Ultrasound interest group: a novel method of expanding ultrasound education in medical school

Abstract Purpose Ultrasound technology and clinical applications are advancing across many medical specialties and there exists an increasing need for ultrasound education in medical school. Few institutions, however, have incorporated this into the 4-year curriculum and barriers to curricular change remain. The Ultrasound Interest Group (USIG) is an alternative, extracurricular way for future operators to gain ultrasound exposure throughout all four years of medical school and develop the skill sets necessary to emerge as leaders in sonography. Methods The USIG was designed using a student organization infrastructure. The mission is to promote ultrasound education and student leadership across the medical school, outside the required curriculum. Participation is voluntary and open to all medical students. Leadership consists of defined positions held by junior and senior medical students. The USIG holds four meetings per year, organizes clinical and scanning opportunities for students, sponsors ultrasound events, and distributes a newsletter. Results The USIG has been an active student interest group for three academic years and had three sets of student leaders. Participants in USIG activities included first through fourth-year medical students each year. To date, the USIG had 12 meetings including 2 national and 4 local guest speakers. The USIG has organized scanning opportunities for students, sponsored events, and established a vertical model of structured mentorship. Conclusion The USIG is a feasible method of promoting ultrasound education and student leadership among medical students. This model may be implemented at other medical schools as a centralized, organizing body for extracurricular ultrasound education

The National Clinical Assessment Tool for Medical Students in the Emergency Department (NCAT-EM)

Introduction: Clinical assessment of medical students in emergency medicine (EM) clerkships is a highly variable process that presents unique challenges and opportunities. Currently, clerkship directors use institution-specific tools with unproven validity and reliability that may or may not address competencies valued most highly in the EM setting. Standardization of assessment practices and development of a common, valid, specialty-specific tool would benefit EM educators and students. Methods: A two-day national consensus conference was held in March 2016 in the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM) track at the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine (CORD) Academic Assembly in Nashville, TN. The goal of this conference was to standardize assessment practices and to create a national clinical assessment tool for use in EM clerkships across the country. Conference leaders synthesized the literature, articulated major themes and questions pertinent to clinical assessment of students in EM, clarified the issues, and outlined the consensus- building process prior to consensus-building activities. Results: The first day of the conference was dedicated to developing consensus on these key themes in clinical assessment. The second day of the conference was dedicated to discussing and voting on proposed domains to be included in the national clinical assessment tool. A modified Delphi process was initiated after the conference to reconcile questions and items that did not reach an a priori level of consensus. Conclusion: The final tool, the National Clinical Assessment Tool for Medical Students in Emergency Medicine (NCAT-EM) is presented here. [West J Emerg Med. 2018;19(1)66-74.

Ultrasound interest group: a novel method of expanding ultrasound education in medical school

Abstract Purpose Ultrasound technology and clinical applications are advancing across many medical specialties and there exists an increasing need for ultrasound education in medical school. Few institutions, however, have incorporated this into the 4-year curriculum and barriers to curricular change remain. The Ultrasound Interest Group (USIG) is an alternative, extracurricular way for future operators to gain ultrasound exposure throughout all four years of medical school and develop the skill sets necessary to emerge as leaders in sonography. Methods The USIG was designed using a student organization infrastructure. The mission is to promote ultrasound education and student leadership across the medical school, outside the required curriculum. Participation is voluntary and open to all medical students. Leadership consists of defined positions held by junior and senior medical students. The USIG holds four meetings per year, organizes clinical and scanning opportunities for students, sponsors ultrasound events, and distributes a newsletter. Results The USIG has been an active student interest group for three academic years and had three sets of student leaders. Participants in USIG activities included first through fourth-year medical students each year. To date, the USIG had 12 meetings including 2 national and 4 local guest speakers. The USIG has organized scanning opportunities for students, sponsored events, and established a vertical model of structured mentorship. Conclusion The USIG is a feasible method of promoting ultrasound education and student leadership among medical students. This model may be implemented at other medical schools as a centralized, organizing body for extracurricular ultrasound education

Comparing Attending and Patient Evaluation of Medical Student Communication Skills on an Emergency Medicine Clerkship

Learning Objective: To determine how attending and patient assessment of medical student communication skills correlate.Background: Accurately assessing medical student (MS) patient communication skills is an essential component of undergraduate medical education. There are different methods used to evaluate MSs, including supervising attending physician ratings as well as patient assessment. However, it is unclear how these distinct types of evaluators compare with each other.Objectives: To determine how attending and patient assessment of MS communication skills correlate. We hypothesized the two would closely correlate.Methods: This was a retrospective study of rotating fourth-year MSs on an elective EM clerkship. From 7/16–10/17, ED attending physicians and patients assessed MS communication skills during the students’ ED shifts. Attendings rated MS communication skills with patients using a 1-5 Likert scale. Patients evaluated MSs using the modified Communication Assessment Tool (CAT), a 14-item questionnaire based on a 1-5 Likert scale. Mean attending ratings and patient CAT scores were calculated for each MS. Due to nonparametric distribution, means were divided into tertiles and scores weighted to assign adjacent tertiles partial agreement. Agreement between attending and CAT scores was measured using a Cohen’s kappa.Results: 25 MSs were included. A total of 217 supervising attending evaluations with a median of 9 evaluations per MS (interquartile range (IQR) 8-10, min 6) and 102 CAT questionnaires with a median of 4 evaluations per MS (IQR 3-5, min 3) were completed. Attending and CAT scores showed slight agreement (k 0.196).Conclusions: Attending and patient ratings of MS communication skills show only slight agreement. It is possible that utilizing only one type of evaluator during a clerkship may miss important communication issues that could be addressed with the MS. Utilizing a multimodal approach that includes both attending and patient evaluations may be beneficial in fully assessing and subsequently educating MSs on their patient communication skills

Pasteurella multocida Epiglottitis

Epiglottitis is an uncommon but life-threatening disease. While the most common infectious causesare the typical respiratory pathogens, Pasteurella multocida is a rare causative organism. Wepresent a case of P. multocida epiglottitis diagnosed by blood culture. The patient required intubationbut was successfully treated medically. P. multocida is a rare cause of epiglottitis; this is the ninthreported case in the literature. Most diagnoses are made from blood culture and patients usuallyhave an exposure to animals

Pasteurella multocida epiglottitis: A review and report of a new case with associated chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Epiglottitis is an uncommon but life-threatening disease. While the most common infectious causes are the typical respiratory pathogens, Pasteurella multocida is a rare causative organism. We present a case of P. multocida epiglottitis diagnosed by blood culture. The patient required intubation but was successfully treated medically. P. multocida is a rare cause of epiglottitis; this is the ninth reported case in the literature. Most diagnoses are made from blood culture and patients usually have an exposure to animals