Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Diagnostic errors contribute to as many as 70% of medical errors. Prevention of diagnostic errors is more complex than building safety checks into health care systems; it requires an understanding of critical thinking, of clinical reasoning, and of the cognitive processes through which diagnoses are made. When a diagnostic error is recognized, it is imperative to identify where and how the mistake in clinical reasoning occurred. ⋯ Recent literature questioning whether teaching critical thinking skills increases diagnostic accuracy is critically examined, as are studies suggesting that metacognitive practices result in better patient care and outcomes. Instruction in metacognition, reflective practice, and cognitive bias awareness may help learners move toward adaptive expertise and help clinicians improve diagnostic accuracy. The authors argue that explicit instruction in metacognition in medical education, including awareness of cognitive biases, has the potential to reduce diagnostic errors and thus improve patient safety.
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After many years in the making, an increasing number of postgraduate medical education (PGME) training programs in North America are now adopting a competency-based medical education (CBME) framework based on entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that, in turn, encompass a larger number of competencies and training milestones. Following the lead of PGME, CBME is now being incorporated into undergraduate medical education (UME) in an attempt to improve integration across the medical education continuum and to facilitate a smooth transition from clerkship to residency by ensuring that all graduates are ready for indirect supervision of required EPAs on day one of residency training. ⋯ They suggest that the transition to CBME should not threaten diversity in UME or require a major curricular upheaval. However, each UME program must make important decisions that will define its version of CBME, including which terminology to use when describing the construct being evaluated, which rating tools and raters to include in the assessment program, and how to make promotion decisions based on all of the available data on EPAs.
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To explore how sponsorship functions as a professional relationship in academic medicine. ⋯ Sponsorship, in addition to mentorship, is critical for successful career advancement. Understanding sponsorship as a distinct professional relationship may help faculty and academic leaders make more informed decisions about using sponsorship as a deliberate career-advancement strategy.
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To identify the factors associated with total Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) score and with receiving a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) penalty (1% reduction in payment to those hospitals in the lowest-performing quartile of HACRP scores) for fiscal years (FYs) 2015-2017 with a particular focus on trends over this period. ⋯ A reevaluation of the scoring methodology for the HACRP is needed. CMS could stratify hospitals into homogeneous categories and apply penalties to those that have the worst scores in each category.