The fairness, predictive validity and acceptability of multiple mini interview in an internationally diverse student population--a mixed methods study

BACKGROUND: International medical students, those attending medical school outside of their country of citizenship, account for a growing proportion of medical undergraduates worldwide. This study aimed to establish the fairness, predictive validity and acceptability of Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) in an internationally diverse student population. METHODS: This was an explanatory sequential, mixed methods study. All students in First Year Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway 2012 were eligible to sit a previously validated 10 station MMI. Quantitative data comprised: demographics, selection tool scores and First Year Assessment scores. Qualitative data comprised separate focus groups with MMI Assessors, EU and Non-EU students. RESULTS: 109 students participated (45% of class). Of this 41.3% (n = 45) were Non-EU and 35.8% (n = 39) did not have English as first language. Age, gender and socioeconomic class did not impact on MMI scores. Non-EU students and those for whom English was not a first language achieved significantly lower scores on MMI than their EU and English speaking counterparts (difference in mean 11.9% and 12.2% respectively, P<0.001). MMI score was associated with English language proficiency (IELTS) (r = 0.5, P<0.01). Correlations emerged between First Year results and IELTS (r = 0.44; p = 0.006; n = 38) and EU school exit exam (r = 0.52; p<0.001; n = 56). MMI predicted EU student OSCE performance (r = 0.27; p = 0.03; n = 64). In the analysis of focus group data two overarching themes emerged: Authenticity and Cultural Awareness. MMI was considered a highly authentic assessment that offered a deeper understanding of the applicant than traditional tools, with an immediate relevance to clinical practice. Cultural specificity of some stations and English language proficiency were seen to disadvantage international students. Recommendations included cultural awareness training for MMI assessors, designing and piloting culturally neutral stations, lengthening station duration and providing high quality advance information to candidates. CONCLUSION: MMI is a welcome addition to assessment armamentarium for selection, particularly with regard to stakeholder acceptability. Understanding the mediating and moderating influences for differences in performance of international candidates is essential to ensure that MMI complies with the metrics of good assessment practice and principles of both distributive and procedural justice for all applicants, irrespective of nationality and cultural background

Effectiveness of a biopsychosocial e-learning intervention on the clinical judgements of medical students and GP trainees regarding future risk of disability in patients with chronic lower back pain: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Introduction Chronic lower back pain (CLBP) is a major healthcare problem with wide ranging effects. It is a priority for appropriate management of CLBP to get individuals back to work as early as possible. Interventions that identify biopsychosocial barriers to recovery have been observed to lead to successfully reduced pain-related work absences and increased return to work for individuals with CLBP. Modern conceptualisations of pain adopt a biopsychosocial approach, such as the flags approach. Biopsychosocial perspectives have been applied to judgements about future adjustment, recovery from pain and risk of long-term disability; and provide a helpful model for understanding the importance of contextual interactions between psychosocial and biological variables in the experience of pain. Medical students and general practitioner (GP) trainees are important groups to target with education about biopsychosocial conceptualisations of pain and related clinical implications. Aim The current study will compare the effects of an e-learning intervention that focuses on a biopsychosocial model of pain, on the clinical judgements of medical students and trainees. Methods and analysis Medical student and GP trainee participants will be randomised to 1 of 2 study conditions: (1) a 20 min e-learning intervention focused on the fundamentals of the flags approach to clinical judgement-making regarding risk of future pain-related disability; compared with a (2) wait-list control group on judgement accuracy and weighting (ie, primary outcomes); flags approach knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards pain, judgement speed and empathy (ie, secondary outcomes). Participants will be assessed at preintervention and postintervention. Ethics and dissemination The study will be performed in agreement with the Declaration of Helsinki and is approved by the National University of Ireland Galway Research Ethics Committee. The results of the trial will be published according to the CONSORT statement and will be presented at conferences and reported in peer-reviewed journals

General practitioners' attitudes and preparedness towards Clinical Decision Support in e-Prescribing (CDS-eP) adoption in the West of Ireland: a cross sectional study

Background: Electronic clinical decision support (CDS) is increasingly establishing its role in evidence-based clinical practice. Considerable evidence supports its enhancement of efficiency in e-Prescribing, but some controversy remains. This study evaluated the practicality and identified the perceived benefits of, and barriers to, its future adoption in the West of Ireland. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out by means of a 27-part questionnaire sent to 262 registered general practitioners in Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. The survey domains encompassed general information of individual's practice, current use of CDS and the practitioner's attitudes towards adoption of CDS-eP. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed to analyse the data collected. Results: The overall response rate was 37%. Nearly 92% of respondents employed electronic medical records in their practice. The majority acknowledged the value of electronic CDS in improving prescribing quality (71%) and reducing prescribing errors (84%). Despite a high degree of unfamiliarity (73%), the practitioners were open to the use of CDS-eP (94%) and willing to invest greater resources for its implementation (62%). Lack of a strategic implementation plan (78%) is the main perceived barrier to the incorporation of CDS-eP into clinical practice, followed by i) lack of financial incentives (70%), ii) lack of standardized product software (61%), iii) high sensitivity of drug-drug interaction or medication allergy markers (46%), iv) concern about overriding physicians' prescribing decisions(44%) and v) lack of convincing evidence on the systems' effectiveness (22%). Conclusions: Despite favourable attitudes towards the adoption of CDS-eP, multiple perceived barriers impede its incorporation into clinical practice. These merit further exploration, taking into consideration the structure of the Irish primary health care system, before CDS-eP can be recommended for routine clinical use in the West of Ireland.Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI) research bursary 2007-2009Deposited by bulk impor

Situational awareness within objective structured clinical examination stations in undergraduate medical training - a literature search

Background: Medical students may not be able to identify the essential elements of situational awareness (SA) necessary for clinical reasoning. Recent studies suggest that students have little insight into cognitive processing and SA in clinical scenarios. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) could be used to assess certain elements of situational awareness. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature with a view to identifying whether levels of SA based on Endsley's model can be assessed utilising OSCEs during undergraduate medical training. Methods: A systematic search was performed pertaining to SA and OSCEs, to identify studies published between January 1975 (first paper describing an OSCE) and February 2017, in peer reviewed international journals published in English. PUBMED, EMBASE, PsycINFO Ovid and SCOPUS were searched for papers that described the assessment of SA using OSCEs among undergraduate medical students. Key search terms included "objective structured clinical examination", "objective structured clinical assessment" or "OSCE" and "non-technical skills", "sense-making", "clinical reasoning", "perception", "comprehension", "projection", "situation awareness", "situational awareness" and "situation assessment". Boolean operators (AND, OR) were used as conjunctions to narrow the search strategy, resulting in the limitation of papers relevant to the research interest. Areas of interest were elements of SA that can be assessed by these examinations. Results: The initial search of the literature retrieved 1127 publications. Upon removal of duplicates and papers relating to nursing, paramedical disciplines, pharmacy and veterinary education by title, abstract or full text, 11 articles were eligible for inclusion as related to the assessment of elements of SA in undergraduate medical students. Discussion: Review of the literature suggests that whole-task OSCEs enable the evaluation of SA associated with clinical reasoning skills. If they address the levels of SA, these OSCEs can provide supportive feedback and strengthen educational measures associated with higher diagnostic accuracy and reasoning abilities. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the early exposure of medical students to SA is recommended, utilising OSCEs to evaluate and facilitate SA in dynamic environment

Clinical decision making in temporomandibular joint treatment planning and evaluation

Themporomandibular disorders' is a generally accepterd term used to designate the disorders of the mandibular locomotor apparatus. For convenience, disorders of the temporomoandibular joint proper are commonly distinguished from non-articular disorders, which most frequently affect the masticatory musculature. The most common disorder affecting the temporomandibular joint is osteoarthritis. .... Zie: Summary