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Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has had a profound impact on medical care and medical student education as clinical rotations were halted and students' clinical activities were drastically curtailed. Learning experiences in medical school are known to promote identity formation through teamwork, reflection, and values‐based community discussion. This study explored the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on medical students' professional identity formation (PIF). Methods: Students in all cohorts of medical education were invited by email in May 2020 to submit a written reflection about their learning experiences and impact of the pandemic on their PIF. We used iterative individual and team reviews, known as the "immersion/crystallisation" method, to code and analyse the data. Findings Twenty‐six students (20%) submitted reflections in which they discussed "changing conceptions of the role and image of a physician," "views about medical education," and the "role of students in a pandemic." Students viewed physicians as altruistic, effective communicators, and pledged to be like them in the future. Their perceptions of virtual learning were mixed, along with considerations of lost interactions with patients, and wanting to be more useful as professionals‐in‐training. Discussion: COVID‐19 has impacted students' views of themselves and reshaped their ideas, both negatively and positively, about the profession they are entering and their role(s) in it. Conclusion: Exploring PIF and the impact of disruptions has allowed us to address the issues raised regarding clinical learning now and into the future. Reflection enhances PIF and unexpected events, such as COVID‐19, offer opportunities for reflection and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Discussion Imposter phenomenon (IP), feeling as if a person does not belong, has been reported in medical students at various rates. In medical literature, this phenomenon has often been defined as a ‘syndrome’, but other studies have described it as a dynamic experience that can have various impacts on different people at different time points. Although studies have linked IP with other phenomena such as burnout in residents and physicians, no studies have examined its aetiology nor how these feelings are experienced by medical students.With the use of social identity theory as a framework, the authors analysed 233 reflective essays for elements of IP across eight cohorts of medical students from two institutions. Students responded to a prompt that asked: ‘What was one part of your identity that you thought you would have to change in order to become a physician?’ Included reflections were analysed using the framework method.Elements of IP were identified in 121 reflections (52%) and were categorised into three major themes: (1) Comparing oneself to an idealised image of a medical student, (2) Comparing oneself to an idealised image of a physician and (3) Concerns about presentation of self to others. Each theme contained two or more sub‐themes. Commonly, students discussed how their own personality traits, experiences, backgrounds and identities cast doubt on their sense of belonging in medicine.The results of this study were consistent across both institutions, suggesting that imposter feelings are common among all first‐year medical students. However, the extent of the impact of these feelings on their identity formation depends on the individual lived experiences of students and the context in which these feelings arise. Encouraging reflective journaling and sharing of stories from all stages of education can normalise imposter feelings during the development of the professional identity as a physician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the amount of formal training in substance use disorders that occurs in selected residency programs and to identify the perceived barriers to such training. Method: A national survey was conducted of program directors in emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, osteopathic medicine, pediatrics and psychiatry. In 1997, program directors were mailed a brief survey to determine the extent to which required training in substance use disorders occurred and the median number of hours devoted to substance use disorders training. Follow-up telephone surveys were conducted with faculty designated in the survey as responsible for substance-related disorders training to determine type of training and barriers to training. Results: Of 1,831 program directors, 1,183 (64.6%) responded to the brief survey. The percentage of programs with required substance use disorders training ranged from 31.8% in pediatrics to 95.0% in psychiatry, with 56.3% for all programs combined. The median number of curricular hours ranged from 3 (emergency medicine and OB/GYN) to 12 (family medicine). Time was perceived to be the most common barrier to additional training. Conclusions: Consistent training for all residents in the initial diagnosis and management of substance use disorders has not been achieved. New strategies that integrate into existing residency structures are needed to improve substance use disorders training. Faculty development in substance use disorders and review of current substance use disorders training as part of the residency review process should facilitate this endeavor. (J. Stud. Alcohol 61: 912-915, 2000), APPROXIMATELY 15% of the population of the United States has experienced a significant problem with alcohol or other drugs (McCrady and Langenbucher, 1996). The prevalence of alcohol problems among patients [...]

Transparency has become an ethical cornerstone of American medicine. Today, patients have the right to know their health information, and physicians are obliged to provide it. It is expected that patients will be informed of their medical condition regardless of the severity or prognosis. This ethos of transparency is ingrained in modern trainees from the first day of medical school onward. However, for most of American history, the intentional withholding of information was the accepted norm in medical practice. It was not until 1979 that a majority of physicians reported disclosing cancer diagnoses to their patients. To appreciate the current state of the physician-patient relationship, it is important to understand how physician-patient communication has developed over time and the forces that led to these changes. In this article, we trace the ethics and associated practices of truth-telling during the past two centuries, and outline the many pressures that influenced physician behavior during that time period. We conclude that the history of disclosure is not yet finished, as physicians still struggle to find the best way to share difficult information without causing undue harm to their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medical student education has shifted to earlier clinical experiences and increased use of ambulatory settings. Little is known about patient perceptions of having 1st- and 2nd-year medical students involved in their care.Purposes: The purpose of this article is to study patient perceptions of having 1st- and 2nd-year medical students involved in their care in an ambulatory setting.Methods: In 2011 we surveyed 314 patients seen in 2 primary care clinics who saw 1st- or 2nd-year medical students. The survey included questions regarding patient visit satisfaction and perception of overall quality of the visit, adequacy of visit time, benefit of having a student involved in their care, and willingness to see a student in clinic again. Comparisons were made for patients who saw a student and a preceptor (n= 201) and patients who saw only the preceptor (n= 113).Results: Overall visit satisfaction was very high for patients who saw students (83% very satisfied) and patients who saw only the preceptor (91% very satisfied). More than 95% of patients were satisfied with the visit time, and all patients rated the overall quality of their visit as good or excellent. Eighty-five percent of patients would want to see a student again or had no preference. Forty-three percent of patients felt the presence of a student added value to their visit. White patients were more likely than non-White patients to be very satisfied with their visit and rated the overall quality of the visit as excellent. There were no differences based on student gender or year of training.Conclusions: Our results suggest that 1st- and 2nd-year students can be successfully integrated into clinical settings while maintaining patient satisfaction and perceived value of the care they receive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]