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, Kavita Chapla, Scott Kinkade, Pranav Kotamraju, Viviane Liao, Erica Lin, Liju Mathew, Pallavi Menon, Amin Nakhostin-Ansari, Ashley Paul, Julianne Perretta, Katherine Senko, Julia Shalen, Sean Tackett, Scott Wright)

Featured This Month

Residents’ perceptions of what makes feedback valuable in workplace-based learning: A discrete choice experiment
Medical Education: R. M. van der Leeuw, N. H. Bouwmeester, K. W. Eva, M. Hiligsmann, and P. W. Teunissen
The Gist
• Discrete choice experiment including 95 trainees to assess the relative importance of 6 attributes of feedback for enhancing learning value.
• Suggestions for improvement mattered more than who was providing feedback or in what setting.
Why This is a Must Read

Feedback is essential for learning. This study’s innovative methodology identified the broad importance of providing constructive ideas for improvement and aspects of feedback where individual preferences may need to be accommodated.

Outcomes of accelerated 3-Year MD graduates at NYU Grossman School of Medicine during medical school and early residency
Academic Medicine: N. Satyamoorthi, M. Marin, P. Ludlow, M. Triola, C. Gillespie, E. Cohen, S. Abramson, and J. Cangiarella
The Gist
• Comparison of 7 cohorts of NYU medical students choosing 3-year or 4-year pathways.
• Performance on USMLE exams, clinical reasoning assessments, and ratings of milestones were similar.
Why This is a Must Read

Medical education is long and expensive. This study provides evidence that an accelerated pathway can achieve similar educational outcomes as traditional programs, potentially at lower cost.

Physician development through interprofessional workplace interactions: A critical review
Medical Education: K. A. Miller, J. S. Ilgen, A. B. H. de Bruin, M. V. Pusic, and R. E. Stalmeijer
The Gist
• Critical narrative review to develop a theory-based framework for interprofessional learning in the workplace.
• Described 3 interconnecting aspects: (1) individuals noticing learning opportunities, (2) social support for individual development, and (3) influence of healthcare system cultures and divisions of labor.
Why This is a Must Read

Everyone in healthcare can learn from each other. This article highlights that interprofessional learning is happening already and could improve with greater awareness and concerted efforts to cross professional boundaries.

Featured

mr-4894
Academic Medicine: D. W. Price, T. Wang, T. R. O'Neill, Z. J. Morgan, P. Chodavarapu, A. Bazemore, L. E. Peterson, and W. P. Newton
The effect of spaced repetition on learning and knowledge transfer in a large cohort of practicing physicians
The Gist
• Prospective, randomized, controlled cohort study including almost 20 thousand U.S. family physicians to evaluate spaced repetition of test items.
• Spaced repetition led to better retention after 18 months and performance on new items at 30 months.
Why This is a Must Read

Spaced repetition and testing effect are proven to enhance learning, but are not routinely applied in medical education. This study adds high quality evidence to support these strategies and may compel their use more broadly.

mr-4896
Teaching and Learning in Medicine: Z. J. McKinney, K. M. Tessier, Z. R. Shaheen, G. Schwitzer, A. P. J. Olson, J. M. Scheurer, and K. M. Krohn
Empowering third-year medical students to detect bias and medical misinformation online via experiential learning of “lateral reading,” a fact-checker’s technique
The Gist
• Curriculum description where medical students learn “lateral reading,” a technique where one first investigates authors, sponsors, and sources of an article before reading the article itself.
• Participants found a target article published by a biased source to be less credible after applying lateral reading.
Why This is a Must Read

Good health depends on good information, but it’s not always easy to tell which sources to trust. This article offers a model for helping learners practice media literacy methods that can be implemented by others.

mr-4897
Advances in Health Sciences Education: K. Wisener, E. Driessen, A. Tan, C. Cuncic, and K. Eva
From constructive to critical and everywhere in between: Education leaders’ decision-making related to harsh feedback from learners about their teachers
The Gist
• Interviews of education leaders on how they interpret negative feedback prior to sharing with teachers.
• Leaders struggled to balance the interests of learners, teachers, and the program when presented with highly critical comments.
Why This is a Must Read

Feedback is essential to improvement, and students have a valuable perspective to offer. This study describes complexities in handling harsh feedback and highlights the need to ensure feedback is constructive and actionable.

mr-4882
Medical Education: A. Bennett-Weston, S. Gay, and E. S. Anderson
Reflecting on the spectrum of involvement: How do we involve patients as partners in education?
The Gist
• Case study with interviews and focus groups including patients, educators, and students to describe patient partnerships in healthcare education.
• Described 3 themes: (1) equality is not necessary for effective partnership, (2) partnership means feeling valued, and (3) value can be shown multiple ways.
WHY THIS IS A MUST READ

Patient perspectives should be represented throughout healthcare. This study integrated multiple points of view to propose a “Wheel of Patient Partnerships” to guide patient involvement in health professions education.

mr-4881
Medical Teacher: A. L. Blaschke, A. Hapfelmeier, H. P. K. Rubisch, P. O. Berberat, and M. Gartmeier
Structure and quality of bedside teaching: A videographic analysis
The Gist
• Surveys of students and teachers combined with data from videos of bedside teaching encounters.
• Smaller groups, more time, and teacher motivation (not teacher experience) were correlated with ratings of quality by students.
WHY THIS IS A MUST READ

Bedside teaching is a mainstay of high-quality clinical instruction. This study suggests approaches that may improve student perceptions and experiences.

mr-4880
Medical Education: T. R. Wyatt and E. I. de Oliveira Vidal
The social construction of time and its influence on medical education
The GIst
• Commentary comparing perspectives of time in the U.S. and Brazil.
• Contrasts “clock time” – linear and measured objectively - with “event time” – flexible and subjective – and considers implications for medical education.
WHY THIS IS A MUST READ

Time is not experienced the same way by everyone. This article prompts us to be more thoughtful and intentional in how we manage time in medical education and practice.