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Early identification and support of strugglers in medical education is generally recommended in the research literature, though very little evidence of the diagnostic qualities of early teacher judgments in medical education currently exists. The aim of this study was to examine the validity of early diagnosis of struggling in medical school based on informal teacher judgements of in-class behavior. The study design was a prospective cohort study and the outcomes/truth criteria were anatomy failure and medical school drop out. Six weeks into an anatomy course, student tutors attempted to identify medical students, who they reckoned would fail the anatomy course or drop out, based on their everyday experiences with students in a large group educational setting. In addition, they were asked to describe the indicators of struggling they observed. Sixteen student tutors evaluated 429 medical students for signs of struggling. By week six, the student tutors were able to detect approximately 1/4-1/3 of the students who eventually failed or dropped out, and for ¾ of the strugglers they identified, they were correct in their judgments. Informal student tutor's judgements showed incremental validity for both outcomes when controlling for grades obtained in preceeding exams. Lack of participation, lack of commitment, poor academic performance, poor social interactions and general signs of distress were the main indicators of struggling identified. Teachers' informal judgements of in-class behavior may be an untapped source of information in the early identification of struggling medical students with added value above and beyond formal testing.

The purpose of this study was to compare which learning outcomes relating to an Interprofessional Training Unit (ITU) experience were found to be most important by students and by alumni. A cohort of 428 students in the ITU was asked to write three short statements describing the most important learning outcomes from the ITU. Alumni from the same cohort were after graduation asked the same question. Furthermore, they were asked to fill out a 12-item questionnaire. The statements concerning learning outcome were analysed qualitatively and categorized. The number of statements in each category was counted and tested for statistical difference between students and alumni. Students stated "uniprofessionalism" as the most important learning outcome followed by "interprofessionalism", "professional identity" and "learning environment". Alumni on the other hand stated "professional identity" as most important learning outcome followed with "interprofessionalism", "learning environment" and "uniprofessionalism". The study indicated that over time the perceived outcome of learning experiences from an ITU change in priority.

Purpose: To enhance the recognition of educational effort and thereby support faculty vitality, the authors aimed to identify essential categories of educational effort from the perspective of clinical faculty and determine whether the emerging categories were in concordance with an organizational perspective., Method: The authors performed nominal group processes in four groups in 2008, with the participation of 24 clinical faculty members, 6 in each group, representing 18 (medical, surgical, paraclinical, and psychiatric) specialties at 14 hospitals in Denmark. Subsequently, the authors performed a comparative analysis of the emerging essential categories and the organizational work by the national panel on medical education, appointed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)., Results: The four groups of clinical faculty members agreed on categories of educational effort. This quantitative consistency in prioritization was supported by qualitative consistency, as the authors observed similar uses of words and phrases among all four groups. The top priority in essential categories of educational effort was "Visibility of planned educational activities on the work schedule," which received 39% of all votes. The comparative analysis showed that the essential categories of educational effort suggested by clinical faculty were in concordance with the steps developed by the AAMC., Conclusions: The high degree of consistency among clinical faculty from different locations and specialties and the high concordance with the organizational work of the AAMC suggest that it is possible to develop standardized measurements of educational effort. Clinical faculty emphasized that a good starting point for educational measurements is the work schedule.

Lecturing is one of the oldest forms of teaching. The lecture is as effective as other teaching formats for transmitting information. One of the major defects of the lecture method is that it tends to induce passive learning. In order to lecture effectively, the lecturer must gain and hold the attention of the audience. Also, the audience should be given a chance to elaborate on the information presented. The list of expedient lecturing skills is long. In this paper we focus on how to effectively open and close a lecture. In addition, we give suggestions to how an audience may be actively engaged.

The University of Aarhus and Further Training Region North (Danish: Videreuddannelsesregion Nord) arranged a 24-hour experimental course in research training for junior physicians. Previously, the course has been imparted as three course days with daytime training, but this time it had the form of one 24-hour session. The idea behind the new concept is to combine a high professional content with considerable change in the form of the course. The response from course participants was very positive, and the course organisers are most satisfied with the achieved results.

Introduction: The medical profession and hospital practice have changed over the last decades without a concomitant change in Danish clerkships. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze learning and supervision in clerkships and to discuss how traditional clerkship learning matches a modern effective hospital environment., Material and Methods: A qualitative field study based on 38 days of observations ( asymptotically equal to 135 hours) with 6 students in 8th Semester in 2 internal medical and 3 surgical wards at 2 teaching hospitals in Aarhus County during 2003. The 6 students were interviewed prior to and following clerkship. Data were coded using Ethnograph and analyzed qualitatively., Results: The students typically participated in 6 learning activities: morning reports, ward rounds, out-patient clinics, on call, clerking, and operating theatres. A common feature for the first 3 activities was the students' observational role in contrast to their more active role in the latter 3 activities. Supervision was primarily indirect as the doctors worked and thereby served as tacit role models. When direct, the supervision was didactic and characterized by information transfer., Conclusion: A clerkship offers important learning opportunities for students. They are exposed to many patients and faced with various clinical problems. However, the benefit of students learning in authentic environments is not fully utilized, and the didactic supervision used by doctors hardly matches the learning conditions in a busy hospital. Consequently, we need to reassess the students' roles and doctors' supervisory methods.