Category Archives: Graduate Medical Education

I’m a hospitalized patient who wants to survive.  Please send me that female doctor with high USMLE certifying exam scores. 

Posted on February 29, 2024 by DR MERL Reviews

Researchers assessed mortality and length of stay (LOS) for nearly 200,000 patients hospitalized in Pennsylvania for five common diagnoses who were cared for by physicians certified in either family medicine or internal medicine.  Average inpatient mortality was about 2%.  After … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education, Undergraduate Medical Education | Tagged | Leave a comment

Are ACGME Milestones Predictive of Early Career Clinical Performance?

Posted on April 5, 2023 by DR MERL Reviews

Maybe not, according to a recent retrospective study based on Medicare claims for common high-risk inpatient general surgical procedures (N=12,400 cases) from 2015-2018 by non-fellowship trained US general surgeons (N=701). In contrast to prior validity evidence for milestones to predict … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Unmatched and Unwanted?

Posted on December 16, 2022 by DR MERL Reviews

A study of 206 comments on the online discussion forum Reddit reveals that between 2021 and 2022 US and Canadian medical students who did not match into residency programs showed signs of regret for having attended (and paid for!) medical … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged , | Leave a comment

It’s A DIY World for Medical Education Researchers

Posted on July 5, 2022 by DR MERL Reviews

Medical education research lab is an emerging model for conducting medical education research. Defined as a distinct research team led by single or multiple PIs to study specific problems, medical education research lab is a strategic attempt at overcoming the well-recognized … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education, Undergraduate Medical Education | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Widespread But Mostly Mild – Internal Residents Report Mistreatment

Posted on March 10, 2022 by DR MERL Reviews

In this survey study of 21,931 US internal medicine residents (81% response rate), 48% reported experiencing and 62% reported witnessing “inappropriate comments or actions based on identity markers” at any time during their residency.  Fortunately, most of these incidents were … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged | Leave a comment

Measuring Clinical Reasoning in Admission Notes?

Posted on March 9, 2022 by DR MERL Reviews

This study examined the use of a revised assessment tool (IDEA–(I)interpretive summary, (D) differential diagnosis with commitment to most likely diagnosis, (E) explanation of reasoning for most likely diagnosis, (A) alternative diagnosis with explanation of reasoning, plus descriptive anchors) to … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Who, And Where, Are Our Residents?

Posted on November 3, 2021 by DR MERL Reviews

In the US, there are about 145,000 residents, of whom more than 25,000 are in subspecialty training. About 46% of them are female, in contrast to entering medical students who have been majority female since 2017.   Resident race and ethnicity, … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged , | Leave a comment

To Signal Or Not To Signal, That Is The Question For Residency Applicants And Programs 

Posted on October 12, 2021 by DR MERL Reviews

This study describes the initial findings from the preference signaling program that was implemented for the 2021 otolaryngology residency match which allowed applicants to identify up to 5 programs of particular interest at the time they submitted their initial application, … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Out Of Sight, But Not Out Of Mind

Posted on February 15, 2021 by DR MERL Reviews

Depression: Willingness among medical trainees to seek help for a mental health issue gets a boost when faculty members share their own struggles.  At least that is the finding from a limited study of 39 residents who attended a closed conference … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Who Benefits From Learner Handovers?

Posted on January 7, 2021 by DR MERL Reviews

Learner Handover: Faculty use learner handoffs for their own benefit, a recent study finds.  Learner handovers occur when the supervision of a student is passed from one faculty member to another. Researchers interviewed 23 faculty at two Canadian universities in 2018 and found that faculty … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate Medical Education, Undergraduate Medical Education | Tagged | Leave a comment