Medical Students’ Use of the Stages of Change Model in Tobacco Cessation Counseling

BACKGROUND: Many medical schools have incorporated the Stages of Change Model into their curricula with specific application to tobacco cessation. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the extent to which medical students were prepared to provide stage-based interventions to treat nicotine dependence. DESIGN: Using a quasi-experimental design, medical students’ counseling interactions were evaluated with a standardized patient portraying a smoker in either the precontemplation or preparation stage of change. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 147 third-year medical students at the University of California, San Francisco. MEASUREMENTS: Checklists completed by standardized patients evaluated students’ clinical performance. Surveys administered before and after the encounters assessed students’ knowledge, attitudes, confidence and previous experience with treating smoking. RESULTS: Most students asked about tobacco use (89%), advised patients of the health benefits of quitting (74%), and assessed the patient’s readiness to quit (76%). The students were more likely to prescribe medications and offer referrals to patients in the preparation than in the precontemplation stage of change (P < 0.001); however, many students had difficulty identifying patients ready to quit, and few encouraged patients to set a quit date or arranged follow-up to assess progress. Students’ tobacco-related knowledge, but not their attitudes, confidence, or previous experience predicted their clinical performance. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicated evidence of students tailoring their counseling strategies to the patients’ stage of change; however, they still could do more to assist their patients in quitting. Additional training and integration of cessation counseling into clinical rotations are needed

Preparing Faculty to Incorporate Health Systems Science into the Clinical Learning Environment: Factors Associated with Sustained Outcomes

This study assesses participants’ perceptions of long-term impacts of the Teachers of Quality Academy, a medical school faculty development program designed to prepare faculty to both practice and teach health system science. A previously published 1-year evaluation of the first cohort of 27 participants showed improved perceived skills, with positive career and health system impacts. In this 5-year evaluation, a mixed-methods design included a questionnaire followed by semistructured interviews to assess perceived long-term impacts on participants. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were completed. Questionnaire response rate was 88% (N = 22), and 14 interviews were analyzed. Results demonstrated that participants had incorporated quality improvement concepts into their clinical work and teaching, better understood interprofessionalism, and observed continued improvements in care delivery. They felt the longitudinal training, delivered in a shared setting, created a learning community with lasting positive effects in institutional culture, supported long-term professional development, and had broader institutional impact. Advancements in clinical care, medical education, and professional and academic advancements were noted

Development of a longitudinal integrated clerkship at an academic medical center

In 2005, medical educators at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), began developing the Parnassus Integrated Student Clinical Experiences (PISCES) program, a year-long longitudinal integrated clerkship at its academic medical center. The principles guiding this new clerkship were continuity with faculty preceptors, patients, and peers; a developmentally progressive curriculum with an emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching; and exposure to undiagnosed illness in acute and chronic care settings. Innovative elements included quarterly student evaluation sessions with all preceptors together, peer-to-peer evaluation, and oversight advising with an assigned faculty member. PISCES launched with eight medical students for the 2007/2008 academic year and expanded to 15 students for 2008/2009. Compared to UCSF's traditional core clerkships, evaluations from PISCES indicated significantly higher student satisfaction with faculty teaching, formal didactics, direct observation of clinical skills, and feedback. Student performance on discipline-specific examinations and United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 CK was equivalent to and on standardized patient examinations was slightly superior to that of traditional peers. Participants' career interests ranged from primary care to surgical subspecialties. These results demonstrate that a longitudinal integrated clerkship can be implemented successfully at a tertiary care academic medical center

Assessment of Medical Students’ Shared Decision-Making in Standardized Patient Encounters

BackgroundShared decision-making, in which physicians and patients openly explore beliefs, exchange information, and reach explicit closure, may represent optimal physician-patient communication. There are currently no universally accepted methods to assess medical students' competence in shared decision-making.ObjectiveTo characterize medical students' shared decision-making with standardized patients (SPs) and determine if students' use of shared decision-making correlates with SP ratings of their communication.DesignRetrospective study of medical students' performance with four SPs.ParticipantsSixty fourth-year medical students.MeasurementsObjective blinded coding of shared decision-making quantified as decision moments (exploration/articulation of perspective, information sharing, explicit closure for a particular decision); SP scoring of communication skills using a validated checklist.ResultsOf 779 decision moments generated in 240 encounters, 312 (40%) met criteria for shared decision-making. All students engaged in shared decision-making in at least two of the four cases, although in two cases 5% and 12% of students engaged in no shared decision-making. The most commonly discussed decision moment topics were medications (n = 98, 31%), follow-up visits (71, 23%), and diagnostic testing (44, 14%). Correlations between the number of decision moments in a case and students' communication scores were low (rho = 0.07 to 0.37).ConclusionsAlthough all students engaged in some shared decision-making, particularly regarding medical interventions, there was no correlation between shared decision-making and overall communication competence rated by the SPs. These findings suggest that SP ratings of students' communication skill cannot be used to infer students' use of shared decision-making. Tools to determine students' skill in shared decision-making are needed

The Next Steps in Competency-Based Medical Education: Milestones, Entrustable Professional Activities and Observable Practice Activities

3 PáginasCompetency-based medical education (CBME) organizes the educational experience around competencies, emphasizes performance outcomes, promises greater accountability to patients and society, and is flexible and learner-centered.1 Competencies are multifaceted and integrated. Hence, our approach to competency assessment must involve an integrated assessment system and focus on performance in the workplace. Focusing on the workplace activities of trainees and inferring competence based on learner performance on those activities is most appropriate.2 Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are an attractive assessment framework because they focus on day-to-day activities and inherently address multiple competencies and skills at once

The Tea House Series: Striving Together to be Antiracist

BackgroundThough awareness of health care structures that are racist and oppressive is increasing among health care professionals, there is a gap in continuing education curricula focused on antiracist anti-oppressive practices, and limited faculty and staff development to guide individuals towards action.AimTo develop, implement, and evaluate a novel antiracist faculty and staff development program called the Tea House Series.Setting and participantsA five-part continuing education series with an accompanying online community for faculty and staff at the divisions of Hospital Medicine in one institution in the western United States.Program descriptionThe four foundational pillars integral to the Tea House Series were as follows: educational framework based on the pedagogy of Paulo Freire, local disparities data, welcoming space to establish a community of practice and accountability. Each session contained participant dialogue in small group activities.Program evaluationQualitative analysis of participant survey responses demonstrated transformation towards a hope to act with a sense of community. Quantitative analysis measured increased confidence for the program learning objectives.DiscussionThe Tea House Series may be used as a model for continuing education to provide the tools and the community to confront systems of racism and oppression in any institution

Identification of core objectives for teaching sustainable healthcare education.

BackgroundPhysicians will be called upon to care for patients who bear the burden of disease from the impact of climate change and ecologically irresponsible practices which harm ecosystems and contribute to climate change. However, physicians must recognize the connection between the climate, ecosystems, sustainability, and health and their responsibility and capacity in changing the status quo. Sustainable healthcare education (SHE), defined as education about the impact of climate change and ecosystem alterations on health and the impact of the healthcare industry on the aforementioned, is vital to prevention of adverse health outcomes due to the changing climate and environment.ObjectiveTo systematically determine which and when a set of SHE objectives should be included in the medical education continuum.DesignFifty-two SHE experts participated in a two-part modified-Delphi study. A survey was developed based on 21 SHE objectives. Respondents rated the importance of each objective and when each objective should be taught. Descriptive statistics and an item-level content validity index (CVI) were used to analyze data.ResultsFifteen of the objectives achieved a content validity index of 78% or greater. The remaining objectives had content validity indices between 58% and 77%. The preclinical years of medical school were rated as the optimal time for introducing 13 and the clinical years for introducing six of the objectives. Respondents noted the definition of environmental sustainability should be learned prior to medical school and identifying ways to improve the environmental sustainability of health systems in post-graduate training.ConclusionsThis study proposes SHE objectives for the continuum of medical education. These objectives ensure the identity of the physician includes the requisite awareness and competence to care for patients who experience the impact of climate and environment on health and advocate for sustainability of the health systems in which they work.AbbreviationsCVI: Content validity index; SHE: Sustainable healthcare education

How to identify, address and report students' unprofessional behaviour in medical school

This AMEE guide provides a research overview of the identification of, and responding to unprofessional behaviour in medical students. It is directed towards medical educators in preclinical and clinical undergraduate medical education. It aims to describe, clarify and categorize different types of unprofessional behaviours, highlighting students' unprofessional behaviour profiles and what they mean for further guidance. This facilitates identification, addressing, reporting and remediation of different types of unprofessional behaviour in different types of students in undergraduate medical education. Professionalism, professional behaviour and professional identity formation are three different viewpoints in medical education and research. Teaching and assessing professionalism, promoting professional identity formation, is the positive approach. An inevitable consequence is that teachers sometimes are confronted with unprofessional behaviour. When this happens, a complementary approach is needed. How to effectively respond to unprofessional behaviour deserves our attention, owing to the amount of time, effort and resources spent by teachers in managing unprofessional behaviour of medical students. Clinical and medical educators find it hard to address unprofessional behaviour and turn toward refraining from handling it, thus leading to the 'failure to fail' phenomenon. Finding the ways to describe and categorize observed unprofessional behaviour of students encourages teachers to take the appropriate actions.</p