Ultrasound use has expanded dramatically among the medical specialties for diagnostic and interventional purposes, due to its affordability, portability, and practicality. This imaging modality, which permits real-time visualization of anatomic structures and relationships in vivo, holds potential for pre-clinical instruction of students in anatomy and physical diagnosis, as well as providing a bridge to the eventual use of bedside ultrasound by clinicians to assess patients and guide invasive procedures. In many studies, but not all, improved understanding of anatomy has been demonstrated, and in others, improved accuracy in selected aspects of physical diagnosis is evident. Most students have expressed a highly favorable impression of this technology for anatomy education when surveyed. Logistic issues or obstacles to the integration of ultrasound imaging into anatomy teaching appear to be readily overcome. The enthusiasm of students and anatomists for teaching with ultrasound has led to widespread implementation of ultrasound-based teaching initiatives in medical schools the world over, including some with integration throughout the entire curriculum; a trend that likely will continue to grow. Anat Sci Educ 10: 176-189. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Many authors have attempted to determine predictors for success within a residency program. There is very little agreement about what is useful. We hypothesized that our residency selection process is effective in determining which resident applicants would be most likely to excel in our program. To test this hypothesis, we reviewed the scores that applicants received after their interview day to determine if there was a correlation with any measures used to evaluate residents once they entered residency training. Our results determined that the score given to an applicant fails to correlate with any of the areas that are evaluated throughout their residency. The only statistically significant correlation was between the scores assigned by the selection committee to applicants and the applicant scores on their first year in training examination. We concluded that our residency selection process score does not accurately predict which applicants will excel in our program.

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Background The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has begun to evaluate teaching institutions' learning environments with Clinical Learning Environment Review visits, including trainee involvement in institutions' patient safety and quality improvement efforts. Objective We sought to address the dearth of metrics that assess trainee patient safety perceptions of the clinical environment. Methods Using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC), we measured resident and fellow perceptions of patient safety culture in 50 graduate medical education programs at 10 hospitals within an integrated health system. As institution-specific physician scores were not available, resident and fellow scores on the HSOPSC were compared with national data from 29 162 practicing providers at 543 hospitals. Results Of the 1337 residents and fellows surveyed, 955 (71.4%) responded. Compared with national practicing providers, trainees had lower perceptions of patient safety culture in 6 of 12 domains, including teamwork within units, organizational learning, management support for patient safety, overall perceptions of patient safety, feedback and communication about error, and communication openness. Higher perceptions were observed for manager/supervisor actions promoting patient safety and for staffing. Perceptions equaled national norms in 4 domains. Perceptions of patient safety culture did not improve with advancing postgraduate year. Conclusions Trainees in a large integrated health system have variable perceptions of patient safety culture, as compared with national norms for some practicing providers. Administration of the HSOPSC was feasible and acceptable to trainees, and may be used to track perceptions over time.

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Background Facilitation of residents’ scholarly activities is indispensable to the future of medical specialties. Research education initiatives and their outcomes, however, have rarely been reported. Methods Since Academic Year (AY) 2006, research education initiatives, including research lectures, research problem based learning discussions, and an elective research rotation under a new research director’s supervision, have been used. The effectiveness of the initiatives was evaluated by comparing the number of residents and faculty mentors involved in residents’ research activity (Pre-initiative [2003 to 2006] vs. Post-initiative [2007 to 2011]). The residents’ current post-graduation practices were also compared. To minimize potential historical confounding factors, peer reviewed publications based on work performed during residency written by residents who graduated from the program in AY2009 to AY2011 were further compared with those of rank-to-match residents, who were on the residency ranking list during the same AYs and could have been matched with our program had they ranked it high enough on their list. Results The Post-initiative group showed greater resident research involvement compared to the Pre-initiative group (89.2% [58 in 65 residents] vs. 64.8% [35 in 54], p=0.0013) and greater faculty involvement (23.9% [161 in 673 faculty/year] vs. 9.2% [55 in 595], p<0.0001). Choice of academic practice did not increase (50.8% [Post] vs. 40.7% [Pre], p=0.36). Graduated residents (n=38) published more often than the rank-to-match residents (n=220) (55.3% [21 residents] vs. 13.2% [29], p<0.0001, odds ratio 8.1 with 95% confidence interval of 3.9 to 17.2). Conclusions Research education initiatives increased residents’ research involvement.

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