Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Medical educators have expressed concern that students' professional identities do not always align with their expectations or with professional standards. The authors propose that, in constructing appropriate professional identities, medical students today are affected by the competing discourses of diversity and standardization. ⋯ To influence medical students' professional identity construction, the authors advocate that educators seek change across the profession-faculty must acknowledge and take advantage of the tension between the discourses of standardization and diversity.
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Review Meta Analysis
Mastery learning for health professionals using technology-enhanced simulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Competency-based education requires individualization of instruction. Mastery learning, an instructional approach requiring learners to achieve a defined proficiency before proceeding to the next instructional objective, offers one approach to individualization. The authors sought to summarize the quantitative outcomes of mastery learning simulation-based medical education (SBME) in comparison with no intervention and nonmastery instruction, and to determine what features of mastery SBME make it effective. ⋯ Limited evidence suggests that mastery learning SBME is superior to nonmastery instruction but takes more time.
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Some research shows that empathy declines during medical school. The authors conducted an updated, systematic review of the literature on empathy-enhancing educational interventions in undergraduate medical education. ⋯ These findings suggest that educational interventions can be effective in maintaining and enhancing empathy in undergraduate medical students. In addition, they highlight the need for multicenter, randomized controlled trials, reporting long-term data to evaluate the longevity of intervention effects. Defining empathy remains problematic, and the authors call for conceptual clarity to aid future research.
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To characterize recent evidence-based medicine (EBM) educational interventions for medical students and suggest future directions for EBM education. ⋯ Settings, learner levels and instructors, teaching methods, and covered skills differed across interventions. Authors writing about EBM interventions should include detailed descriptions and employ more rigorous research methods to allow others to draw conclusions about efficacy. When designing EBM interventions, educators should consider trends in medical education (e.g., online learning, interprofessional education) and in health care (e.g., patient-centered care, electronic health records).
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To summarize the tool characteristics, sources of validity evidence, methodological quality, and reporting quality for studies of technology-enhanced simulation-based assessments for health professions learners. ⋯ Validity evidence for simulation-based assessments is sparse and is concentrated within specific specialties, tools, and sources of validity evidence. The methodological and reporting quality of assessment studies leaves much room for improvement.