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Biomedical subjects

R Folse

Publications and source records attributed to R Folse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

The learning needs of first-year surgical residents in the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Residents are more likely to learn from educational experiences when properly prepared from the start of instruction and expectations are clear and consistent. The purpose of this study was to examine what first year residents need to know and be able to perform before starting their rotation in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: The sample included surgical faculty, first through fifth year general surgery residents, and ICU nurses. A survey was developed that listed 110 knowledge and skill items felt to be possible prerequisite learning objectives. Respondents were asked to evaluate the required level of knowledge or skill on a 5-point Likert-type scale. RESULTS: Items were divided into knowledge or skill categories and then ranked in descending order by their mean ratings. Four knowledge and 10 skill items were ranked highly by all 3 groups of respondents. Kruskall-Wallis analyses found 58 items with statistically significant differences in mean ratings between groups of respondents. CONCLUSION: With this information a self assessment tool was developed to determine the level of performance on these identified learning objectives. A course of instruction can now be developed to assist residents in meeting these objectives before they assume patient care responsibilities in the ICU.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Is test security a concern when OSCE stations are repeated across clerkship rotations?

PURPOSE: To examine the issue of test security when the same stations on an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) are repeated across clerkship rotations. Specifically, is there a significant difference in students' scores on stations repeated in three or four rotations within a single academic year? METHOD: The sample consisted of 15 stations in the OSCE given at the end of the third-year surgery clerkship at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine from 1989-90 through 1993-94. Each station was administered three or four times a year. One-way analyses of variance with contrast coding to test for linear trends were used. Results were considered significant at or below the .05 level. RESULTS: Only three of the 15 stations showed significant linear trends. A two-part couplet orthopedic station showed a significant decreasing linear trend (p=.0001). Two stations showed significant increasing linear trends: a general surgery couplet station (p=.0004) and a plastic surgery station with an essay question (p=.0253). CONCLUSION: There was no consistent evidence that students scored increasingly higher on OSCE stations repeated throughout the year. Thus, it would appear that a clerkship can repeat OSCE stations within an academic year without risk of a trend toward increasing scores.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1995

Patients' attitudes toward the involvement of medical students in their care.

BACKGROUND: Research has shown that medical students are generally accepted by patients, but specific details that elucidate patient perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages to student involvement have not been documented. This study was designed to determine variables that influence patient satisfaction with students. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were interviewed by one of two faculty members using a questionnaire-style format that covered 12 variables regarding patient care. Patients were asked to rate the extent to which medical students helped or hindered their hospital stay, with regard to the 12 variables. RESULTS: Patients' attitudes were favorable regardless of the students' extent of clinical experience or clinical abilities or the patients' age or length of hospital stay. Patients reported that students spent time with them and answered their questions. Most patients stated that they would allow students to participate in their future hospital care. CONCLUSION: Positive patient-student interactions can have important effects on patients' expectations and their acceptance of future encounters with students. This fact is becoming increasingly important due to the changes in health care and the decreasing incidence of inpatient surgical encounters.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

What does the American Board of Surgery In-Training/Surgical Basic Science Examination tell us about graduate surgical education?

BACKGROUND: This research sought to identify the strengths and weakness in residents' basic science knowledge and, second, to determine whether they progressively improve in their abilities to recall basic science information and clinical management facts, to analyze cause-effect relationships, and to solve clinical problems. METHODS AND RESULTS: Basic science knowledge was assessed by means of the results of the January 1990 American Board of Surgery's In-Training/Surgical Basic Science Exam (IT/SBSE). Postgraduate year (PGY) 1 residents' scores were compared with those of PGY5 residents. Content related to a question was considered "known" if 67% or more of the residents in each of the two groups answered it correctly. Findings showed 44% of the content tested by the basic science questions were unknown by new and graduating residents. The second research question required the 250 IT/SBSE questions to be classified into one of three levels of thinking abilities: recall, analysis, and inferential thinking. Profile analysis (split-plot analysis of variance) for each pair of resident levels indicated significant (P < 0.001) differences in performance on questions requiring factual recall, analysis, and inference between all levels except for PGY3s and PGY4s. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this research enable program directors to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in residency training curricula and the cognitive development of residents.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1991

Evaluation of a system designed to enhance the resident selection process.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the use and effectiveness of the Universal Medical Student Performance Profile System in enhancing the resident selection process. The Universal Medical Student Performance Profile System involved the use of a standardized student evaluation form completed by surgery clerkship directors to summarize student performance. These student profile forms were then forwarded to general surgery program directors to whom each student applied. Twenty-five surgery clerkship directors volunteered to complete student profile forms on students pursuing surgical careers for the classes of 1986 and 1987. Program directors who had accepted students in their programs on whom these standardized evaluation forms had been completed were asked to complete a similar form based on the graduate's first year of residency performance. Findings showed statistically significant relationships in several assessment categories between clerkship and program directors' ratings. A survey of program directors showed they agreed with the concept of a standardized medical student evaluation form and found the student profile forms helpful in making decisions on resident selection. We concluded form this baseline study that the use of a standardized student evaluation form will have limited predictive validity, unless clerkships improve efforts to standardize clerkship objectives, expectations, and performance measures.

Education, Medical↗
PubMed1989

An analysis of the fourth year of medical school for students pursuing surgical careers.

A fourth-year curriculum survey was forwarded to surgery resident program directors, clerkship directors, and residents. A 37 percent response rate was achieved with comparable representation of each respondent type from 130 institutions. The purpose of the survey was to determine how each of the 3 respondent types rated the importance of 42 subjects or clinical experiences to be taken in the fourth year of medical school for students pursuing surgical careers. The survey also included questions on such issues as externships, early match programs, and guidelines used at their institutions for their fourth year students. The results indicated a significantly high agreement among respondent types on what should comprise surgical students' fourth-year curriculum content. The majority feel the fourth year should be planned by students with an electives advisor to equally add breadth to their general professional education as well as provide prerequisite experiences in the career-chosen discipline.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1988

Evaluation of a system designed to enhance the resident selection process.

A system was developed to establish standardized student performance information and a common nomenclature to enhance communication between clerkship and residency program directors. The results show such a system is in demand by program directors but that some students clerkship directors feel its use hampers students' chances of acquiring surgery residency positions.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1987

Herniation of the gastric wall through a Nissen fundoplication.

Two patients presented several years after Nissen fundoplication with dysphagia and/or hemorrhage. In both, the fundoplication was intact in the original relationship to the cardia but herniated gastric wall was found between the fundic wrap and the distal end of the esophagus. The diagnosis and alternatives for preventing this problem are presented.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

The preoperative liver scan and surgical decision-making in patients with colorectal cancer.

The influence of preoperative liver scans and liver function tests on surgical decision-making was analyzed in 196 patients who underwent surgical therapy for colorectal cancer. One hundred and thirteen patients who had preoperative liver scans were compared with 83 patients who did not. No statistically significant difference existed between the liver scan group and the nonscan group in terms of when surgical decision-making occurred. Likewise, the results of the liver scan did not influence when operative decisions were made. The majority of decision-making occurred intraoperatively when ultimate confirmation of the presence or absence of hepatic metastases was made. Presumptive surgical decisions were made preoperatively, but final decisions occurred intraoperatively when all relevant patient data could be correlated. Liver scanning has limited usefulness in the preoperative evaluation of patients with colon cancer as it does not affect decision-making and is much more costly than liver function testing.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Adenoma weight: a predictor of transient hypocalcemia after parathyroidectomy.

To evaluate the relationship of parathyroid adenoma weight to perioperative serum calcium levels, 51 selected patients with pathologically confirmed single adenomas and minimal biopsy at operation were reviewed. Three age- and sex-matched groups were established according to adenoma weight. Compared with Group 1 patients who had adenomas of less than 1 g, Group 3 patients with adenomas of more than 2 g demonstrated significantly higher preoperative serum parathyroid hormone and calcium levels, and significantly lower preoperative serum phosphate levels. Multiple regression analysis revealed a strong correlation between adenoma weight to preoperative parathyroid hormone and calcium levels (r = 0.63, p less than 0.001). These results suggest that larger adenomas may be associated with a more severe form of primary hyperparathyroidism. The incidence of transient postoperative hypocalcemia in the 51 patients who underwent adenoma excision was 37 percent. Permanent hypoparathyroidism did not develop in any of them. Compared with Group 1 patients, Group 3 patients demonstrated a higher incidence of postoperative transient hypocalcemia (69 percent versus 14 percent in Group 1, p less than 0.001) and significantly lower mean serum calcium levels on the third and fourth postoperative days. Increased adenoma weight may be a valuable aid in identifying those patients at risk for transient hypocalcemia after neck exploration.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1986

A multidisciplinary surgery clerkship: ten-year experience.

This article describes the principles, logistics, and curriculum of an integrated, multidisciplinary surgery clerkship. This clerkship, tailored to mastery-based instruction, was designed to meet specified goals unique to this institution and structured to obviate weaknesses of traditional clerkship formats. Evaluation methods have been designed to assess the clerkship program, student performance in and reaction to the clerkship, and performance after graduation from medical school. Results indicated clerkship ratings by students are typically above average for all educational modalities and that six out of seven graduating classes rated the surgery clerkship significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than their other clerkship experiences. Other findings showed highly satisfactory to above average performance of graduates whether based on residency supervisors' evaluations or self-evaluations and higher ratings for the graduates who selected surgery residency programs than for those pursuing other disciplines.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1985

A comparison of objective and subjective measures of clinical competence.

The purpose of this study was to determine if objective performance measures from a simulated patient practical examination were related to faculty subjective assessments of surgery students' performance. Another purpose was to determine if those students performing well on a simulated patient practical examination were the same students awarded honor ratings by faculty. Faculty ratings of students (n = 72) on history taking ability, physical exam skills, problem identification, use of investigations, problem integration, patient management, and patient relations skills were correlated with objective measures on these same criteria achieved on a practical exam employing three simulated patient cases. Correlations were also calculated to study the relationship between practical exam scores and honor rating recipients. Results indicated significant relationships between faculty subjective ratings and practical exam outcomes on all practical examination skills except physical exam skills and patient management skills. Findings also indicated the performance of honor students on the practical examination was significantly better than non-honor students on two skills: history-taking and patient relations. The implications of these research findings are discussed.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1985

The relationship between stress and attitudes toward leisure among first-year medical students.

The purpose of the study reported in this article was to examine first-year medical students' attitudes toward their free time and how these attitudes relate to self-reported stress levels. Members of the entering class of 1982-83 at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine were asked to complete surveys designed to measure perceived stress and leisure attitudes. The results indicated a significant negative correlation between the total leisure scale and the stress scale. This correlation supported the hypothesis that students who perceived that they had high stress levels scored low on the leisure attitude scale. These findings suggest a need for educating students about the benefits of well spent leisure time as a stress management mechanism that is important in coping with daily pressures and anxieties.

Adult↗