Reducing the risk of adverse drug events in older adults.

Adverse drug events occur in 15 percent or more of older patients presenting to offices, hospitals, and extended care facilities. These events are potentially preventable up to 50 percent of the time. Common serious manifestations include falls, orthostatic hypotension, heart failure, and delirium. The most common causes of death are gastrointestinal or intracranial bleeding and renal failure. Antithrombotic and antidiabetic medications, diuretics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs cause most of the preventable hospital admissions due to adverse drug events. Strategies to reduce the risk of adverse drug events include discontinuing medications, prescribing new medications sparingly, reducing the number of prescribers, and frequently reconciling medications. The Beers, STOPP (screening tool of older persons' potentially inappropriate prescriptions), and START (screening tool to alert doctors to right treatment) criteria can help identify medications causing adverse drug events. Not all potentially inappropriate medications can be avoided. Clinicians should involve patients in shared decision making and individualize prescribing decisions based on medical, functional, and social conditions; quality of life; and prognosis.

Teaching medical students how to teach: a national survey of students-as-teachers programs in U.S. medical schools.

PURPOSE: A number of U.S. medical schools started offering formal students-as-teachers (SAT) training programs to assist medical students in their roles as future teachers. The authors report results of a national survey of such programs in the United States. METHOD: In 2008, a 23-item survey was sent to 130 MD-granting U.S. schools. Responses to selective choice questions were quantitatively analyzed. Open-ended questions about benefits and barriers to SAT programs were given qualitative analyses. RESULTS: Ninety-nine U.S. schools responded. All used their medical students as teachers, but only 44% offered a formal SAT program. Most (95%) offered formal programs in the senior year. Common teaching strategies included small-group work, lectures, role-playing, and direct observation. Common learning content areas were small-group facilitation, feedback, adult learning principles, and clinical skills teaching. Assessment methods included evaluations from student-learners (72%) and direct observation/videotaping (59%). From the qualitative analysis, benefit themes included development of future physician-educators, enhancement of learning, and teaching assistance for faculty. Obstacles were competition with other educational demands, difficulty in faculty recruitment/retention, and difficulty in convincing others of program value. CONCLUSIONS: Formal SAT programs exist for 43 of 99 U.S. medical school respondents. Such programs should be instituted in all schools that use their students as teachers. National teaching competencies, best curriculum methods, and best methods to conduct skills reinforcement need to be determined. Finally, the SAT programs' impacts on patient care, on selection decisions of residency directors, and on residents' teaching effectiveness are areas for future research.

Where do they come from and where do they go: implications of geographic origins of medical students.

BACKGROUND: Can prior places of residence listed on a medical school application predict where a physician will practice in midcareer? METHOD: Geographic data were analyzed for a cohort of 399 graduates from a single U.S. medical school. RESULTS: Applicants with origins in the local region had a 40.4% to 49.5% probability of practicing locally in midcareer--an increased likelihood of 6.1 to 7.3 (P < .001) by bivariate analysis. In a logistic regression analysis, residence at birth (odds ratio [OR] = 2.6, P = .019) and at college graduation (OR = 2.8, P = .001) were significant predictors of midcareer practice location, but residence at high school graduation and on application to medical school were not. CONCLUSIONS: Midcareer practice location is related to geographic origins. Using multiple indicators of geographic origins available at the time of application can allow admissions committees to make higher-quality decisions.

The effect of educational games on medical students' learning outcomes: a systematic review: BEME Guide No 14.

BACKGROUND: An educational game is 'an instructional method requiring the learner to participate in a competitive activity with preset rules.' A number of studies have suggested beneficial effects of educational games in medical education. AIM: The objective of this study was to systematically review the effect of educational games on medical students' satisfaction, knowledge, skills, attitude, and behavior. METHODS: We used the best evidence medical education (BEME) collaboration methods for conducting systematic reviews. We included randomized controlled trials (RCT), controlled clinical trials, and interrupted time series. Study participants were medical students. Interventions of interest were educational games. RESULTS: The title and abstract screening of the 1019 unique citations identified 26 as potentially eligible for this article. The full text screening identified five eligible papers, all reporting RCTs with low-to-moderate methodological quality. Findings in three of the five RCTs suggested but did not confirm a positive effect of the games on medical students' knowledge. CONCLUSION: The available evidence to date neither confirm nor refute the utility of educational games as an effective teaching strategy for medical students. There is a need for additional and better-designed studies to assess the effectiveness of these games and this article will inform this research.

Fatigue: an overview.

Fatigue, a common presenting symptom in primary care, negatively impacts work performance, family life, and social relationships. The differential diagnosis of fatigue includes lifestyle issues, physical conditions, mental disorders, and treatment side effects. Fatigue can be classified as secondary to other medical conditions, physiologic, or chronic. The history and physical examination should focus on identifying common secondary causes (e.g., medications, anemia, pregnancy) and life-threatening problems, such as cancer. Results of laboratory studies affect management in only 5 percent of patients, and if initial results are normal, repeat testing is generally not indicated. Treatment of all types of fatigue should include a structured plan for regular physical activity that consists of stretching and aerobic exercise, such as walking. Caffeine and modafinil may be useful for episodic situations requiring alertness. Short naps are proven performance enhancers. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as fluoxetine, paroxetine, or sertraline, may improve energy in patients with depression. Patients with chronic fatigue may respond to cognitive behavior therapy. Scheduling regular follow-up visits, rather than sporadic urgent appointments, is recommended for effective long-term management.