The Case for Writing Critical Thinking Reports as a Teaching Strategy on Today’s Hospital Wards

Abstract

I review some of the challenges in teaching medical students and housestaff on today’s hospital medicine wards, including increasingly limited time for dedicated teaching. Tapping into the extensive literature of “writing to learn” or “writing-across-the curriculum” in non-medical educational settings ranging from elementary school to college classes, I urge consideration of writing concise critical thinking reports (CTRs) by medical students and housestaff in response to questions raised during patient rounds as a means of enhancing their ward-based learning experience. Several potential reasons for writing CTRs are offered: (1) Nurtures curiosity; (2) Demands self-directed search for and encoding of new knowledge; (3) Emphasizes metacognition and conceptualization crucial to meaningful learning; (4) Provides opportunity for learners to teach and share newly-assimilated material with a broader web-based audience; (5) Encourages the concept of narrow but more in-depth learning related to a specific clinically relevant subject matter; (6) Nudges learners toward clear and succinct writing as an important general skill to develop in their everyday professional activities, including electronic medical record documentation; and (7) Reduces work-related burnout. Barriers to writing CTRs, including lack of general appreciation for explanatory writing as a potential teaching strategy in medical education and allowing sufficient time for medical students and housestaff to engage in this activity among other competing demands, are discussed. Writing CTRs is a potentially powerful pedagogical tool in ward-based learning that deserves consideration and formal evaluation by properly designed studies.

Comparison of the Usability and Reliability of Answers to Clinical Questions: AI-Generated ChatGPT versus a Human-Authored Resource

“…The survey was conducted through posted online questionnaires (Qualtrics XM, Qualtrics, Provo, UT). Study questions were selected from a list of most viewed posts on P4P, an open-access noncommercial educational Web site dedicated to the practice of internal medicine 7,8 . P4P was created and launched in June 2015 by one of the authors (F.A.M.…”

“…), an infectious diseases physician and an academic hospitalist, who also serves as the Web site’s administrator and editor on a voluntary basis. P4P aims to provide concise evidence-based answers to real-world clinical questions raised by internal medicine clinicians and medical students in the care of patients often generated during teaching rounds 7,8 . All of the posts are either authored or, when contributed by medical students, house staff, or other healthcare professionals, reviewed and modified as needed by the editor.…”

“…We separately examined two major domains of the quality of the clinical information: usability and reliability. We asked two groups of practicing healthcare professionals to assess anonymized responses by ChatGPT version 3.5 (hereafter, ChatGPT) and an existing human-authored open-access educational Web site (www.Pearls4Peers.com [P4P]) that offers answers to clinical questions raised during patient care 7,8 . Given the inherent high-stakes nature of how information is applied to patient care, we believe that before an AI-authored source such as ChatGPT becomes a major source of information in clinical decision making, it should consistently meet or exceed the quality of information provided by existing human-authored sources 2…”

Promoting health education through collaborative writing sessions in the Dominican Republic

“…Due to the comprehensive curriculum of scientific competences in basic and clinical sciences, critical analysis adapted for technical writing has been inconsistently prioritised across health professions schools, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Limited information exists on the overall impact of collaborative writing activities for health professional students (Chen and Forbes, 2014; de Oliveira et al, 2011; Kusurkar, 2022; Manian, 2020). In addition, research training has been incorporated engaged with variably in medical schools, and the best pedagogical format or timeline for incorporating this content into established curricula is unknown (de Oliveira et al, 2011; Murray et al, 2022).…”

Incubation Learning Model to Improve Procedure Text Writing Ability

“…The concept of writing to study or writing in the curriculum has been reported to positively impact learning in various educational settings, from elementary school to college classrooms. However, the results are mixed (Manian, 2020). Writing is a productive skill by using writing.…”