Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate the perception and value of virtual open houses for urology applicants in the COVID-19 era, since students can no longer attend subinternships and all interviews will be conducted virtually.MethodsA Twitter survey was sent to 230 likely urology applicants connected through the UroResidency platform. It asked about the relative value of components of the virtual open house and areas for suggested improvement.ResultsSeventy responded. Most potential applicants valued virtual open houses that discussed strengths and weaknesses of the program, had time to interact directly with the faculty, and included resident led presentations or discussions. Most agreed programs needed to have more direct time with residents to better understand the culture of the program.ConclusionIn this first virtual interview season for urology, likely applicants generally engage in virtual open houses and strongly prefer time to interact directly with residents to assess the program culture.
Project description:ObjectivesDue to the continued impact of coronovirus 2019 (COVID-19), residency programs were advised to offer virtual interviews in place of traditional in-person interviews for the 2021 match recruitment season. As a result, many pathology residency programs offered preinterview virtual open-house events to meet prospective applicants before the interview season. This article aims to understand applicants' perspective on those events during the residency recruitment season of 2020 to 2021.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional survey-based study involving 95 pathology residency applicants.ResultsOur results demonstrated that applicants generally have a positive perception of open house events; 91% found virtual open-house events beneficial, 63.2% attended open-house events for programs they were not considering applying to. Considering the high number of offered virtual open house events, 17% of applicants felt overwhelmed by attendance and 30% felt obligated to attend.ConclusionsThis brief report demonstrates the generally positive impact of these events.
Project description:BackgroundGraduate medical education (GME) focused on climate change (CC) health effects is essential. However, few CC education evaluations exist to guide residency programs looking to implement CC content.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of an education session on residents' self-reported knowledge of CC health effects and confidence utilizing local CC anticipatory guidance and community resources with patients.MethodsA CC session was integrated into the pediatric, family medicine, and social medicine curricula at an urban academic medical center in 2023. A convenience sample of residents participated in 1 of 4 nonrandomized case-based or lecture-based sessions. Pre- and post-session 5-question Likert-scale surveys were used for assessment and analyzed using paired t tests.ResultsSixty-eight of 108 eligible residents completed the surveys (28 case-based, 40 lecture-based, 63% response rate). Residents' understanding and confidence to engage with patients on CC health effects after the educational session improved (Q1 mean difference 1.3, t 67=9.85, 95% CI 1.04-1.57, P<.001; Q2 1.5, t 67=9.98, 95% CI 1.20-1.82, P<.001; Q3 1.8, t 67=12.84, 95% QI 1.54-2.11, P<.001; Q4 2.1, t 67=16.25, 95% CI 1.84-2.36, P<.001; Q5 2.1, t 67=16.28, 95% CI 1.86-2.38, P<.001).ConclusionsResident self-reported understanding of the health effects of CC and confidence utilizing local CC anticipatory guidance and resources with patients increased after a CC education session.
Project description:PurposeWe undertook a study to assess whether presence of community support persons (CSPs), with no hospital affiliation or alignment, mitigates acts of obstetric racism during hospitalization for labor, birth, and immediate postpartum care.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional cohort study, measuring 3 domains of obstetric racism as defined for, by, and with Black birthing people: humanity (violation of safety and accountability, autonomy, communication and information exchange, and empathy); kinship (denial or disruption of community and familial bonds that support Black birthing people); and racism in the form of anti-Black racism and misogynoir (weaponization of societal stereotypes and scripts in service provision that reproduce gendered anti-Black racism in the hospital). We used a novel, validated instrument, the Patient-Reported Experience Measure of Obstetric Racism (the PREM-OB Scale suite), and linear regression analysis to determine the association between CSP presence during hospital births and obstetric racism.ResultsAnalyses were based on 806 Black birthing people, 720 (89.3%) of whom had at least 1 CSP present throughout their labor, birth, and immediate postpartum care. The presence of CSPs was associated with fewer acts of obstetric racism across all 3 domains, with statistically significant reductions in scores in the CSP group of one-third to two-third SD units relative to the no-CSP group.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that CSPs may be an effective way to reduce obstetric racism as part of quality improvement initiatives, emphasizing the need for democratizing the birthing experience and birth space, and incorporating community members as a way to promote the safety of Black birthing people in hospital settings.Annals "Online First" article.
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges for graduate medical education, including the need to quickly implement virtual residency interviews. We investigated how different programs approached these challenges to determine best practices.MethodsSurveys to solicit perspectives of program directors, program coordinators, and chief residents regarding virtual interviews were designed through an iterative process by two child neurology residency program directors. Surveys were distributed by email in May 2021. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics.ResultsResponses were received from 35 program directors and 34 program coordinators from 76 programs contacted. Compared with the 2019-2020 recruitment season, in 2020-2021, 14 of 35 programs received >10% more applications and most programs interviewed ≥12 applicants per position. Interview days were typically five to six hours long and were often coordinated with pediatrics interviews. Most programs (13/15) utilized virtual social events with residents, but these often did not allow residents to provide quality feedback about applicants. Program directors could adequately assess most applicant qualities but felt that virtual interviews limited their ability to assess applicants' interpersonal communication skills and to showcase special features of their programs. Most respondents felt that a combination of virtual and in-person interviewing should be utilized in the future.ConclusionsResidency program directors perceived some negative impacts of virtual interviewing on their recruitment efforts but in general felt that virtual interviews adequately replaced in-person interviews for assessing applicants. Most programs felt that virtual interviewing should be utilized in the future.
Project description:Griffin Hospital, a community hospital affiliated with Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine, received Health Resources and Services Administration funding to strengthen and improve its combined internal medicine and general preventive medicine residency program by incorporating an integrative medicine curriculum. The purpose of project ASPIRE (Advancing Skills of Preventive medicine residents through Integrative medicine Education, Research and Evaluation) was to create, implement, and evaluate a needs-based, innovative training curriculum in integrative medicine. Through this robust new training, the authors aimed to produce preventive medicine-trained physicians with competencies in integrative medicine to collaboratively work with other integrative medicine practitioners in interdisciplinary teams to provide holistic, patient-centered care. The multifaceted collaborative curriculum was composed of didactics, grand rounds, journal club, objective structured clinical examinations, and two new practicum rotations in integrative medicine. The new practicum rotations included block rotations at the Integrative Medicine Center at Griffin Hospital and the Yale Stress Center. Between 2012 and 2014, three cohorts participated in the curriculum; two of these cohorts included three advanced preventive medicine residents each and the fourth included four residents. Project faculty conducted 14 lectures and journal clubs, and two grand rounds. Six of the ten participating residents (60%) completed integrative medicine clinical rotations. Residents' attitudes toward integrative medicine were evaluated through self-assessment using the Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Attitudes Questionnaire; data were analyzed in 2015. This article describes the results of this prospective observational study based on single-institution experience over the course of the 2-year project period.
Project description:BackgroundEmergency medicine (EM) residents do not generally receive sex- and gender-specific education. There will be increasing attention to this gap as undergraduate medical education integrates it within their curriculum.MethodologyMembers of the Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM) Interest Group set out to develop a SGEM toolkit and pilot integrating developed components at multiple residency sites. The curriculum initiative involved a pre- and posttraining assessment that included basic demographics and queries regarding previous training in sex-/gender-based medicine (SGBM). It was administered to PGY-1 to -4 residents who participated in a 3-hour training session that included one small group case-based discussion, two oral board cases, and one simulation and group debriefing.AnalysisComponents of the developed toolkit (https://www.sexandgenderhealth.org) were implemented at four unique SGEM Interest Group member residency programs. Residents (n = 82/174, 47%) participated; 64% (n = 49) were male and 36% (n = 28) were female. Twenty-six percent (n = 21) of the residents reported that they had less than 1 hour of training in this domain during residency; 59% (n = 48) reported they had 1 to 6 hours and 16% (n = 13) reported they had >6 hours. The average preassessment score was 61% and postassessment was 88%. After training, 74% (n = 60) felt that their current practice would have benefited from further training in sex-/gender-based topics in medicine during medical school and 83% (n = 67) felt their clinical practice would have benefited from further training in this domain during residency.ImplicationsThe majority of EM residents who participated in this training program reported that they had limited instruction in this domain in medical school or residency. This initiative demonstrated a method that can be emulated for the incorporation of SGBM educational components into an EM residency training educational day. After training, the majority of residents who participated felt that their current practice would have benefited from further training in sex- and gender-based topics in residency.
Project description:BackgroundStudies of the virtual interview format are needed to inform medical residency program leaders as they plan for future virtual interview seasons.ObjectiveIn the current study, completed in 2021, we sought to assess applicant perspectives of virtual interview effectiveness, advantages, and barriers, including factors that might impact equity and inclusion.MethodsInterviewees applying to 7 residency programs and 2 clinical psychology programs at an academic medical center in the Pacific Northwest completed a post-interview survey.ResultsA total of 565 of 1429 interviewees (40%) completed the survey. A vast majority (83%-96%) agreed virtual interviews were effective in each measured domain, except for learning institutional culture (352 of 565, 62%). Many also found information regarding social/living environments inadequate. Participants selected advantages to virtual interviews more frequently than disadvantages. Commonly selected advantages included cost savings, time efficiency, reduced burden of travel, and reduced carbon footprint. Disadvantages included time zone differences, access to an appropriate interview setting, and reliable access to internet. The majority of interviewees (84%, 456 of 542) desired to keep a component of virtual interviews in the future. There were no significant disparities in results based on gender, rural/suburban/urban location, race, or underrepresented minority status.ConclusionsVirtual interviews were perceived as effective, more advantageous than burdensome, and widely acceptable, with no disparities in these findings by included demographic characteristics.
Project description:ObjectiveThe short-term benefits of exercise for persons with Parkinson disease (PD) are well established, but long-term adherence is limited. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of a virtual exercise coach to promote daily walking in community-dwelling persons with Parkinson disease.DesignTwenty subjects with Parkinson disease participated in this phase 1, single-group, nonrandomized clinical trial. The subjects were instructed to interact with the virtual exercise coach for 5 mins, wear a pedometer, and walk daily for 1 mo. Retention rate, satisfaction, and interaction history were assessed at 1 mo. Six-minute walk and gait speed were assessed at baseline and after the intervention.ResultsFifty-five percent of the participants were women, and the mean age was 65.6 yrs. At the study completion, there was 100% retention rate. The subjects had a mean satisfaction score of 5.6/7 (with 7 indicating maximal satisfaction) with the virtual exercise coach. Interaction history revealed that the participants logged in for a mean (SD) of 25.4 (7) days of the recommended 30 days. The mean adherence to daily walking was 85%. Both gait speed and the 6-min walk test significantly improved (P < 0.05). No adverse events were reported.ConclusionsSedentary persons with Parkinson disease successfully used a computer and interacted with a virtual exercise coach. Retention, satisfaction, and adherence to daily walking were high for 1 mo, and significant improvements were seen in mobility.