Innovation Reports: Successes and Limitations for Promoting Innovation in Medical Education.

In 2013, Academic Medicine introduced a new article type, Innovation Reports, with the intent to promote innovation by providing a forum for publishing promising new ideas at an early stage of development. In this article, the authors examine Innovation Reports as a means for promoting innovation within the medical education community.The authors undertook a 2-part analysis.

Practice Implications of Expanded Genetic Testing in Oncology.

Genetic test use in oncology is growing, yet providers' experiences with evolving testing norms and their implications for patient care remain under-explored. In interviews with oncologists and cancer genetics professionals, 22 key informants described the increasing importance of germline results for therapeutic decision-making, preference for ordering tests directly rather than referring, and rapid adoption of cancer gene panels for testing. Implications for informed consent, result interpretation, and patient management were identified.

A Survey of Perceived Effectiveness of Part 4 Maintenance of Certification.

Objectives: Evaluative assessment is needed to inform improvement of Part 4 Maintenance of Certification (MOC), a large-scale program that aims to improve physician knowledge, engagement, and skills in quality improvement (QI). We sought to determine if Part 4 MOC participation improves perceived educational and clinical outcomes by piloting a new physician survey.

Methods: We administered a new online survey (MOC Practice, Engagement, Attitude, and Knowledge Survey) to physicians at the beginning and end of a Part 4 MOC project sponsored by a pediatric hospital's American Board of Medical Specialties' portfolio program during 2015.

A survey on financial support and research achievement of medical education research units in China.

Aim: To investigate the current situation of financial support and research achievement of medical education research units in China.

Methods: A total of 46 individuals in 46 medical schools completed a questionnaire including information about affiliation of the unit, financial support, published articles and achievement awards of the units.

Result: Of the 46 schools, 24 had independent medical education research units, 36 had financial support, and 30 had research funding.

Measuring the quality of end-of-life care.

Context: Although there is a documented need to improve end-of-life care, there are few validated and brief questionnaires that are available as outcome measures for use in improving that care.

Objectives: To examine the measurement characteristics of the Quality of End-of-Life Care (QEOLC) questionnaire.

Methods: In a multisite, cross-sectional study of a mailed questionnaire, patients with life-limiting illnesses, their families, and nurses completed the QEOLC questionnaire.

Defining and describing medical learning communities: results of a national survey.

Purpose: To investigate what is meant by learning community in medical education and to identify the most important features of current medical education learning communities.

Method: After a literature review, the authors surveyed academic deans of all U.S.

Crafting Successful Relationships with the IRB.

Background: Medical educational researchers face frustration with IRBs for activities that formerly were exempt from review or were not treated as biomedical research with patients. The authors sought to identify methods for improving relationships between IRBs and medical education researchers.

Method: The authors conducted interviews with medical school representatives about factors leading to relationships in which all parties feel that their concerns are being met, subjects are appropriately protected, and that the progress of evaluation or research activities is not unnecessarily inhibited.

Reliability of a 360-degree evaluation to assess resident competence.

Objective: To determine the feasibility and psychometric qualities of a 360-degree evaluation of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) residents' competence.

Design: Nurses, allied health staff, and medical students completed a 12-item questionnaire after each PM&R resident rotation from January 2002 to December 2004. The items were derived from five of the six competencies defined by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Competing professionalism values among community-based family physicians.

Background: Professionalism has received considerable attention in recent years, mostly within academic settings. Little attention has been given to the perspectives of practicing physicians on professionalism. This study was designed to determine whether prevailing definitions of and guidelines for professionalism accurately reflect the perspectives and experiences of practicing community-based family physicians.

Promoting minority access to health careers through health profession-public school partnerships: a review of the literature.

Partnerships between health profession schools and public schools provide a framework for developing comprehensive, creative solutions to the problem of minority underrepresentation in health careers. This review examines the functioning of partner relationships, focusing on elements of the social context that determine success or failure, and stages of partnership development. Influential aspects of the social context include cultural differences between personnel in higher education and K-12 institutions, the resources available to the partnership, and constraints on partnership activity.

Medical education research at the University of Washington School of Medicine: lessons from the past and potential for the future.

Faculty in the Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Washington School of Medicine received over $1.2 million in direct grant and contract support in 2003. In this case study, the authors provide some of the history and background of the evolution of the department's structure and its role in providing leadership in medical education research at the university, as well as regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Funding medical education research: opportunities and issues.

Medical education research is underfunded. Little research focuses on basic issues of learning and teaching in medicine, and few educational innovations are tested across institutions to insure their generalizability. Despite repeated calls for the development of research organizations that would deal with substantial issues in medical education, funding remains a miniscule portion of the total budget for medical education.

Examination room presentations in general internal medicine clinic: patients' and students' perceptions.

Purpose: To determine if patients are more satisfied with their health care when medical students present in the exam room to both the attending physician and patient than they are when medical students present outside the exam room to only the attending. To determine medical students' preference for location of presentation and the reasons for their preference. To determine if exam-room presentations promote the education of medical students to a greater degree than presentations outside of the exam room.

Characteristics of health professions schools, public school systems, and community-based organizations in successful partnerships to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority students entering health professions education.

Purpose: To identify characteristics of health professions schools, public schools, and community-based organizations in successful partnerships to increase the number of underrepresented minority students entering health professions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W. K.

Dying patients' need for emotional support and personalized care from physicians: perspectives of patients with terminal illness, families, and health care providers.

This study addressed the emotional and personal needs of dying patients and the ways physicians help or hinder these needs. Twenty focus groups were held with 137 individuals, including patients with chronic and terminal illnesses, family members, health care workers, and physicians. Content analyses were performed based on grounded theory.

Physicians' interactions with health care teams and systems in the care of dying patients: perspectives of dying patients, family members, and health care professionals.

This study investigated the specific physician skills required to interact with health care systems in order to provide high quality care at the end of life. We used focus groups of patients with terminal diseases, family members, nurses and social workers from hospice or acute care settings, and physicians. We performed content analysis based on grounded theory.

Influence of Third-Year Clerkships on Medical Student Specialty Preferences.

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to investigate influences on third-year medical students' specialty preferences.Method - A survey questionnaire was mailed to third-year medical students at two medical schools. The questionnaire asked students to rate the degree to which various aspects of the third-year curriculum and perceived specialty characteristics influenced their specialty preferences.

Patients' perspectives on physician skill in end-of-life care: differences between patients with COPD, cancer, and AIDS.

Objectives: Patients' views of physician skill in providing end-of-life care may vary across different diseases, and understanding these differences will help physicians improve the quality of care they provide for patients at the end of life. The objective of this study was to examine the perspectives of patients with COPD, cancer, or AIDS regarding important aspects of physician skill in providing end-of-life care.

Design: Qualitative study using focus groups and content analysis based on grounded theory.