BMC medical education
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Retention of knowledge and perceived relevance of basic sciences in an integrated case-based learning (CBL) curriculum.
Knowledge and understanding of basic biomedical sciences remain essential to medical practice, particularly when faced with the continual advancement of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. Evidence suggests, however, that retention tends to atrophy across the span of an average medical course and into the early postgraduate years, as preoccupation with clinical medicine predominates. We postulated that perceived relevance demonstrated through applicability to clinical situations may assist in retention of basic science knowledge. ⋯ This study suggests that perceived clinical relevance is a contributing factor to the retention of basic science knowledge and behoves curriculum planners to make clinical relevance a more explicit component of applied science teaching throughout the medical course.
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Question-writing as a learning tool for students--outcomes from curricular exams.
Writing exam questions can be a valuable learning tool. We asked students to construct multiple choice questions for curricular exams in Internal Medicine. The questions for the particular exams were chosen from a pool of at least 300 student-written questions. The uncorrected pool was accessible to all students. We studied the influence of this approach on the students' learning habits and their test results. We hypothesized that creating a pool of their own questions for the exams could encourage students to discuss the learning material. ⋯ Creating a curricular exam by choosing questions from a pool constructed by students did not influence the learning habits significantly and favored low performing students. Since the high performing students sought to be rewarded for their efforts, we do not consider the approach applied in our study to be appropriate.
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Why should I prepare? A mixed method study exploring the motives of medical undergraduate students to prepare for clinical skills training sessions.
Although preparation for educational activities is considered beneficial for student learning, many students do not perform preparatory assignments. This phenomenon has received little attention in the literature although it might provide medical educators with the opportunity to enhance student learning. Therefore, we explored why students prepare or not prepare. ⋯ Students make an active and complex choice whether to prepare or not, based on multiple factors. Practical implications for educational practice are discussed.
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Same admissions tools, different outcomes: a critical perspective on predictive validity in three undergraduate medical schools.
Admission to medical school is one of the most highly competitive entry points in higher education. Considerable investment is made by universities to develop selection processes that aim to identify the most appropriate candidates for their medical programs. This paper explores data from three undergraduate medical schools to offer a critical perspective of predictive validity in medical admissions. ⋯ The findings suggest the strength of multiple admissions tools in predicting outcomes of medical students. However, they also highlight the large differences in outcomes achieved by different schools, thus emphasising the pitfalls of generalising results from predictive validity studies without recognising the diverse ways in which they are designed and the variation in the institutional contexts in which they are administered. The assumption that high-positive correlations are desirable (or even expected) in these studies is also problematised.
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Graduating Internal Medicine residents must possess sufficient skills to perform a variety of medical procedures. Little is known about resident experiences of acquiring procedural skills proficiency, of practicing these techniques, or of being assessed on their proficiency. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate resident 1) experiences of the acquisition of procedural skills and 2) perceptions of procedural skills assessment methods available to them. ⋯ The acquisition and assessment of procedural skills in Internal Medicine programs should move toward a more structured system of teaching, deliberate practice and objective assessment. We propose that directed, self-guided learning might meet these needs.