Teaching and learning in medicine
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Professional identity, or how a doctor thinks of himself or herself as a doctor, is considered to be as critical to medical education as the acquisition of skills and knowledge relevant to patient care. ⋯ Medical education needs to be responsive to changes in professional identity being generated from factors within medical student experiences and within contemporary society.
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Recently, clinical diagnostic reasoning has been characterized by "dual processing" models, which postulate a fast, unconscious (System 1) component and a slow, logical, analytical (System 2) component. However, there are a number of variants of this basic model, which may lead to conflicting claims. This paper critically reviews current theories and evidence about the nature of clinical diagnostic reasoning. ⋯ Consequently, from this model, the best strategy for reducing errors is to make students aware of the biases and to encourage them to rely more on System 2. However, an accumulation of evidence suggests that (a) strategies directed at increasing analytical (System 2) processing, by slowing down, reducing distractions, paying conscious attention, and (b) strategies directed at making students aware of the effect of cognitive biases, have no impact on error rates. Conversely, strategies based on increasing application of relevant knowledge appear to have some success and are consistent with basic research on concept formation.
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Over the past 25 years, three major forces have had a significant influence on licensure and certification: the shift in focus from educational process to educational outcomes, the increasing recognition of the need for learning and assessment throughout a physician's career, and the changes in technology and psychometrics that have opened new vistas for assessment. These forces have led to significant changes in assessment for licensure and certification. To respond to these forces, licensure and certification programs have improved the ways in which their examinations are constructed, scored, and delivered. ⋯ Finally, they have invested in research intended to validate their programs in four ways: (a) the acceptability of the program to stakeholders, (b) the extent to which stakeholders are encouraged to learn and improve, (c) the extent to which there is a relationship between performance in the programs and external measures, and (d) the extent to which there is a relationship between performance as measured by the assessment and performance in practice. Over the past 25 years, changes in licensure and certification have been driven by the educational outcomes movement, the need for lifelong learning, and advances in technology and psychometrics. Over the next 25 years, we expect these forces to continue to exert pressure for change which will lead to additional improvement and expansion in examination processes, methods of assessment, and validation research.
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Work-based assessment (WBA) is the assessment of trainees and physicians across the educational continuum of day-to-day competencies and practices in authentic, clinical environments. What distinguishes WBA from other assessment modalities is that it enables the evaluation of performance in context. ⋯ Although a systematic review is beyond the purview of this perspective, we highlight specific methods and needed shifts to WBA that (a) consider patient outcomes, (b) use nonphysician assessors, and (c) assess the care provided to populations of patients. We briefly describe strategies for the effective implementation of WBA and identify outstanding research questions related to its use.
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Work-based assessment (WBA) is the assessment of trainees and physicians across the educational continuum of day-to-day competencies and practices in authentic, clinical environments. What distinguishes WBA from other assessment modalities is that it enables the evaluation of performance in context. ⋯ Although a systematic review is beyond the purview of this perspective, we highlight specific methods and needed shifts to WBA that (a) consider patient outcomes, (b) use nonphysician assessors, and (c) assess the care provided to populations of patients. We briefly describe strategies for the effective implementation of WBA and identify outstanding research questions related to its use.