Must Reads

What is a ‘Must Read’ for those interested in medical education?

Each month, we identify 3-4 noteworthy articles from the health professions education literature and label them as “must reads.” Selection is based on several criteria including originality and methodological rigor. Our process includes a formal search of the peer-reviewed literature, screening titles and abstracts, full text review, and an editorial meeting to achieve consensus.

Who are we and why are we doing this?

Our reviewers include individuals with expertise in teaching, educational oversight, and research as well as those who are beginning their careers as educational scholars.

The volume of health professions education articles has become overwhelming. In curating some of the best new published papers, we hope to make it easier for all of us to keep abreast of cutting edge educational scholarship and practices.

We’d welcome involvement in the selection process. Reviewers can earn CME credit and contribute to Must Reads research. If you are interested in supporting this work or have perspectives to share, please email Sean Tackett: stacket1@jhmi.edu.

You can also follow @MedEdMustReads on X (aka Twitter) to be notified when new must read articles are selected and sign up to receive an email each month.

(Current Reviewers: Kara Alcegueire, Paul Bain, Suni Ebby, Scott Kinkade, Pranav Kotamraju, Viviane Liao, Erica Lin, Liju Mathew, Milad Memari, Pallavi Menon, Amin Nakhostin-Ansari, Ashley Paul, Julianne Perretta, Katherine Senko, Julia Shalen, Sean Tackett, Scott Wright, Tony Zhu)

Featured This Month

Aspiration to admission: Widening access to medical education: AMEE Guide No. 181
Medical Teacher: R. E. George, A. N. Dueñas, M. E. L. Brown, E. T. O. Oladipo, A. Danquah, V. D. V. Nadarajah, V. S. Singaram, D. Aitken, and G. M. Finn
The Gist
• Overview of strategies and tactics to admit more individuals from under-represented groups into medical school.
• Summarizes initiatives that have been effective internationally and proposes meaningful evaluation measures.
Why This is a Must Read

Health systems are stronger when physicians resemble their communities. This article provides a global perspective and concrete ways to increase diversity in medical school admissions.

Transforming feedback into learning throughout the trajectory of competency based medical education
Indian Pediatrics: S. P. Wu, Y. F. Choi, and L. Patel
The Gist
• Commentary on feedback for enhancing performance and lifelong learning.
• Discusses feedback literacy, links with adult learning theory, and overcoming common challenges.
Why This is a Must Read

Feedback is essential for learning but is not simple or easy to do. This article is a useful primer for effective feedback in clinical settings.

How shame shaped me: Exploring the impact of shame on professional identity formation in medical trainees
Academic Medicine: G. Haischer-Rollo, H. Meyer, H. K. C. McMains, L. Varpio, and W. E. Bynum 4th
The Gist
• Interviews of 9 graduate medical trainees using photo-elicitation to explore shame and professional identity formation.
• Shame, while uncomfortable, could lead to evolution in self-image and professional identity.
Why This is a Must Read

Shame is common, maybe unavoidable, and often perceived negatively. This study suggests that feelings of shame might indicate an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Featured

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Medical Education: I. P. K. Demak, J. Prins, N. Meity, T. Bouwkamp-Timmer, J. Fleer, and M. A. de Carvalho-Filho
Under the radar: How participating in a student organization can shape medical students’ professional identity
The Gist
• Interviews of 28 medical students, graduates, and teachers in Indonesia describing experiences with orientation into a national student organization.
• The organization offered rules and community, but was also oppressive, forcing students to conform or become outsiders.
Why This is a Must Read

Student groups can significantly impact student experiences. This study sheds light on the unintended consequences of powerful hierarchies in one student organization and the need to ensure students feel belonging among their peers.

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Academic Medicine: J. Zavodnick, A. Adamczyk, G. Diemer, T. Kuchera, N. Leonard, and R. Jaffe
Transition from graduate medical education to independent practice: A scoping review
The Gist
• Scoping review summarizing 116 articles on gaps in preparedness for transition to independent practice in the U.S.
• Described 192 different gaps, spanning patient care, personal and professional development, communication skills, and the business of medicine.
Why This is a Must Read

Physicians often receive little educational support after formal training, but still have much to learn. This well-organized review documents common areas where more teaching, assessment, and feedback could help early career physicians.

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A. D. Spence, D. Carr, A. Kajamaa, and G. J. Gormley
“Overcoming and owning challenges”: A qualitative study exploring the manifestation of agency in learners
The Gist
• Interviews of 12 medical students after a cardiac arrest simulation, analyzed against the Transformative Agency by Double Stimulation framework.
• A challenging authentic experience, teamwork opportunities, and debriefing promoted agentic learning.
Why This is a Must Read

Physicians must make difficult decisions and need a strong sense of agency. This study shows how simulating difficult real-life clinical scenarios can motivate and empower learners.

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JMIR Medical Education: T. Bland
Enhancing medical student engagement through cinematic clinical narratives: Multimodal generative AI-based mixed methods study
The Gist
• Innovation report where 4 different AI tools were used to convert a pharmacology clinical case into a cinematic narrative that included AI-generated images and a theme song.
• The process was low-cost, students preferred the format, and they did well on the exam.
Why This is a Must Read

Generative AI can make education more exciting and effective. This article’s clear descriptions of tools used, prompting strategies, time required, and final products provide an example that others can follow.

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Medical Teacher: K. Masters, H. MacNeil, J. Benjamin, T. Carver, K. Nemethy, S. Valanci-Aroesty, D. C. M. Taylor, B. Thoma, and T. Thesen
Artificial intelligence in health professions education assessment: AMEE Guide No. 178
The Gist
• Overview of issues to consider when using generative AI for assessment in health professions education.
• Discusses theoretical frameworks, AI for formative and summative assessment, faculty development, and ethical matters.
Why This is a Must Read

AI can expand educator capacity and improve personalization and standardization in assessment. This article may be a useful reference for those seeking to effectively use AI in assessments of, for, and as learning.

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Academic Medicine: E. Warm, D. A. Hirsh, B. Kinnear, and H. C. Besche
The shadow economy of effort: Unintended consequences of pass/fail grading on medical students’ clinical education and patient care skills
The Gist
• Commentary on a “shadow economy” – where students accumulate extracurricular accomplishments to distinguish themselves –resulting from changes to grading policies.
• Characterizes residency application and selection as a complex adaptive system that produces unanticipated outcomes, and suggests ways to mitigate negative consequences.
Why This is a Must Read

Systems perform according to their design. This article describes how pass/fail grading creates new incentives in the system that encourage effort in non-clinical activities, and argues that medical education must remain oriented to preparing clinically excellent providers.