Emotionally salient patient information enhances the educational value of surgical videos

Effectiveness of Life Goal Framing to Motivate Medical Students During Online Learning: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction

Educators need design strategies to support medical students' motivation in online environments. Prompting students to frame a learning activity as preparing them to attain their life goals (e.g., helping others) via their clinical practice, a strategy called 'life goal framing', may enhance their autonomous motivation, learning strategy use, and knowledge retention. However, for students with low perceived competence for learning (PCL), life goal framing may have an adverse effect. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of life goal framing and the moderating effect of students' PCL.

Methods

First- and second-year medical students across four Canadian universities (n = 128) were randomized to receive a version of an online module with an embedded prompt for life goal framing, or one without. Students' motivation, learning strategy use, and knowledge retention were assessed. Differences between conditions on each outcome were estimated using Bayesian regression.

Results

Students' PCL was a moderator for autonomous motivation but no other outcomes. The prompt did not have a statistically significant effect on any outcome, even for learners with high PCL, except for a small effect on link-clicking behaviour.

Discussion

The results of this study suggest that learners' autonomous motivation is influenced by how they make meaning of instruction in terms of their future life goals and their present confidence. We cannot recommend life goal framing as an effective design strategy at this point, but we point to future work to increase the benefit of life goal framing for learners with high confidence.

The relationship of psychological health and primary emotional traits in medical students

INTRODUCTION

Several studies have called for attention to medical students' well-being. Building on the neuroevolutionary affective neuroscience perspective that views primary emotional systems as central to well-being and the foundation of personality, this study investigated the facets of medical students' psychological well-being that are challenged and the relationships between emotional traits, psychological well-being, and depression.

METHODS

In a single-center cross-sectional study, medical students' primary emotional traits (SEEKING, FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, CARE, PLAY and Spirituality), psychological well-being dimensions (autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relations, self-acceptance, purpose in life, and personal growth), and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale; the Psychological Well-being Scale, which provides normative data; and the Beck Depression Inventory.

RESULTS

Compared with the normative data, the medical students perceived lower psychological autonomy, positive relations, and self-acceptance but higher purpose in life. The medical students' emotional traits were related to specific psychological well-being facets and depression. SEEKING and, inversely, FEAR were related to well-being across dimensions and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Our findings are the first to show a link between emotional traits and specific facets of psychological health in medical students. Thus, this study encourages medical teachers to set learning environments that target multiple facets of well-being that harness primary emotional traits.

Digital undergraduate medical education and patient and carer involvement: a rapid systematic review of current practice

BACKGROUND

Involving patients and carers in medical students' learning aims to centralise the perspective of healthcare users and supports our future medical workforce in the development of key skills. Medical schools are increasingly using digital technology for teaching and it is timely to understand how to maintain patient and carer involvement in this context.

METHODS

Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE and medRxiv were searched in October 2020 and reference lists of key articles were hand searched. Eligible studies reported authentic patient or carer involvement in undergraduate medical education where technology was also used. Study quality was assessed by the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Levels of patient or carer involvement were assessed using Towle et al.'s (2010) taxonomy, from Level 1 (lowest level) to Level 6 (highest level).

RESULTS

Twenty studies were included in this systematic review. In 70% of studies, patients and carers featured in video or web-based case scenarios with no interaction between healthcare users and students. The remaining 30% of studies reported real-time interactions between students and patients via remote clinical encounters. Digital teaching sessions involving patients or carers were perceived to be valuable by students and educators, and increased student engagement, patient-centred attitudes, clinical knowledge, and communication skills. No studies reported the perspective of patients or carers.

DISCUSSION

Digital technology has not yet driven higher levels of patient and carer involvement in medical training. "Live" interactions between students and patients are becoming more common but challenges need addressing to ensure positive experiences for all involved. Future teaching should enhance the role of patients and carers in medical education and support them to overcome any potential barriers to doing so remotely.

Student video production within health professions education: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Recent technological developments have influenced a shift in the use of videos in Health Professions Education (HPE). Rather than casting students in the role of observers of videos, educators have been asking students to produce videos as a learning activity. The assumption is that video production is often an active and collaborative exercise, therefore could engage students and enhance learning. However, applications of this emerging pedagogical approach vary, and there has not been a knowledge synthesis to guide future research and practice.

METHODS

With a view to mapping existing knowledge, identifying avenues for further research, and informing practice, we conducted a scoping review to establish current understanding of video production in HPE. We undertook a literature search of seven databases and identified thirty-six studies.

RESULTS

The findings showed considerable variation in purposes and implementation approaches, consequences and challenges associated with video production. In particular, the assumption that creating a video automatically promotes student engagement was not well supported, especially when the intended learning was not made apparent to students.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the review suggests that despite the increasing adoption of video production in HPE, the purposes are often unclear; pedagogical considerations underlying project design are limited, which risks undermining the intended learning. To optimise educational benefits, future video production projects should be explicit in their intention and approach, draw upon pedagogical theories, anticipate and address implementation issues, and be robust in their formative and summative assessment processes. Future research should more explicitly show the relationship between the intended learning and the underlying pedagogy and thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of video production projects.

Attachment anxiety and depressive symptoms in undergraduate medical students : The mediating role of emotion regulation strategies

INTRODUCTION

Several studies report that medical students are at high risk of depression. Despite the variability in students' vulnerability to depression, the role of individual differences in depression risk among medical students has hardly been investigated. Studies outside of medical student populations have shown that individual differences in attachment style and emotion regulation participate in vulnerability to depression.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigates to what extent medical students' depressive symptoms are related to differences in students' insecure attachment styles and their perception of reduced access to emotion regulation strategies.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional quantitative study, undergraduate medical students at the beginning of their second academic year completed online questionnaires measuring their attachment style, difficulties in emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Out of the 390 medical students invited, 267 participated in the survey. Higher secure attachment was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Medical students' insecure attachment style and emotion dysregulation were significantly related to depressive symptoms. Difficulties in employing strategies to disengage from one's own negative affect partly mediated the effects of two dimensions of insecure anxious attachment-need for approval and preoccupation with relationships-on depressive symptoms.

DISCUSSION

Anxious attachment style and limited access to emotion regulation strategies participate in medical students' depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the need for acknowledging medical students' attachment style and students' perceived access to emotion regulation strategies for the early identification of and intervention programs for the risk of depression.

Enhancing remediation by focusing on affective experience

Colonnello offers the affective neuroscience view as a means for better understanding the role of emotions in remediation and nurturing synergistic interactions between research and education.