The Association Between Pediatric Faculty Factors and Resident Physician Ratings of Teaching Effectiveness

Educational Environment Assessment by Multiprofessional Residency Students: New Horizons Based on Evidence from the DREEM

INTRODUCTION

The multiprofessional residency in health (MRH) is in its initial stage situated in the long history of the Brazilian and worldwide health system. There are few published analytical data on the teaching environment as perceived by residents. Roff et al. developed a questionnaire to assess the educational environment known as the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM), which is widely used in international literature.

AIM

To analyse perceptions of the educational environment among residents in various undergraduate health courses at a university hospital in the Midwest Region of Brazil using the DREEM.

METHODS

The DREEM was administered to MRH students in a postgraduate health course consisting of 2 years of in-service training at a university hospital in Brazil in 2017. The results were analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS 24.0).

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for all the items in this study was 0.76, which indicates good internal consistency. The average (95% CI) total DREEM score was 85.23 (ranging from 79.2 to 91.26), which suggests problems in the educational environment as perceived by health residents and a more negative than positive environment.

CONCLUSIONS

Several problem areas were identified in all domains of the educational environment that was assessed.

Gender Effects in Assessment of Clinical Teaching: Does Concordance Matter?

BACKGROUND

Gender bias is thought to exist in the assessment of clinical teachers, yet its extent in different specialties is not well-documented nor has it been studied at the individual-dyadic level.

OBJECTIVE

The authors sought to determine whether gender bias exists in residents' assessments of faculty teaching in 3 clinical departments, and if present, whether this is influenced by gender concordance or discordance between the faculty and resident.

METHODS

Residents' ratings of faculty in internal medicine (800 faculty, 5753 ratings), surgery (377, 2249), and family medicine (672, 3438) at the University of Toronto from 2016-2017 were analyzed using the overall global rating on a 5-point scale. A mixed-effects linear regression analysis accounted for nesting of ratings within each faculty member.

RESULTS

Overall scores of teaching effectiveness showed a strong skew to favorable ratings for all faculty and a ceiling effect. However, gender effects differed across departments. In internal medicine (38.5% female faculty), no significant gender effects were detected. In surgery (16.2% female) and family medicine (53.0% female), male faculty received significantly higher scores than female faculty. In surgery this was driven by male residents giving male faculty higher ratings (4.46 vs 4.26, P < .001). In family medicine this was driven by male faculty receiving higher ratings regardless of resident gender (4.65 to 4.57, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Although effects were very small and inconsistent, with gender concordance mattering only for one department, it suggests that gender is a meaningful source of variance in teaching assessments.

Products and activities associated with non-fatal traumatic brain injuries in children and adolescents - United States 2010-2013

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is prevalent in children and adolescents ages <1-19 years, yet we have limited understanding of consumer products that are associated with TBIs in children and adolescents of varying ages. To address this gap, we combined two data sources to investigate leading products and activities associated with TBIs in children and adolescents in different developmental age groups (i.e. <1, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-19 years). Methods: We analysed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP), augmented with product information from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), for the years 2010 through 2013. Results: From 2010 to 2013, children and adolescents aged <1-19 years accounted for 4.1 million non-fatal TBI-related emergency department visits. TBIs from home furnishings and fixtures, primarily beds, were highest among infants aged <1 year and children aged 1-4 years. TBIs from sports/recreation, especially bicycles and football, were highest among those aged 5-9 years, 10-14 years, and 15-19 years. Conclusions: The combined NEISS and NEISS-AIP data allow us to comprehensively examine products and activities that contribute to emergency department visits for TBIs in children and adolescents. Our findings indicate priority areas for TBI prevention and intervention.