Transition-to-residency: pilot innovative, online case-based curriculum for medical students preparing for pediatric internships

Abstract

Background : There is increasing recognition in medical education that greater emphasis must be placed on preparing graduating medical students for their new roles as interns. Few publications in the literature have described transition-to-residency curricula specifically for students interested in pediatrics or pediatric-related fields Approach : We developed novel online pediatric cases, embedded within an innovative, hybrid transition-to-residency course, to address high yield, multi-disciplinary topics within the context of several of the AAMC’s identified Entrustable Professional Activities Evaluation : The pilot cases were evaluated over two academic years (2018, 2019) at a single academic medical center as part of routine student course evaluation (N = 18/35) with the 2019 evaluation containing additional retrospective pre-post survey questions (N = 9/18) assessing self-reported changes in knowledge. Almost all students were very satisfied or satisfied with the modules overall (94%), the quality of the resources provided (100%), and the structure and clarity of the presentation of the material (100%). Among the students who completed the retrospective pre-post survey after participation in the online modules, significant self-reported improvements were noted in writing orders to the pediatrics floor (Z = −2.07, p = 0.04), providing anticipatory guidance (Z = −2.0,p = 0.046), formulating a differential diagnosis for common pediatric conditions (Z = −2.24, P = 0.03), and preparedness for managing common pediatric floor emergencies (Z = −2.33, P = 0.02). Reflection : We demonstrated feasibility of implementation of an interactive, online case-based curriculum, medical student satisfaction with content and delivery, and increased self-reported knowledge after completion of the pilot pediatric cases on the online, asynchronous learning platform.

Flipped classroom approach to global outreach: cross-cultural teaching of horizontal strabismus to Chinese ophthalmology residents

“…The performance difference between esotropia and exotropia courses could reflect differences in curriculum efficacy, where some aspects of the case-based material may have been more effective than others [18] . This also aligns with studies from other medical specialties which saw small improvements or no significant differences when comparing flipped classroom to traditional classroom settings with regard to content test scores [15][16][24][25] . In one crossover study, members of three US emergency medicine residency programs demonstrated similar knowledge gained in the flipped classroom model and standard lecture model [24] .…”

“…Additionally, the Chinese residents indicated that they would like to see the flipped classroom model utilized more frequently and felt that all ophthalmology topics would be appropriate for this teaching style (P-values between 0.008 and <0.001; Figure 2). The higher satisfaction for flipped classroom compared to traditional classroom aligns with other US studies in both medical school [14][15] and graduate medical education [16][17] , including our previously conducted multi-center randomized-control study where 110 US ophthalmology residents preferred the flipped-classroom model over the traditional lecture model [18] . Based on a prior meta-analysis, this preference may result from increasing levels of engagement with the flipped classroom approach as well as a greater focus on personalized teaching [19] .…”

Embracing uncertainty: medical student perceptions of a pediatric bootcamp developed in response to mandated changes during the pandemic

“…Two groups have previously reported that synchronous and asynchronous remote bootcamps or transition courses are feasible for supporting the transition between medical school and residency/internship [18,19]. Our study adds to the literature in that our bootcamp focused on the transitional stage from preclinical to clinical in a low-stakes environment.…”

The multidimension teaching evaluation based on modified CBL: A continuous survey in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

“…Therefore, continuity of learning environment fosters both patient-centeredness and learnercenteredness [13]. Before clinic internship, the introduction of CBL enables students continuously reinforce their familiarity with a particular disease, thus enhancing the speci c clinical reasoning and interdisciplinary competencies [22].…”