Search results

Purpose: This chapter examines the implementation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) health curricula in medical education, focusing on how this content is presented to students to understand if these curricula can fulfill goals of achieving healthcare equity for LGBTQ populations.

Methodology: This research draws on data from six months of participant observation of an academic medical center and school and 28 interviews with medical faculty, students, community members, administrators, and LGBTQ Health Center employees.

Findings: This research has three findings: (1) this medical school has variable definitions for LGBTQ health, making it a hybrid form of knowledge based in (a) understanding the unique health needs of; (b) being culturally competent to; and (c) being a (structural) advocate for LGBTQ patients; (2) LGBTQ health is integrated into multiple courses in the curriculum; and (3) LGBTQ health is becoming a medical specialty frequently delivered to students by LGBTQ health experts.

Research limitations and implications: This research used snowball sampling to recruit participants engaged in LGBTQ health at the institution; it therefore risks self-selection bias. Findings from this study are not generalizable.

Originality: This research argues that LGBTQ health experts engage in a new kind of diversity and inclusion work because (1) these health experts are not always LGBTQ identified; (2) this work is not necessarily unpaid or involuntary; and (3) it involves a hybrid knowledge requiring an understanding of LGBTQ identity, medical knowledge, and social science. Because these LGBTQ health experts opt into this work, and broadly define it, a message available to other physicians and students is that LGBTQ health remains elective.

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and young people is increasing, leading to recommendations that medical schools re-consider their curriculum content and teaching practices for child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP). The purpose of this paper is to seek guidance for undergraduate curriculum development from the wider literature on CAP curriculum content and teaching practices.

A comprehensive search of the literature was conducted, focussing on studies that examined undergraduate teaching of CAP. In an attempt to establish whether there is an agreed level of curriculum content and teaching practices, literature from all over the world was included.

Findings suggest that curriculum content and teaching practices are varied, therefore it was difficult to identify best practice upon which recommendations can be made. In addition, despite previous calls for curriculum improvements and expansion of learning objectives, recent studies suggest that there has been little change.

A common theme emerging was the importance of making the CAP curriculum relevant to all future doctors rather than only those who plan to specialise in CAP. Further research to determine what CAP knowledge, skills and attitudes non-psychiatrists think that medical students need to be taught is warranted.

This paper reviewed the literature on undergraduate CAP teaching, highlighting common themes from the wider literature on medical curriculum development to inform how CAP curricula content can be developed to equip future doctors.

There is increasing recognition of the importance of incorporating medical leadership training into undergraduate medical curricula and this is now advocated by the General Medical Council (GMC) and supported through the development of the Undergraduate Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF). However to date, few medical schools have done so in a systematic way and training/experience in medical leadership at undergraduate level is sporadic and often based on local enthusiasm. The purpose of this paper is to outline a theoretical curriculum to stimulate and support medical leadership development at undergraduate level.

This study describes a theoretical framework for incorporation of medical leadership training into undergraduate curricula using a spiral curriculum approach, linked to competences outlined in the Undergraduate Medical Leadership Competency Framework. The curriculum includes core training in medical leadership for all students within each year group with additional tiers of learning for students with a particular interest.

This curriculum includes theoretical and practical learning opportunities and it is designed to be deliverable within the existing teaching and National Health Service (NHS) structures. The engagement with local NHS organisations offers opportunities to broaden the university teaching faculty and also to streamline medical leadership development across undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

This theoretical curriculum is generic and therefore adaptable to a variety of undergraduate medical courses. The combination of theoretical and practical learning opportunities within a leadership spiral curriculum is a novel and systematic approach to undergraduate medical leadership development.

Although medical leadership and management (MLM) is increasingly being recognised as important to improving healthcare outcomes, little is understood about current training of medical students in MLM skills and behaviours in the UK. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This qualitative study used validated structured interviews with expert faculty members from medical schools across the UK to ascertain MLM framework integration, teaching methods employed, evaluation methods and barriers to improvement.

Data were collected from 25 of the 33 UK medical schools (76 per cent response rate), with 23/25 reporting that MLM content is included in their curriculum. More medical schools assessed MLM competencies on admission than at any other time of the curriculum. Only 12 schools had evaluated MLM teaching at the time of data collection. The majority of medical schools reported barriers, including overfilled curricula and reluctance of staff to teach. Whilst 88 per cent of schools planned to increase MLM content over the next two years, there was a lack of consensus on proposed teaching content and methods.

There is widespread inclusion of MLM in UK medical schools’ curricula, despite the existence of barriers. This study identified substantial heterogeneity in MLM teaching and assessment methods which does not meet students’ desired modes of delivery. Examples of national undergraduate MLM teaching exist worldwide, and lessons can be taken from these.

This is the first national evaluation of MLM in undergraduate medical school curricula in the UK, highlighting continuing challenges with executing MLM content despite numerous frameworks and international examples of successful execution.

Medical education in the USA has historically been designed around social and economic conditions within the medical community, contributing to a fluctuating emphasis on the number of medical schools, as well as the methods by which medicine has been taught, and ultimately leading to a shortage in the physician supply. This paper aims to describe the current status of medical education training, including the tracing of its origins, and to articulate the ability of new media to accelerate and restructure the physician preparation process.

The application of new media requires a rethinking of long‐held assumptions regarding the medical education process. Medical school faculty must be willing to develop new curriculum models, integrating new media technologies to facilitate varied learning modalities. Likewise, clinicians and basic scientists in medical schools must determine the most appropriate information needed by a practicing physician and make that information available via new media platforms.

The utilization of new media presents the opportunity to both accelerate and restructure the medical education and training process. The development of teaching and learning modalities via new media can positively impact the physician supply problem by transforming medical education to a competency and evidence‐based curriculum in an accelerated format.

The impending health consequences of a physician shortage have crystallized the need to begin immediately to expand the physician supply. In order to meet the health needs of a growing and aging population, it is imperative that the methods of medical education be altered to accelerate and improve the physician preparation process. This restructuring of the medical education curriculum is dependent on the utilization of new media to leverage the digital literacy of today's medical students.

To provide a rationale regarding the importance of physician behavior change counseling. To describe the double helix behavior change curriculum at the University of Rochester (UR). To provide initial evidence that the curriculum is effective.

Evidence that physician use of the 5A's model is effective in changing important patient health behaviors is summarized. The behavior change curriculum is described. Initial evidence assessing knowledge, attitudes and skills for behavior change counseling is reviewed.

Physicians will be better prepared to intervene to improve their patients quality and quantity of life if they consistently counsel patients using a brief standard model (the 5A's) that integrates biological, psychological, and social aspects of disease and treatment. Past efforts in the UR's curriculum have demonstrated that students adopt broader “biopsychosocial values” when the curriculum supports their learning needs. Initial evidence demonstrates that double helix curriculum students learn this model well and are able to provide the counseling in a patient‐centered style.

These results are limited by the observational design, and the reliance on student self‐reports and standardized patient observations of student behavior rather than change in patient behavior.

Strong evidence exists that physicians can be effective in providing behavior change counseling. Additional research is called for to create, implement, and fully evaluate behavior change counseling curricula for medical students.

An example of a behavior change curriculum is provided for medical educators, and initial evidence of its effectiveness is provided.

There is a growing emphasis on teaching patient safety principles and quality improvement (QI) processes in medical education curricula. This paper aims to present how the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland engaged medical students in quality improvement during their recent curriculum renewal process.

In the 2013-2014 academic year, the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland launched an undergraduate medical education curriculum renewal process. This presented a unique opportunity to teach quality improvement by involving students in the ongoing development and continuous improvement of their undergraduate curriculum through the implementation of quality circles and other related QI activities.

The authors’ experience shows that implementing QI processes is beneficial in the medical education environment, particularly during times of curriculum redesign or implementation of new initiatives.

Student engagement and participation in the QI process is an excellent way to teach basic QI concepts and improve curriculum program outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

Information is provided about each source, and the paper discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

This paper seeks to probe key issues concerning library instruction and the problem‐based learning (PBL) curriculum. This is important because the curriculum has particular non‐traditional characteristics, and library instruction may be able to play a greater role, giving students more support in both their study and information‐seeking behaviour.

The paper systemically surveyed and reviewed literatures related to library instruction, library user education and medical curriculum design.

To sustainably integrate library instructional materials and activities into the PBL curriculum, it is important to help medical libraries to become learning organizations that can respond to changing external environments.

The paper presents a hybrid template of the instruction for different year medical students. The template can be an example for those who plan library instructional activities in medical schools.

The paper also provides five strategies for the library to manage the previous task more smoothly and effectively. The strategies are: small group education; problems of the curriculum; librarians' re‐education and retraining; information literacy; and the faculty‐librarian partnerships.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of competences in medical education and training and to discuss some existing standards, curricula and competency frameworks used by the medical profession in both the UK and internationally to inform leadership development.

This research reinforces the message delivered by the medical profession and policy makers in recent years that all doctors should attain management and leadership competences in addition to clinical knowledge and skills to be an effective and safe practitioner. In the UK, this message and research has helped inform the development of a Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF) published by The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges[1] and NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement[2].

Widespread acceptance of the MLCF is now resulting in the integration of leadership and management competences into all undergraduate and postgraduate curricula.

Other countries with similar histories of low medical engagement in planning, delivery and transformation of services may also benefit from the research undertaken and the MLCF

The paper shows that the MLCF may well inspire more doctors in the future to seek formal leadership positions.