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Context Studies have shown that patients' subjective perceptions of physicians' competence and friendliness are relevant aspects of a successful treatment, influencing patients' well-being and trust in the physician. Psychological research has repeatedly shown that unconsciously contracting muscles that are usually used to smile can intensify and even elicit positive feelings (known as facial feedback). Empirical evidence also suggests that a smiling person is favourably judged by others with respect to attractiveness and trustworthiness. Aim This study's purpose was to investigate how an induced muscle contraction, similar to that of a smile, affects physicians' interactions with a standardised patient. It was expected that the 'smile intervention' would affect physicians' and patients' perceptions, resulting in higher ratings of the friendliness and attractiveness of physicians in the intervention group. Methods Twenty physicians participated in the randomised controlled study (10 male, 10 female). Physicians were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an intervention group (performing an easy cognitive task while smiling; n = 11) or a control group (performing an easy cognitive task without smiling; n = 9). Afterwards, physicians had a 5-minute consultation with a standardised patient. This consultation was subsequently rated by physicians, the patient and an external rater using 10-point Likert scales. Results Physicians in the intervention group were rated as significantly friendlier by the external rater (mean 7.81 versus 7.11; p = 0.097, η2 = 0.15). In addition, physicians in the intervention group rated the patient as significantly more attractive (mean 6.91 versus 4.78; p = 0.017; η2 = 0.28). Conclusions Our results suggest that physicians can influence their friendliness and their perception of patients' attractiveness. Thereby the 'power of pen' can be an efficient method for making the hospital a friendlier place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical Education 2011: 45: 1101-1110 Context The superiority of retesting over restudying in terms of knowledge retention and skills acquisition has been proven in both laboratory and classroom settings, as well as in doctors' practice. However, it is still unclear how important retesting strategies are to the learning of relevant factual knowledge in undergraduate medical education. Methods Eighty students in Years 3-5 of medical school in Munich participated in a prospective, randomised, double-blinded, controlled study in which they were exposed to 30 electronic flashcards designed to help them memorise key factual knowledge in the domain of clinical nephrology. The flashcards were presented in four successive learning cycles, each consisting of a study period and a subsequent test period. Half of all participants were randomised to repetitive studying (restudy group) and half were randomised to repetitive testing (retest group) of successfully memorised flashcards. Knowledge retention was assessed after 1 week and 6 months. Additionally, personal data, self-reflection on the efficacy of the learning strategies and judgements of learning were obtained by questionnaires. Results Repetitive testing promoted better recall than repetitive studying after 1 week (p < 0.001). However, after 6 months general recall was poor and no difference between the restudy and retest groups was observed. Time on task and number of trials, in addition to sex, age, performance and psycho-social background, did not vary between the groups. Self-predictions of student performance did not correlate with actual performance. Conclusions In the context of using electronic flashcards, repetitive testing is a more potent learning strategy than repetitive studying for short-term but not long-term knowledge retention in clinical medical students. Although students use testing as a learning strategy, they seem to be unaware of its superiority in supporting short-term knowledge retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a peer-reviewed report about the effectiveness of learning objectives. This report is an innovative approach to medical education in the U.S. In this context, an overview of the importance of effective learning objectives is highlighted. It has been explained that course content has been reorganized and the integration of new teaching methods, such as problem-oriented learning and Web-based instruction.