Biomedical subjects

LuAnn Wilkerson

Publications and source records attributed to LuAnn Wilkerson.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The impact of the changing health care environment on the health and well-being of faculty at four medical schools.

PURPOSE: Increased pressure for clinical and research productivity and decreased control over the work environment have been reported to have adverse impacts on academic faculty in limited studies. The authors examined whether work-related stressors in academic medicine negatively affected the physical and mental health, as well as life and job satisfaction, of academic medical school faculty. METHOD: A 136-item self-administered anonymous questionnaire modified from a small 1984 study was distributed to 3,519 academic faculty at four U.S. medical schools following institutional review board approval at each school. Validated scales measuring depression, anxiety, work strain, and job and life satisfaction; a checklist of common physical and mental health symptoms; and questions about the impact of institutional financial stability, colleague attrition, and other work-related perceptions were used. Responses were analyzed by sex, academic rank, age, marital status, faculty discipline, and medical school. RESULTS: Responses were received from 1,951 full-time academic physicians and basic science faculty, a 54.3% response rate. Twenty percent of faculty, almost equal by sex, had significant levels of depressive symptoms, with higher levels in younger faculty. Perception of financial instability was associated with greater levels of work strain, depression, and anxiety. Significant numbers of faculty acknowledged that work-related strain negatively affected their mental health and job satisfaction, but not life satisfaction or physical health. Specialties were differentially affected. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of depression, anxiety, and job dissatisfaction-especially in younger faculty-raise concerns about the well-being of academic faculty and its impact on trainees and patient care. Increased awareness of these stressors should guide faculty support and development programs to ensure productive, stable faculty.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Why invest in an educational fellowship program?

Expanding and refining the repertoire of medical school teaching faculty is required by the many current and changing demands of medical education. To meet this challenge academic medical institutions have begun to establish programs--including educational fellowship programs--to improve the teaching toolboxes of faculty and to empower them to assume leadership roles within both institutional and educational arenas. In this article, the authors (1) provide historical background on educational fellowship programs; (2) describe the prevalence and focus of these programs in North American medical schools, based on data from a recent (2005) survey; and (3) give a brief overview of the nine fellowship programs that are discussed fully in other articles in this issue of Academic Medicine. These articles describe very different types of educational fellowships that, nevertheless, share common features: a cohort of faculty members who are selected to participate in a longitudinal set of faculty development activities to improve participants' teaching skills and to build a cadre of educational leaders for the institution. Evaluation of educational fellowships remains a challenging issue, but the authors contend that one way to evaluate the programs' effectiveness is to look at the educational improvements that have been instigated by program graduates. The authors hope that the various program descriptions will help readers to improve their existing programs and/or to initiate new programs.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Increasing the pool of educational leaders for UCLA.

The dual goals of the faculty Fellowship in Medical Education (MEF) program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, established in 1992, are to prepare excellent teachers to serve as clerkship chairs, course chairs, or residency program directors while strengthening their dossiers for promotion based on a scholarly approach to curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation. Fellows are nominated from their departments and must demonstrate a strong interest in assuming educational leadership in their respective specialties. A total of eight fellows are accommodated each year based on interviews with the MEF faculty. The two-year program consists of two seminars and two projects focused on four objectives: to critique teaching and testing practices in medical education in light of current theories of learning; to develop and implement curricula that reflect these theories; to improve personal teaching skills through reflection and feedback; and to design and conduct an educational research or program evaluation study. An analysis of the curricula vitae of faculty members who have completed the fellowship suggest that this program continues to provide educational leaders for the school as originally intended. Of the 71 medical school faculty members who completed the MEF between 1993 and 2004 and have remained at the university, 43 (61%) have assumed new leadership roles in medical education. The evaluation data strongly suggest that the MEF has had a major role since its inception in creating a pool of faculty members with the confidence to manage the tasks of educational planning and implementation.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Documentation systems for educators seeking academic promotion in U.S. medical schools.

PURPOSE: To explore the state and use of teaching portfolios in promotion and tenure in U.S. medical schools. METHOD: A two-phase qualitative study using a Web-based search procedure and telephone interviews was conducted. The first phase assessed the penetration of teaching portfolio-like systems in U.S. medical schools using a keyword search of medical school Web sites. The second phase examined the current use of teaching portfolios in 16 U.S. medical schools that reported their use in a survey in 1992. The individual designated as having primary responsibility for faculty appointments/promotions was contacted to participate in a 30-60 minute interview. RESULTS: The Phase 1 search of U.S. medical schools' Web sites revealed that 76 medical schools have Web-based access to information on documenting educational activities for promotion. A total of 16 of 17 medical schools responded to Phase 2. All 16 continued to use a portfolio-like system in 2003. Two documentation categories, honors/awards and philosophy/personal statement regarding education, were included by six more of these schools than used these categories in 1992. Dissemination of work to colleagues is now a key inclusion at 15 of the Phase 2 schools. The most common type of evidence used to document education was learner and/or peer ratings with infrequent use of outcome measures and internal/external review. CONCLUSIONS: The number of medical schools whose promotion packets include portfolio-like documentation associated with a faculty member's excellence in education has increased by more than 400% in just over ten years. Among early-responder schools the types of documentation categories have increased, but students' ratings of teaching remain the primary evidence used to document the quality or outcomes of the educational efforts reported.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Development and validation of a geriatric knowledge test for medical students.

OBJECTIVES: To assesses the reliability and validity of a geriatrics knowledge test designed for medical students. DESIGN: Cross-sectional studies. SETTING: An academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 343 (86% of those sampled) medical students participated in the initial study, including 137 (76%) first-year, 163 (96%) third-year, and 43 (86% of those sampled) fourth-year students in the 2000-2001 academic year. To cross-validate the instrument, another 165 (92%) third-year and 137 (76%) first-year students participated in the study in the 2001-2002 academic year. MEASUREMENTS: An 18-item geriatrics knowledge test was developed. The items were selected from a pool of 23 items. An established instrument assessing the clinical skills of medical students was included in the validation procedure. RESULTS: The instrument demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach alpha=0.80) and known-groups and concurrent validity. Geriatrics knowledge scores increased progressively with the higher level of medical training (mean percentage correct=31.3, 65.3, and 66.5 for the first-year, third-year, and fourth-year classes, respectively, P<.001). A significant (P<.01) relationship was found between the third-year students' geriatrics knowledge and their clinical skills. Similar results, except the relationship between knowledge and clinical skills, were found in the cross-validation study, supporting the reliability and known-groups validity of the test. CONCLUSION: The 18-item geriatrics knowledge test demonstrated sound reliability and validity. The average scores of the student groups indicated substantial room for growth. The relationship between geriatrics knowledge and overall clinical skills needs further investigation.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗

PubMed2003

Educational innovations in academic medicine and environmental trends.

Fifteen educational innovations in academic medicine are described in relation to 5 environmental trends. The first trend, demands for increased clinical productivity, has diminished the learning environment, necessitating new organizational structures to support teaching, such as academies of medical educators, mission-based management, and faculty development. The second trend is multidisciplinary approaches to science and education. This is stimulating the growth of multidisciplinary curricular design and oversight along with integrated curricular structures. Third, the science of learning advocates the use of case-based, active learning methods; learning communities such as societies and colleges; and instructional technology. Fourth, shifting views of health and disease are encouraging the addition of new content in the curriculum. In response, theme committees are weaving content across the curriculum, new courses are being inserted into curricula, and community-based education is providing learning experiences outside of academic medical centers. Fifth, calls for accountability are leading to new forms of performance assessment using objective structured clinical exams, clinical examination exercises, simulators, and comprehensive assessment programs. These innovations are transforming medical education.

Academic Medical Centers↗

PubMed2003

Assessing physical examination skills of senior medical students: knowing how versus knowing when.

PURPOSE: Literature has documented a lack of physical examination proficiency among medical students. To investigate UCLA medical students' physical examination proficiency, this study compared their performance on a multiple-station Clinical Performance Examination (CPX) focused on clinical cases with that on a thorough physical examination objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) of the same organ systems. METHOD: One hundred sixty-three beginning fourth-year students participated in the study. Four organ systems were included in both the CPX and OSCE. Pearson's correlation coefficients and paired-sample t-tests were conducted to determine the correlations between and differences in the two tests. RESULTS: The physical examination scores on the CPX were significantly (p <.001) lower both by organ subscale and in total than those on the OSCE. Correlation coefficients between the two tests were negligible. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that fourth-year medical students may demonstrate competency in directed examination of organ systems while being unable to correctly apply those examination skills to the work-up of clinical cases.

California↗

PubMed2002

Reaching and teaching new medical students.

OBJECTIVE: Each year 150 new medical students enter UCLA. During Foundations week they are introduced to the resources and services, which will support their studies, as well as to the problem-based learning (PBL) approach of instruction. The library is responsible for introducing print and digital resources and illustrating how these support the PBL approach. This has been a challenge, given students' belief that they already know about libraries and the limited time frame (roughly 45 minutes) allotted to us. This year we developed a collaborative, student-centered, active learning approach. Students were exposed to a variety of relevant resources and given the opportunity to critique them for appropriateness to their PBL case of the week. DESCRIPTION: Sessions were designed for 50 students at once in the instructional microcomputing facility (IMF), with two or three students sharing each workstation. Since the IMF is equipped with classroom control software, librarians could display resources on each workstation while discussing them. Since we wish to encourage students to begin at our Web page, we wore t-shirts with the logo "Start@Biomed" and our URL. Instruction started with a "Guided Tour of the Biomedical Library Web Page" during which we discussed general services, highlighted special features, including Web-based tutorials and subject guides, and illustrated how to connect to relevant resources such as PubMed, MDConsult, STAT!Ref, and MEDLINEPlus. The student groups then critically reviewed one resource identified by a card next to their workstation by answering the following questions in writing: Would this resource address your specific PBL learning issue? If not, what type of learning issue would it address? Describe an outstanding feature or a barrier to use for this resource? After ten minutes, students were asked to report to the entire group. The use of a hand-held mike, which we passed among the students, added an element of fun to the proceedings and simulated a talk show atmosphere. DISCUSSION: This emphasis on active learning, critical thinking, and problem solving was a successful way to introduce students to the library and its resources, and reinforced the library's role in PBL. The friendly, casual talk-show approach, coupled with our Start@Biomed t-shirts, created a setting in which we became real partners in the learning enterprise. Students reported they enjoyed the experience, and they are returning to us for additional help. Their written feedback, which we collected, summarized, and distributed to the entire class, illustrated a clear understanding of the resources and their usefulness. Both the medical school faculty and the librarians involved feel we have developed a useful, interesting, and appropriate way to reach beginning medical students, who often feel that they already know a great deal about using a library.

California↗