goals to initiate dialogues, suggests that overcoming practice barriers to initiating dialogues are conditional to developing other feedback dialogue aspects. These and other goal conflicts in the workplace may hinder them setting specific feedback dialogue goals. We recommend explicit discussion of these challenges and conflicts in interprofessional feedback dialogue education.

Coping with Administrative Workload: a Pilot Study in the Usefulness of a Workshop for Psychiatric Trainees.

OBJECTIVE: Administrative workload may have detrimental effects on medical postgraduate trainee satisfaction, capacity, and quality of care. Best-practice guidelines to help trainees cope have yet to be developed. This study explores perceptions of factors that influence the experience or amount of administrative workload at the personal and workplace level and evaluates the usefulness of a workshop on coping with this workload. METHODS: A workshop was developed based on the Job Demands-Resources model, including a survey on perceptions of administrative workload; presentation on coping at personal (e.g., time management) and workplace (e.g., dealing with institutional rules) levels; personal plan of change during a group discussion; and reflective questionnaire after the session and again after 2 months. Perceptions of psychiatry trainee participants (N = 48) were collected. RESULTS: Trainees estimated they spent half their time on administration (average 50%, SD = 15%). They wanted to spend less time (average 23%, SD = 11%) on most administrative duties, except for health record keeping. Personal factors that trainees experienced as helpful to cope included time management and analytical skills. Perfectionism was perceived as impeding. Supportive job factors included helpful supervisors, competent administrative staff, trust in a team, allocated timeslots, and information technology support. High workload and cumbersome procedures were mentioned as impeding. On average, trainees rated the workshop quality and the likelihood of bringing change to their practice with a 7 out of 10. CONCLUSION: Psychiatry trainees' participation in a workshop on coping with administrative load during their training may be a worthwhile investment in the long term.

Connecting Biochemistry Knowledge to Patient Care in the Clinical Workplace: Senior Medical Students' Perceptions about Facilitators and Barriers.

Phenomenon: Medical students have difficulties applying knowledge about biomedical mechanisms learned before clerkships to patient care activities. Many studies frame this challenge as a problem of basic science knowledge transfer predominantly influenced by students' individual cognitive processes. Social cognitive theory would support extending this framing to the interplay between the individual's cognition, the environment, and their behaviors. This study investigates senior medical students' experiences of biochemistry knowledge use during workplace learning and examines how their experiences were influenced by interactions with people and other elements of the clinical learning environment. Approach: The authors used a qualitative approach with a constructivist orientation. From September to November 2020 they conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 fourth-year medical students at one institution who had completed the pre-clerkship curriculum, core clinical clerkships, and the United States Medical Licensing Exam Step 1. The authors identified themes using thematic analysis. Findings: Participants reported that they infrequently used or connected to biochemistry knowledge in workplace patient care activities, yet all had examples of such connections that they found valuable to learning. Most participants felt the responsibility for making connections between biochemistry knowledge and activities in the clinical workplace should be shared between themselves and supervisors, but connections were often recognized and acted on only by the student. Connections that participants described prompted their effort to retrieve knowledge or fill a perceived learning gap. Participants identified multiple barriers and facilitators to connecting, including supervisors' behaviors and perceived knowledge, and "patients seen" in clerkships. Participants also reported learning biochemistry during USMLE Step 1 study that did not connect to patient care activities, underscoring a perception of disconnect. Insights: This study identifies specific personal, social, and physical environmental elements that influence students' perceived use of biochemistry during patient care activities. Though these findings may be most significant for biochemistry, they likely extend to other basic science disciplines. Students' self-directed efforts to connect to their biochemistry knowledge could be augmented by increased social support from clinical supervisors, which in turn likely requires faculty development. Opportunities for connection could be enhanced by embedding into the environment instructional strategies or technologies that build on known authentic connections between biochemistry and "patients seen" in clerkships. These efforts could strengthen student learning, improve clinical supervisors' self-efficacy, and better inform curriculum design.

Professionals' adaptive expertise and adaptive performance in educational and workplace settings: an overview of reviews.

Professionals will increasingly be confronted with new insights and changes. This raises questions as to what kind of expertise professionals need, and how development of this expertise can be influenced within the contexts of both education and work. The terms adaptive expertise and adaptive performance are well-known concepts in the domains of education and Human Resource Development respectively. The literature, however, lacks a conceptual overview. Our research seeks to provide an overview on how adaptive expertise and adaptive performance are conceptualized. In addition we looked for what individual, task and organizational characteristics relate to adaptive expertise. We mined information drawn from existing reviews in an overview of reviews. Nine reviews met the inclusion criteria. Adaptive performance is best referred to as the visible expression of an adaptive expert and this is triggered by 'change'. The scope of this 'change' lies somewhere between change that is 'new for the learner' and change that is 'new for everyone in the whole world'. The extent to and way in which a learner or professional is able to deal with this change depends on the maturity of the learner or professional. We found numerous individual, task and environmental characteristics related to adaptive expertise and adaptive performance. The nature and relation of these characteristics, and their specificity in relation to adaptive expertise and adaptive performance are visualized in a figure, but also provide several suggestions for future research.

Factors that influence continuing professional development over a nursing career: A scoping review.

AIMS: Systematically synthesize research about factors that influence CPD over a nursing career. BACKGROUND: Continuing professional development (CPD) in nursing is defined as 'a life-long process of active participation in learning activities that assist in developing and maintaining continuing competences, enhancing professional practice and supporting achievement of career goals'. Research has shown that inability to access resources and activities for CPD influences quality of care and adversely affects nurses' satisfaction, recruitment and retention. Although more and more research regarding CPD is done, a comprehensive overview about the needs of nurses for successful CPD is missing. DESIGN: Scoping review, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews ensuring all quality standards are met. METHODS: Between February and April 2020 the electronic databases CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Psychinfo and Eric were searched as well as reference lists of included papers. Papers published in peer-reviewed journals were included without restrictions on publication date, design or setting. Thematic analysis was done to synthesize the data. RESULTS: The search yielded 2673 papers of which 60 papers were included. Analyses showed that factors that influence CPD differ over a nursing career, which led to the identification of three groups: newly graduated nurses; experienced nurses; and experienced nurses with ambitions for advanced roles. Furthermore, analyses showed that factors for all three groups are related to personal and contextual facilitators and barriers. Newly graduated nurses find it important to be an accepted member of the team. They experience barriers when integrating into the nursing profession, where they for instance experience workplace incivility. Experienced nurses experience contextual barriers related to a lack of supportive structures and inaccessibility of CPD resources. There is limited time and availability of role models and a lack of support from managers and other colleagues. Moreover, the clinical care dynamics influence their ability to pursue CPD. For the experienced nurses with ambitions for advanced roles, an important barrier is that nursing culture emphasizes direct patient care. Often it is unclear what the value is of new nursing roles which makes it difficult for them to develop these. CONCLUSIONS: All nurses strive for CPD. However, organizations need to recognize nurses' personal goals and unique strategies as this leads to different needs in CPD. In addition, resources must be made available and accessible before CPD can be successfully pursued by all nurses.

Acquisition learning is stronger for aversive than appetitive events.

Appetitive and aversive learning are both key building blocks of adaptive behavior, yet knowledge regarding their differences is sparse. Using a capsaicin heat pain model in 36 healthy participants, this study directly compared the acquisition and extinction of conditioned stimuli (CS) predicting pain exacerbation and relief. Valence ratings show stronger acquisition during aversive compared to appetitive learning, but no differences in extinction. Skin conductance responses and contingency ratings confirmed these results. Findings were unrelated to individual differences in pain sensitivity or psychological factors. Our results support the notion of an evolutionarily hardwired preponderance to acquire aversive rather than appetitive cues as is protective for acute aversive states such as pain but may contribute to the development and maintenance of clinical conditions such as chronic pain, depression or anxiety disorders.

Developing entrustable professional activities for university teachers in the health professions.

PURPOSE: There is a widely recognized need to improve teacher professional development as well as recognition of teaching expertise in health professions education (HPE). This study aimed to develop Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for university teachers in HPE as foundations for systems of training, certification, and career opportunities. METHOD: A local expert consultation using a two-round Delphi study at a Dutch academic medical center (round 1: n = 23; round 2: n = 13) was conducted to reach a consensus on an initial set of EPAs developed by the researchers. Subsequently, an international expert consultation was conducted using a survey (n = 21) and a focus group discussion (n = 7) to explore their international value. RESULTS: Local consensus for all nine EPAs was reached in the second round of the Delphi study. The international survey showed a consensus for relevance and usefulness of all but one EPA but not for clarity and comprehensiveness of the EPAs. The international expert consultation revealed a need to tailor the EPA specifications to local contexts. CONCLUSION: We found international consensus for the relevance and usefulness of EPAs for university teachers in HPE but local tailoring for each EPA is needed to acknowledge contextual differences.

Flourishing as a Measure of Global Well-being in First Year Residents: A Pilot Longitudinal Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Physician well-being is critical to optimal learning and performance, yet we remain without validated measures to gauge the efficacy of well-being curricula for trainees. This study evaluates initial evidence of flourishing as a valid measure of global well-being in postgraduate-year-1 residents (PGY-1s), providing a means of assessing well-being intervention efficacy. STUDY DESIGN: In this single-site study of PGY-1s participating in Enhanced Stress Resilience Training (ESRT), an online questionnaire of published measures was administered at baseline (T1, just before PGY-1), post-ESRT (T2, 7 weeks later), and at PGY-1 end (T3, 11 months later). The Mental Health Continuum (MHC) was used to assess our primary outcome variable, flourishing, a well-established metric of psychosocial thriving in non-physicians that can be treated continuously or categorically. Correlation between flourishing and both resilience (mindfulness and workplace support) and risk (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and workplace demand) factors was assessed at each time-point and longitudinally. RESULTS: Forty-five interns completed the survey at T1, 37 at T2, and 21 at T3; 21 responded at all time points. MHC score was significantly positively correlated with mindfulness (ß = 1.47, SE = 0.35, P < .001) and workplace support (ß = 2.02, SE = 1.01, P = .05) longitudinally, and at all time points. Flourishing was significantly negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (ß = -7.48, SE = 1.68, P < .001), stress (ß = -1.28, SE = 0.29, P < .001), and anxiety (ß = -1.74, SE = 0.38, P < .001) longitudinally and at all time points, and significantly negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion (ß = -2.65, SE = 0.89, P = .003) longitudinally and at T1 (ß = -3.36, SE = 1.06, P = .003). CONCLUSION: Flourishing showed appropriate correlation with established resilience and risk factors, thus supporting its concurrent validity as a measure of global well-being in this population. As such, the MHC may provide a simple, meaningful assay of well-being and an effective tool for evaluating the efficacy of well-being interventions. Further validation requires a larger, multi-center study.

Exploration of Individual and System-Level Well-being Initiatives at an Academic Surgical Residency Program: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Importance: Physician well-being is a critical component of sustainable health care. There are few data on the effects of multilevel well-being programs nor a clear understanding of where and how to target resources. Objective: To inform the design of future well-being interventions by exploring individual and workplace factors associated with surgical trainees' well-being, differences by gender identity, and end-user perceptions of these initiatives. Design, Setting, and Participants: This mixed-methods study among surgical trainees within a single US academic surgical department included a questionnaire in January 2019 (98 participants, including general surgery residents and clinical fellows) and a focus group (9 participants, all clinical residents who recently completed their third postgraduate year [PGY 3]) in July 2019. Participants self-reported gender (man, woman, nonbinary). Exposures: Individual and organizational-level initiatives, including mindfulness-based affective regulation training (via Enhanced Stress Resilience Training), advanced scheduling of time off, wellness half-days, and the creation of a resident-driven well-being committee. Main Outcomes and Measures: Well-being was explored using validated measures of psychosocial risk (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, languishing, anxiety, high psychological demand) and resilience (mindfulness, social support, flourishing) factors. End-user perceptions were assessed through open-ended responses and a formal focus group. Results: Of 98 participants surveyed, 64 responded (response rate, 65%), of whom 35 (55%) were women. Women vs men trainees were significantly more likely to report high depersonalization (odds ratio [OR], 5.50; 95% CI, 1.38-21.85) and less likely to report high mindfulness tendencies (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.05-0.53). Open-ended responses highlighted time and priorities as the greatest barriers to using well-being resources. Focus group findings reflected Job Demand-Resource theory tenets, revealing the value of individual-level interventions to provide coping skills, the benefit of advance scheduling of time off for maintaining personal support resources, the importance of work quality rather than quantity, and the demoralizing effect of inefficient or nonresponsive systems. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, surgical trainees indicated that multilevel well-being programs would benefit them, but tailoring these initiatives to individual needs and specific workplace elements is critical to maximizing intervention effects.

EPA-based assessment: Clinical teachers' challenges when transitioning to a prospective entrustment-supervision scale.

BACKGROUND: This study explores the challenges clinical teachers face when first using a prospective entrustment-supervision (ES) scale in a curriculum based on Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). A prospective ES scale has the purpose to estimate at which level of supervision a student will be ready to perform an activity in subsequent encounters. METHODS: We studied the transition to prospective assessment of medical students in clerkships via semi-structured interviews with twelve purposefully sampled clinical teachers, shortly after the introduction of a new undergraduate EPA-based curriculum and EPA-based assessment employing a prospective ES scale. RESULTS: While some clinical teachers showed a correct interpretation, rating strategies also appeared to be affected by the target supervision level for completion of the clerkship. Instructions to estimate readiness for a supervision level in the future were not always understood. Further, teachers' interpretation of the scale anchors relied heavily on the phrasing. DISCUSSION: Prospective assessment asks clinical teachers to make an extra inference step in their judgement process from reporting observed performance to estimating future level of supervision. This requires a change in mindset when coming from a retrospective, performance-oriented assessment method, i.e., reporting what was observed. Our findings suggest optimizing the ES-scale wordings and improving faculty development.

Expertise development in volumetric image interpretation of radiology residents: what do longitudinal scroll data reveal?

The current study used theories on expertise development (the holistic model of image perception and the information reduction hypothesis) as a starting point to identify and explore potentially relevant process measures to monitor and evaluate expertise development in radiology residency training. It is the first to examine expertise development in volumetric image interpretation (i.e., CT scans) within radiology residents using scroll data collected longitudinally over five years of residency training. Consistent with the holistic model of image perception, the percentage of time spent on full runs, i.e. scrolling through more than 50% of the CT-scan slices (global search), decreased within residents over residency training years. Furthermore, the percentage of time spent on question-relevant areas in the CT scans increased within residents over residency training years, consistent with the information reduction hypothesis. Second, we examined if scroll patterns can predict diagnostic accuracy. The percentage of time spent on full runs and the percentage of time spent on question-relevant areas did not predict diagnostic accuracy. Thus, although scroll patterns over training years are consistent with visual expertise theories, they could not be used as predictors of diagnostic accuracy in the current study. Therefore, the relation between scroll patterns and performance needs to be further examined, before process measures can be used to monitor and evaluate expertise development in radiology residency training.

Why Medical Residents Do (and Don't) Speak Up About Organizational Barriers and Opportunities to Improve the Quality of Care.

PURPOSE: Medical residents are valuable sources of information about the quality of frontline service delivery, but if they do not speak up, their ideas, opinions, and suggestions for improving their work practices cannot be considered. However, speaking up can be difficult for residents. Therefore, the authors have explored both what helps residents speak up about organizational barriers and opportunities to improve the quality of their work and what hinders them from doing so. METHOD: The authors conducted an exploratory qualitative interview study with 27 Dutch medical residents in the Netherlands in 2016. They used the critical incident technique for data collection and the constant comparison method of the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven for data analysis. RESULTS: Three types of incidents in which residents considered speaking up are described. The authors identified 2 main considerations that influenced residents' decisions about speaking up: Is it safe to speak up, and is speaking up likely to be effective? Residents' decisions were influenced by personal, team, and organizational aspects of their situations, such as supervisors' open attitudes, hierarchy, duration of clinical rotations, organization size, and experiences (either vicarious or their own). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study indicate that residents tend to be silent when they encounter organizational barriers or opportunities to improve the quality of their work. Perceived effectiveness and safety are important forces that drive and constrain speaking up. The authors provide important starting points to empower medical residents to speak up about their suggestions for change.