Selected Presentations
Are You and Your Patients Ready to Go to the (Medical) PROM? Training clinicians in the use of measurement-based care (MBC) using patient-reported outcome measures (PROM): Training clinicians in the use of MBC using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). A. Kablinger, A. Gatto, H. Ko, S. Jones, V. O’Brien, R. McNamara, M. Tenzer, H. Sharp, L. Cooper
Measurement-Based Care (MBC) is an evidence-based tool that uses systematic, ongoing collaborative evaluation of patient symptoms to inform clinical decision-making. MBC has demonstrated ability to assess psychiatric symptoms, psychological functioning, and clinical changes, resulting in improved patient outcomes. Routine completion of Patient-Rated Outcome Measures (PROM) is an essential component of MBC. As part of MBC implementation within the ambulatory clinic in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, the research team developed a training module for clinicians to educate psychiatric providers about the benefits of MBC.
Using Electroencephalography to Explore Neurocognitive Correlates of Clinical Reasoning: A pilot study. S. Toy, S. Shafiei, S. Ozsoy, J. Abernathy, E. Bozdemir, K. Rau, D. Schwengel
Sound clinical reasoning, while essential for optimal patient care, can be quite an elusive process. Most researchers use self-report or observational measures to study expertise development in clinical reasoning. However, clinicians may not always be aware of their reasoning process, which may not be obvious to an outside observer either. Few recent functional neuroimaging studies found that experienced physicians, compared to novices, showed less reliance on their prefrontal cortex (PFC) [1-3], which is a major hub for storage and executive processes. However, clinical reasoning is a multifaceted process involving multiple brain areas besides PFC. This study explored the use of electroencephalography (EEG) to examine neurocognitive correlates of clinical reasoning during a simulated American Board of Anesthesiology style standardized oral exam (SOE).
Selected Posters
A Novel Approach to Introducing Social Determinants of Health within the Pediatrics Clerkship. V. Permashwar, E. Nguyen, S. Harendt
Health System Science and Interprofessional Practice (HSSIP) has been incorporated into the longitudinal core curriculum at VTCSOM as a conceptual framework for the study of how the health system may improve patient care through collaboration and the intricacies of care delivery. The Department of Pediatrics has focused on integrating the core concepts of social determinants of health (SDOH) within the clinical clerkship and highlighting its impact on patient care. Early introduction to SDOH during clinical rotations is vital in emphasizing its importance on patient care and outcomes and encourages innovative strategies aimed at preparing learners to effectively deliver care in the context of complex social risk factors. Including this core competency of HSS into medical education curricula will better prepare future physicians to be systems citizens who can contribute to high-value care in the changing landscape of health care.
A Scale to Measure Healthcare Providers’ Attitudes to lnterprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice. M. Banks, B. Mutcheson, S. Toy
The importance of interprofessional education (IPE) has been increasingly recognized by health professional schools. Assessment of such educational programs, however, is still limited due to a lack of psychometrically sound assessment instruments and scales. We recently developed a questionnaire that measures physicians’ attitudes toward IPE based on the competency domains described in the literature. The current study aims to extend our previous work to include input from diverse allied health professionals to ensure a scale with a similar factor structure can emerge from the combined dataset.
Collaborating with a Career Coach to Improve Professional Seminar Course. K. Baskette, N.D. Ramsey, S.B. Johnson, T.S. Castor
Students’ career readiness is frequently identified as an area of concern by undergraduate health sciences faculty. Preparation for competitive graduate school admissions and employment searches are critical, but time-intensive processes for faculty advisors. Career coaches are new members of the academic support team that are often underutilized by students. A collaboration was formed with a career coach at the Radford University (RU) Center for Talent and Career Development to integrate support services into HSCI 395 Professional Seminar, a requirement for B.S. in Health Sciences students during the spring semester of their junior year at Radford University Carilion.
Creation and Implementation of a Diversity Disparities and Inclusion in Medicine (DDIM) Curriculum for the VTC Internal Medicine (VTCIM) Residency. J. Fleming, M. Wiid
As society becomes more diverse, medicine is best practiced in teams of varied cultures, ethnicities, genders, and levels of physical ability. Physicians must gain insight into the experience of patients and colleagues from varied demographics and have a keen awareness of their own explicit and implicit bias. In addition, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) now requires resident education around DDIM. With these values in mind, we sought to enhance the VTCIM residency’s educational foundation with a (DDIM) curriculum.
Does Simulation Training Improve Resident Performance? A novel approach to family medicine education – an update. A. Navone, J. Atwell, M. Hassan, 0. Bullock, E. Mahilal, D. Stephenson
Residency education has changed over the years in response to changes in duty hour regulations, changes in patient demographics, advancements in EMR, and the constantly expanding database of medical knowledge. One of the hidden sequelae of work hour reduction was the subsequent decrease in the average number of patient encounters. This reduction in patient encounters directly limited the opportunities for learning and practicing the skills required for responsible and safe patient care. This led to, at times, random chance dictating how many exposures a resident will obtain for certain procedures and clinical scenarios. Last year, upon review of the literatures of the NCBI database, there are several published articles about simulation curriculums improving resident training in various specialties including: surgical specialties, internal medicine, and pediatrics. At the time of this poster no publications were found regarding family medicine residency. We created and implemented one for our St. Vincent’s Family Medicine Residency Program as a novel approach to Family Medicine residency education last year. This is an update, one year following the implementation of said curriculum to explore the effectiveness in increasing confidence year to year from the same group of cohorts, especially comparing those simulations that were repeated for increased exposure.
Edutainment on Display: Enhancing learning experiences through scientific dramatizations of gas transport at Kids Tech University. S. Prabhakar, B. Chang, H. Carvalho
Edutainment describes the confluence of education and entertainment. This concept involves dramatization, where each participant imitates specific content elements, while allowing the entire group to embody the fundamental concept. It harnesses the engaging nature of theater and enhances learning experiences with gamification techniques. Science education, which typically involves passive learning from textbooks and lectures, can be enhanced by dramatization. We posit that applying this approach to education will better engage learners of all ages across various educational backgrounds. This pilot study aims to use edutainment to teach cardiovascular topics to elementary-school learners and evaluate their engagement in dramatization and their excitement about science.
Enlightened Innovation: Using an educational scan to identify trends in phase 2, 3 medical education. R. LeClair, N. Karp, C. Bassett, J. Cleveland
As part of the educational strategic planning process, VTCSOM faculty interviewed a purposive sample of US medical schools to better understand the current landscape of the design, scheduling, sequencing of concepts, and assessments of clerkship (Phase 2) and post-clerkship (Phase 3) curricula. The objective was to guide the formulation of essential imperatives and strategies as we revise the current post-Phase 1 curricula over the upcoming years.
Framework of Psychiatry Research Interest Momentum Group at Carilion Clinic-VTCSOM. B.Y. Lin, E. McDaid, M. Greenage, A. Kablinger
Psychiatry is a constantly evolving field with a multidisciplinary approach, making it important for trainees and students to stay up-to-date with the latest research findings. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Carilion Mental Health recognize the need for a research platform to provide opportunities for students to engage in research activities. Research interest groups have shown its promising impact on the individual and departmental academic productivity1, and might potentially facilitate collaboration and improve patient outcomes. This study aimed to establish a research interest group in the psychiatry department for trainees and medical students to improve the cultural sensitivity of mental health providers using academic reading and writing, leading to better patient care.
Human Anatomy Education in the Commonwealth of Virginia: Practices, trends and innovations at the six medical schools. A. In, J. McNamara, M. Nolan
Faculty who support the delivery of anatomy content are often curious as to what their peer institutions provide to students relative to pedagogical trends, third party resources, technology and faculty support. In Virginia, medical schools and post-secondary schools who use cadaveric materials formed an organization, the Virginia Association of Human Anatomical Sciences. This group helps to provide some context to participating schools as to practices, trends and innovations at some Virginia schools. We suggest documenting anatomy education, in particular due to its unique role in medical education, at the Virginia medical schools may be helpful to the programs, the faculty and the general public-at-large. In light of some very disturbing news lately out of Harvard University, this study is of particular importance as it will highlight the professional conduct in the anatomical programs in Virginia. Although this study has recently completed its data collection, the results that follow are preliminary.
Impact of a Trauma Boot Camp on Nurse Knowledge, Skills and Confidence, and Frequency of Unplanned Intensive Care Admissions. J. Bath, W. Downey, E. Harvey, T. Locklear
As an integral part of the trauma team, nurses provide skilled assessments, critical thinking, and effective communication. Trauma patients are complex, which requires appropriate education for nurses to meet their needs, yet there is little research on trauma-focused nursing education for inpatient nurses. This study explores the impact of a trauma boot camp on nurse trauma knowledge, confidence, and skills and on the frequency of unplanned intensive care (UICU) admissions in trauma patients.
Importance of Opioid Use Disorder Prevention Among Surgery Patients: A curriculum for opioid use disorder education. H. Zhong, M. Alipour-Vaezi, S. Prabhakar, M. Rukstalis, D. Rukstalis, R. McNamara, K.L. Tsui, H. Zhong
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic medical condition characterized by daily then problematic use of opioids with physical and emotional adverse effects on individuals and society. In 2022, nearly 2.7 million people in the United States (U.S.) suffered with OUD. Of the reported 105,452 drug overdose deaths in 2022, 79,770 involved opioids. In many cases, OUD develops as a post-surgery sequela related to prescription pain management.
MCQ vs. FITB Examination Question Performance in Human Anatomy Course. J. McNamara, M. Nolan
Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are commonly used to assess student achievement in the preclinical sciences and are the predominant question type used in high stakes examinations. MCQs offer the advantages of ease of scoring and provide objective, quantitative indices of student knowledge for material. To better prepare our students for the knowledge demonstration tasks of the clerkship and elective years, we developed assessments for the anatomy component of the preclinical curriculum using short answer, fill in the blank (FITB) format, thereby emphasizing the importance and value of being able to retrieve information previously learned.
Mentorship Matters, A Virtual Team-based Program: One-year outcomes. S. Harendt, M. Rudd, S. Whicker, P. Skolnik, R. Pauly
Faculty mentoring can be designed, facilitated, and the outcomes measured, in various ways. For clinical faculty positioned at academic medical centers, mentoring has numerous benefits which are well-documented in scholarly literature. Various mentoring models and approaches exist in medical education. More recently, online mentoring platforms and virtual mentoring have gained popularity, providing flexible and accessible mentoring opportunities with positive outcomes.1 We hypothesized that curricula focused on defined career needs of faculty could be delivered effectively in a virtual team-based format. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) Department of Internal Medicine launched the Mentorship Matters program in Fall 2021. Mentorship Matters is designed to support faculty in priority areas aligned with their needs for career advancement.
Organizing to Intentionally Assess Medical Student Health Systems Citizenship Using Generalizability Theory. B. Mutcheson, J. Gonzalo, N. Karp, H. Lane, S. Parker, D. Musick, A. Katz,J. Grohs, M. Norris
The purpose of this presentation is to describe the early collaborative approach and organizing efforts towards our Stemmler-funded, intentionally designed assessment proposal. Our multidisciplinary team formed at a transitional point in VTCSOM curriculum development within the context of increasing National emphasis on health systems science (HSS) and growing curiosity of critical systems-related competencies in medical education. Although the knowledge domains constituting HSS have been identified and continue to develop, the necessary skills, attitudes, and behaviors in clinical practice is an understudied area. Thus, our primary goals in this proposal are to create a framework for “health systems citizenship” (HSC) within undergraduate medical education and to use this framework to develop a generalizable, multi-scenario objective-structured clinical case-based exam (OSCE) of HSC for fourth-year medical students. We anticipate this work will establish important relationships between embedded HSC-related constructs and their relationships with other traditional and novel measures of medical student academic performance.
Peer Patient Round Table FNP Student Evaluation of Clinical Performance. M. Young, C. Cole, E. Lee
Clinical performance is a crucial part of evaluation in NP education and has traditionally been accomplished through faculty site visits. The evolution of distance learning on-line programs and recent years of COVID 19 pandemic have further complicated completing site visits, requiring an innovative approach to NP education and student evaluation. ‘The Peer Patient Round Table (PPRT)’ was developed as an alternative evaluation method of student performance and implemented between May 2020 and May 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the PPRT method, students were involved in a shared role-play of three roles; a patient, a nurse practitioner student, and a preceptor during individual scenarios. Purpose: This project investigated the virtual PPRT experiences of students and faculty as an evaluation tool for student clinical performance. Methods: Post-intervention survey including qualitative and quantitative questionnaires was utilized among 14 NP students and 4 faculty who participated the PPRT sessions. Results: Both students and faculty reported that the PPRT evaluation method is effective in measuring students’ clinical performance, compared to traditional site visits. The following positive aspects of PPRT were highlighted: the dynamic peer interaction, the evolution of thought process through three different viewpoints/roles, challenging themselves to think out of the box, and greater responsibility and independence to complete the patient visit. Additionally, the PPRT process helped in improving clinical knowledge, reasoning, and confidence in making clinical decisions for diagnosis and treatment plans, along with interviewing/communication skills. Future implication: PPRT method can be used in NP education, not only as an evaluation method but also as the education platform along with debriefing sessions. Improvement in utilization of telemedicine devices can make this PPRT method more attractive by minimizing the limitation of evaluation of physical assessment skills.
The Interdisciplinary MAP of Mentorship: A circular model to develop junior faculty within health professions education. S. Harendt, A. Mahaney, M. Rudd, S. Whicker, D. Musick
Scholarly literature highlights numerous benefits of mentorship with emphasis on improved engagement, job satisfaction, academic promotion, leadership preparation, skill development, career advancement, and retention.1 Mentoring, when utilized as a mechanism to support early faculty development, can be a powerful tool for supporting diversity and belonging within faculty contexts.2 Conversely, a lack of mentoring has been found to decrease job satisfaction, slow career development and growth, and reduce academic productivity. Faculty mentorship programs can be developed thoughtfully to consider equity, diversity, and retention of faculty across an organization while supporting career advancement and fostering belonging and well-being.
Traditional Lecture Versus Procedural Video Randomized Trial: Comparative analysis of instructional methods for teaching baclofen pump management. J. Weppner, A. Conti, T. Locklear
This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of traditional lectures and micro-videos in teaching baclofen pump programming and refilling to novice physicians. The objective of the study was to determine whether asynchronous procedural micro-videos or traditional lecture methods were superior for skill transfer in a simulated setting.
Using Individual and Collaborative Examinations to Increase and lncentivize Engagement. M. Nolan, J. McNamara
Student success in a course is typically determined by individual performance on an examination. Activities primarily designed for assessment and evaluation purposes can be used as teaching opportunities. This is a method for measuring and evaluating learning, incorporating both individual and group efforts on an assessment activity that encourages collaborative efforts among students, incentivizes participation and is perceived by the students as valuable. We describe the approach and summarize student comments regarding this method, discuss factors to be addressed in utilizing this approach to ensure buy in by the student, and summarize student perceptions regarding this grading strategy.