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The curriculum at the Medical School, University of Tromsø reserves 23 weeks for optional studies, including a period of 12 weeks at the end of the fifth year when the students carry out an independent study and write a short thesis. Of the first 417 doctors (graduation year 1979-89) from Tromsø 84.6% answered a postal questionnaire asking them to evaluate this part of the curriculum. These postgraduates report high levels of satisfaction with and benefit from this part of the curriculum. A total of 26.8% started working on their thesis before the final 12-week period, 32.6% had also published their study, half of these in international journals, and 75.6% found that the skills acquired during the final optional period had been useful in their subsequent work, irrespective of specialty. In conclusion, postgraduates consider their work in preparing a scientific paper as an important and integral part of medical studies.

Context: In recent years, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become a widely used clinical tool in a number of clinical specialties. In response, POCUS has been incorporated into medical curricula across the learning continuum, bolstered by enthusiastic appraisals of the technology's benefits for learners, clinicians and patients. In this project, we have sought to identify and understand the effects of dominant discourses influencing the integration of POCUS into medical education., Methods: We conducted a Foucauldian critical discourse analysis (CDA) to identify and analyse discourses that legitimise and privilege the use of POCUS in medical education. We assembled an archive of 473 texts published between 1980 and 2017. Each article in the archive was analysed to identify frequently occurring truth statements (expressing concepts whose truths are unquestioned within particular discourses) that we used to characterise the major discourses that construct representations of POCUS in medical education., Results: We identified three dominant discourses: (i) a visuo-centric discourse prioritising the visual information as truth over other clinical data; (ii) a utilitarian discourse emphasising improvements in patient care; and (iii) a modernist discourse highlighting the current and future needs of clinicians in our technological world. These discourses overlap and converge; the core discursive effect makes the further elevation of POCUS in medical education, and the resulting attenuation of other curricular priorities, appear inevitable., Conclusions: The three dominant discourses identified in this paper engender ideal conditions for the proliferation of POCUS in medical education through curricular guidelines, surveys of adherence to these guidelines and authoritative position statements. By identifying and analysing these dominant discourses, we can ask questions that do not take for granted the assumed truths underpinning the discourses, highlight potential pitfalls of proposed curricular changes and ensure these changes truly improve medical education., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.)

Context: In 1988, the Edinburgh Declaration challenged medical teachers, curriculum designers and leaders to make an organised effort to change medical education for the better. Among a series of recommendations was a call to integrate training in science and clinical practice across a breadth of clinical contexts. The aim was to create physicians who could serve the needs of all people and provide care in a multitude of contexts. In the years since, in the numerous efforts towards integration, new models of curricula have been proposed and implemented with varying levels of success., Scope of Review: In this paper, we examine the evolution of curricular integration since the Edinburgh Declaration, and discuss theoretical advances and practical solutions. In doing so, we draw on recent consensus reports on the state of medical education, emblematic initiatives reported in the literature, and developments in education theory pertinent to the role of integrated curricula., Conclusions: Interest in integration persists despite 30 years of efforts to respond to the Edinburgh Declaration. We argue, however, that a critical shift has taken place with respect to the conception of integration, whereby empirical models support a view of integration as pertaining to both cognitive activity and curricular structure. In addition, we describe a broader definition of 'basic science' relevant to clinical practice that encompasses social and behavioural sciences, as well as knowledge derived from biomedical science., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.)

Context: Gender sensitivity is a crucial factor in the provision of quality health care. This paper explores acquired gendered values and attitudes among medical students through an analysis of the hidden curriculum that exists within formal medical classes and informal learning., Methods: Discourse analysis was adopted as the research method. Data were collected from the Bulletin Board System (BBS), which represented an essential communication platform among students in Taiwan before the era of Facebook. The study examined 197 gender-related postings on the BBS boards of nine of 11 universities with a medical department in Taiwan, over a period of 10 years from 2000 to 2010., Results: The five distinctive characteristics of the hidden curriculum were as follows: (i) gendered stereotypes of physiological knowledge; (ii) biased treatment of women; (iii) stereotyped gender-based division of labour; (iv) sexual harassment and a hostile environment, and (v) ridiculing of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Both teachers and students co-produced a heterosexual masculine culture and sexism, including 'benevolent sexism' and 'hostile sexism'. As a result, the self-esteem and learning opportunities of female and LGBT students have been eroded., Conclusions: The paper explores gender dynamics in the context of a hidden curriculum in which heterosexual masculinity and stereotyped sexism are prevalent as norms. Both teachers and students, whether through formal medical classes or informal extracurricular interactive activities, are noted to contribute to the consolidation of such norms. The study tentatively suggests three strategies for integrating gender into medical education: (i) by separating physiological knowledge from gender stereotyping in teaching; (ii) by highlighting the importance of gender sensitivity in the language used within and outside the classroom by teachers and students, and (iii) by broadening the horizons of both teachers and students by recounting examples of the lived experiences of those who have been excluded and discriminated against, particularly members of LGBT and other minorities., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Context: At the 100th anniversary of Abraham Flexner's landmark report on medical education, critical reassessment of the direction of medical education reform evinced valuable interdisciplinary contributions from biomedicine, sociology, psychology and education theory. However, to date, philosophy has been absent from the discussion despite its long standing contribution to studies on education in other professions., Methods: This discussion paper examines how the philosophical tradition can contribute to scholarship in medical education. It begins with an explanation of the scholarly tradition of philosophy of education and its role in thinking in education more generally. It then makes links between this tradition and the context of medical education in the Flexner era of education reform. The paper then argues that this tradition is necessary to the understanding of medical education reform post-Flexner and that doctors must benefit from an education derived from this tradition in order to be able to carry out their work., Discussion: These foundations are characterised as a hidden, but always present, tradition in medical education. Two ways in which this 'lost tradition' can inform medical education theory and practice are identified: firstly, by the establishment of a public canon of medical education texts that express such a tradition, and, secondly, by the incorporation of a variety of 'signature pedagogies' exemplary of liberal education., (© Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.)

Objective: Many changes in medical education have occurred during the author's 50-year career in the field. The aim of this paper is to describe 10 lessons worth recording for others engaged in the training of health care professionals., Three Career Phases: The first phase in the author's career occurred during 1960-1972 in Glasgow, where an interest in medical education developed alongside an engagement in clinical medicine and research into iodine metabolism. The second phase took place during 1972-2002 in Dundee, where, after working for a period as a clinician, the author made a full-time commitment to medical education. The third phase, from 2002 to the present, has provided the opportunity to explore new horizons in medical education., Conclusions: The following lessons have been learned. (i) People are important as role models and collaborators. (ii) Innovation in medical education is a complex process and research findings can easily be misinterpreted. (iii) Nudges, interventions that encourage rather than mandate change, are valuable. (iv) Students are important players in planning, delivering and evaluating a curriculum. Each student has different needs and aspirations. They are the 'digital natives'. (v) Offer stakeholders practical solutions to problems that can be implemented. (vi) There is always something to learn outside one's own practice. Go to a conference or read a journal in a related field. (vii) Time spent recording one's work and publishing reports based on it is rewarding. (viii) Learn from history. We don't need to keep reinventing the wheel. (ix) Obtain independent funding. (x) Finally, and most importantly, have fun. Working in medical education can be exciting, fulfilling and hugely enjoyable., (© Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.)

Objectives: One hundred years after the Flexner report remade medical education in North America, many countries are reviewing the purpose and organisation of medical education. In Canada, a national study is being undertaken to define important issues and challenges for the future of medical education. The objectives of this paper are to describe the process of conducting an empirical environmental scan at a national level, and to present the research findings of this scan., Methods: Thirty national key informant interviews were conducted, transcribed and coded to identify key themes. Interview data were triangulated with data sourced from 34 commissioned literature reviews and a series of national focus groups., Results: Ten key issues or priorities were identified and used to generate detailed review papers used by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada to create a blueprint for the evolution of medical education. The new priorities have major implications for areas ranging from admissions, curriculum content, educational process and the need to articulate the purpose and responsibilities of medical schools in society., Discussion: This research provides a case study of how an empirical research approach can be used to identify and validate priorities for changes in medical education at a national level. This approach may be of interest in other countries., (© Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2010.)

Background and Study Aims: This paper reports on a 1-year, full-time widening access to medicine course that prepares mature adults for entry to selected UK medical schools. The course was developed in 1992-93 in co-operation with the University of Leicester Medical School and is restricted to adults over 21 years of age. The main subjects of the curriculum are biology, chemistry and physics. These are supported by mathematics, statistics and medical geography., Methods: Three successive year groups were used as trial groups and nine medical schools agreed to participate in the trial. The successful trial students were monitored as they progressed through medical school. A total of 19% of successful trial students graduated from medical school with honours degrees. Evaluation of the trial years has led to changes in both the curriculum and assessment methods., Findings: The longitudinal study of the course indicates that progression to medical school has increased from an average of 64% during the trial years to an average of 85% over the last 3 years. Graduate entry to the course has increased from an initial 10% of the intake to 50% over the same period. The role of the programme as a vehicle for widening access to medical school was monitored in the 4-year period 1997-2000. In these years, 41% of the student intake progressing to medical school came from socioeconomic groups IV and V, whilst 36% came from socioeconomic groups I and II. The 2001/2002 cohort numbers 45.

Introduction: The results of the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and 2 examinations are reported for students enrolled in a problem-based and traditional lecture-based curricula over a seven-year period at a single institution. There were no statistically significant differences in mean scores on either examination over the seven year period as a whole. There were statistically significant main effects noted by cohort year and curricular track for both the Step 1 and 2 examinations. These results support the general, long-term effectiveness of problem-based learning with respect to basic and clinical science knowledge acquisition., Context: This paper reports the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and Step 2 results for students enrolled in a problem-based and traditional lecture-based learning curricula over the seven-year period (1992-98) in order to evaluate the adequacy of each curriculum in supporting students learning of the basic and clinical sciences., Methods: Six hundred and eighty-nine students who took the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and 540 students who took Step 2 for the first time over the seven-year period were included in the analyses. T-test analyses were utilized to compare students' Step 1 and Step 2 performance by curriculum groups., Results: United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 scores over the seven-year period were 214 for Traditional Curriculum students and 208 for Parallel Curriculum students (t-value = 1.32, P=0.21). Mean Step 2 scores over the seven-year period were 208 for Traditional Curriculum students and 206 for Parallel Curriculum students (t-value=1.08, P=0.30). Statistically significant main effects were noted by cohort year and curricular track for both the Step 1 and Step 2 examinations., Conclusion: The totality of experience in both groups, although differing by curricular type, may be similar enough that the comparable scores are what should be expected. These results should be reassuring to curricular planners and faculty that problem-based learning can provide students with the knowledge needed for the subsequent phases of their medical education.

Computer-based learning materials (CBL or courseware) have the potential to be valuable learning resources for medical education. However, CBL has failed to realize its potential primarily because of unstructured approaches towards design and development. This paper describes the courseware development model (CDM), a conceptual model produced and used by the Medical Education Unit at The University of Liverpool. The model describes a structured multi-disciplinary approach to the design and production of CBL materials. It promotes meticulous planning, communication and organization. The CDM draws on three areas of expertise: (1) education; (2) computer science; and (3) medical content.