Impact of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education requirements for emergency medicine education at U.S. schools of medicine

Using Accreditation to Transform Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts Into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Systems

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation process is an important component of professional regulation and is used by medical schools to strengthen their medical education programs. Accreditation-related consultations with schools often include a review of relevant documents, stakeholder interviews, and mock site visits. A review by the author of this commentary of these consultations at 17 schools showed variability in how information regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) was incorporated and discussed in accreditation-related materials and interviews. At all schools, DEI information emerged in materials related to the accreditation standards that specifically inquire into DEI. However, at some schools, DEI emerged more broadly across a variety of standards. These differences suggest that considering the totality of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education standards and elements may be a useful tool for enabling schools to analyze and describe their DEI efforts, consider additional ways to engage in continuous quality improvement related to DEI, and achieve institutional DEI goals. In addition, a small number of the reviewed schools appeared to have had particular success in meeting institutional DEI goals. An appreciative inquiry-informed review suggested that these exemplar schools had both area-specific and cross-functional systems focused on achieving DEI goals. In addition, senior leadership demonstrated a commitment to DEI, DEI champions were empowered, and leaders displayed legislative-style and systems leadership skills. Schools that nurture these characteristics may be better positioned to advance DEI. Scholarly evaluation of these observations is necessary.

Train for the Game: What Is the Learning Environment of Deployed Navy Emergency Medicine Physicians?

OBJECTIVES

Medicine is a practice characterized by ongoing learning, and unique qualities of the operational learning environment (LE) may affect learner needs. When physicians move between differing practice environments learners may encounter situations for which they are unprepared. Using a conceptual framework specific to the LE, we therefore asked the following research question: what is the difference in LE for Navy emergency medicine (EM) physicians who practice in U.S. hospitals but serve an operational environment, and how do these differences shape their learning needs?

METHODS

We interviewed Navy EM physicians who recently deployed to explore their perceptions of the deployed LE, how it differed from the LE they practice in stateside, and the perceived effect this difference had on their learning needs. We used the constant comparative method to gather and analyze data until thematic saturation was achieved.

RESULTS

We interviewed 12 physicians and identified six interconnected themes consistent with the LE framework in the literature: 1) patient care is central to the learning experience; 2) professional isolation versus connectedness; 3) a sense of meaningful practice engages the learner in the LE; 4) physicians as educators shape the LE; 5) team trust impacts the LE; and 6) the larger military organization impacts the LE.

CONCLUSIONS

Our themes span the conceptual framework put forth by previous work and did not find themes outside this framework. These interconnected themes describe the difference in LE between the stateside and deployed setting and impact the learning needs of Navy EM physicians. These results inform strategies to position the deployed medical unit for success.

Describing the Evidence Base for Accreditation in Undergraduate Medical Education Internationally: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE

To summarize the state of evidence related to undergraduate medical education (UME) accreditation internationally, describe from whom and where the evidence has come, and identify opportunities for further investigation.

METHOD

The authors searched Embase, ERIC, PubMed, and Scopus from inception through January 31, 2018, without language restrictions, to identify peer-reviewed articles on UME accreditation. Articles were classified as scholarship if all Glassick's criteria were met and as nonscholarship if not all were met. Author, accrediting agency, and study characteristics were analyzed.

RESULTS

Database searching identified 1,379 nonduplicate citations, resulting in 203 unique, accessible articles for full-text review. Of these and with articles from hand searching added, 36 articles were classified as scholarship (30 as research) and 85 as nonscholarship. Of the 36 scholarship and 85 nonscholarship articles, respectively, 21 (58%) and 44 (52%) had an author from the United States or Canada, 8 (22%) and 11 (13%) had an author from a low- or middle-income country, and 16 (44%) and 43 (51%) had an author affiliated with a regulatory authority. Agencies from high-income countries were featured most often (scholarship: 28/60 [47%]; nonscholarship: 70/101 [69%]). Six (17%) scholarship articles reported receiving funding. All 30 research studies were cross-sectional or retrospective, 12 (40%) reported only analysis of accreditation documents, and 5 (17%) attempted to link accreditation with educational outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Limited evidence exists to support current UME accreditation practices or guide accreditation system creation or enhancement. More research is required to optimize UME accreditation systems' value for students, programs, and society.

Cognitive Load and Self-Determination Theories Applied to E-Learning: Impact on Students' Participation and Academic Performance

BACKGROUND

Emergency clerkships expose students to a stressful environment that require multiple tasks, which may have a direct impact on cognitive load and motivation for learning. To address this challenge, Cognitive Load Theory and Self Determination Theory provided the conceptual frameworks to the development of a Moodle-based online Emergency Medicine course, inspired by real clinical cases.

METHODS

Three consecutive classes (2013-2015) of sixth-year medical students (n = 304) participated in the course, during a curricular and essentially practical emergency rotation. "Virtual Rounds" provided weekly virtual patients in narrative format and meaningful schemata to chief complaints, in order to simulate real rounds at Emergency Unit. Additional activities such as Extreme Decisions, Emergency Quiz and Electrocardiographic challenge offered different views of emergency care. Authors assessed student´s participation and its correlation with their academic performance. A survey evaluated students´ opinions. Students graduating in 2015 answered an online questionnaire to investigate cognitive load and motivation.

RESULTS

Each student produced 1965 pageviews and spent 72 hours logged on. Although Clinical Emergency rotation has two months long, students accessed the online course during an average of 5.3 months. Virtual Rounds was the most accessed activity, and there was positive correlations between the number of hours logged on the platform and final grades on Emergency Medicine. Over 90% of students felt an improvement in their clinical reasoning and considered themselves better prepared for rendering Emergency care. Considering a Likert scale from 1 (minimum load) to 7 (maximum load), the scores for total cognitive load were 4.79±2.2 for Virtual Rounds and 5.56±1.96 for real medical rounds(p<0,01).

CONCLUSIONS

A real-world inspired online course, based on cognitive and motivational conceptual frameworks, seems to be a strong tool to engage students in learning. It may support them to manage the cognitive challenges involved in clinical care and increase their motivation for learning.

Emergency medicine in the medical school curriculum

Emergency medicine (EM) is a dynamic specialty that continues to define itself as a fertile training ground for medical students. Throughout the years, a number of U.S. medical schools have incorporated topics germane to EM training (basic cardiac life support, principles of wound care, splinting, basic procedural skills training, etc.) into the medical school curriculum. By virtue of their broad-based training and the unique patient care environment that they practice in, EM specialists can serve a multitude of educational roles in the medical school. Whether serving as a problem-based learning facilitator, collaborating with basic scientists, or teaching medical history-taking and physical examination skills in the emergency department (ED), EM faculty can effectively teach future physicians in training. Although opportunities for teaching will vary by institution, often all it takes to get involved is asking. Teaching can take place in the ED, classroom, or simulation center, both in the preclinical and in the clinical curriculum. EM faculty may be well suited to help teach procedural skills to students as they enter their clinical clerkships. A formal rotation in EM can also assist the medical school in achieving their institutional objectives or in identifying ways to satisfy the Liaison Committee on Medical Education's objectives. Patients presenting to the ED span the entire spectrum: young and old, sick and not sick. It is this variety of cases that makes the ED a truly valuable setting for educating students.

Emergency medicine clerkship curriculum: an update and revision

In 2006, the latest version of a national curriculum for the fourth-year emergency medicine (EM) clerkship was published. Over the past several years, that curriculum has been implemented across multiple clerkships. The previous curriculum was found to be too long and detailed to cover in 4 weeks. As well, updates to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)'s form and function document, which guides the structure of a clerkship, have occurred. Combining experience, updated guidelines, and the collective wisdom of members of the national organization of the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM), an update and revision of the fourth-year EM clerkship educational syllabi has been developed.

A national survey of pediatric clerkship directors' approaches to meeting the LCME ED-2 requirement for quantified patient criteria for medical students

BACKGROUND

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) recently reinterpreted ED-2, their quantified patient criteria requirement.

PURPOSE

The purpose is to describe pediatric clerkship directors' response to ED-2.

METHOD

We used a survey of U.S. and Canadian pediatric clerkship directors.

RESULTS

Survey response rate was 76% (108/142). The most frequent categories that clerkship directors used to describe quantified patient criteria were age group (77%), organ systems (65%), or symptoms (61%). Computer simulations were the alternative patient experience in 83% of clerkships. Patient logs (90%) and checklists (31%) tracked student completion of ED-2. Thirty-two respondents had an LCME visit since ED-2 was reinterpreted, and 69% reported that LCME had concerns about their clerkships' fulfillment of ED-2. There was no difference in method of ED-2 implementation between schools who were cited by LCME and those who were not.

CONCLUSIONS

Clerkship directors have used a variety of approaches to specify and monitor quantified patient criteria.