No abstract

BackgroundSubspecialty fellows can serve as a tremendous educational resource to residents; however, there are multiple barriers to an effective resident-fellow teaching interaction in the setting of inpatient consultation. We designed and evaluated a resident-directed intervention to enhance communication and teaching during consultation on the general medicine wards.MethodsFive medical teams were randomized to receive the intervention over a 3 month period (3 control, 2 intervention teams). The intervention was evaluated with pre and post-intervention surveys.ResultsFifty-nine of 112 interns completed the pre-intervention survey, and 58 completed the post-intervention survey (53 % response rate). At baseline, 83 % of the interns noted that they had in-person interactions with fellows less than 50 % of the time. 81 % responded that they received teaching from fellows in less than 50 % of consultations. Following the intervention, the percentage of interns who had an in-person interaction with fellows greater than 50 % of the time increased in the intervention group (9 % control versus 30 % intervention, p = 0.05). Additionally, interns in the intervention group reported receiving teaching in more than 50 % of their interactions more frequently (19 % control versus 42 % intervention, p = 0.05). There were no differences in other measures of teaching and communication.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that a time-efficient intervention increased perceptions of in-person communication and the number of teaching interactions between interns and fellows. Further studies are warranted to determine whether such an approach can impact resident learning and improve patient care.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0796-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

CGR is an effective mechanism for providing needed community health information in an easily accessible format. Additional work is needed to determine whether this format represents a sustainable community-university partnership.

The USDA–ARS announces the public release of the orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) UTDG‐101 germplasm (Reg. No. GP‐5, PI 672006) as a late‐maturing grass with excellent forage quality and increased winter tolerance for use in orchardgrass breeding programs. Selection emphasis in UTDG‐101 was for late maturity, winter hardiness, and dry matter yield. UTDG‐101 traces back to polycross seed that originated from crosses among four orchardgrass collections (PI 659612, PI 659613, W6 20243, and W6 20247) made within 100 km west‐southwest of Zhaosu County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. UTDG‐101 is more genetically distinct than orchardgrass cultivars Paiute, Pennlate, and Benchmark. UTDG‐101 has significantly (P < 0.05) longer flag leaves than the orchardgrass cultivars examined in this study. Based on mitotic root counts, UTDG‐101 is an autotetraploid (2n = 4x = 28). In forage harvested May 2011, UTDG‐101 had significantly higher crude protein, relative feed value, sugars, water‐soluble carbohydrates (WSC; sugars + fructans), and digestibility and significantly lower acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Forage of UTDG‐101 harvested July 2011 had significantly lower NDF and increased fructan, sugar, and WSC concentrations. UTDG‐101 exhibited significantly less winter injury than other orchardgrass, tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.], and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) cultivars. Due to the high combining ability, late maturity, increased forage quality, and winter hardiness of UTDG‐101, this source of germplasm could provide genetic resources for developing late‐maturing orchardgrass with increased forage quality and reduced winter injury for management with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) mixtures or for grazing.