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 team is composed of 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 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. 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 Twitter to be notified when new must reads are selected.

(Reviewers: Kavita Chapla, Belinda Chen, Alaina Chodoff, Kara-Grace Leventhal, Gigi Liu, Emily Ma, Thiago Mendes, Susan Mirabal, Hannah Oswalt, Stasia Reynolds, Ben Roberts, Elizabeth Ryznar, Carolina Saldanha, Dan Sartori, Sean Tackett, Scott Wright)

Featured This Month

Optimising planned medical education strategies to develop learners’ person-centredness: A realist review
Medical Education: A. Bansal, S. Greenley, C. Mitchell, S. Park, K. Shearn, and J. Reeve
The Gist
• Realist review on formal curricular interventions to enhance person-centered clinical skills.
• Reflection and longitudinal support can reconcile learners’ biomedical perspectives, which assume that most patients are the same, with a person-centered perspective.
Why This Is A Must Read

Patients have unique backgrounds and circumstances, which requires attention to individual differences. This article highlights strategies that can help learners develop the attitudes and skills needed for holistic and personalized care.

Can stoic training develop medical student empathy and resilience? A mixed-methods study
BMC Medical Education: M. E. L. Brown, A. MacLellan, W. Laughey, U. Omer, G. Himmi, T. LeBon, and G. M. Finn
The Gist
• Surveys and interviews of medical students who completed a short online curriculum grounded in the Stoic practices of negative visualization and Stoic mindfulness and reflection.
• Pre-post measures showed Increases in stoicism, empathy, and resilience.
Why This Is A Must Read

Stoic philosophy emphasizes constructive responses to emotions, especially in the unexpected and challenging situations that are common in health professions education. This study offers a curriculum that can foster Stoicism and emotional well-being.

Narrative assessments in higher education: A scoping review to identify evidence-based quality indicators
Academic Medicine: M. Chakroun, V. R. Dion, K. Ouellet, A. Graillon, V. Désilets, M. Xhignesse, and C. St-Onge
The Gist
• Scoping review from across higher education to describe characteristics of high-quality narrative feedback.
• Suggests 7 quality indicators and 12 recommendations for writing narrative assessments.
Why This Is A Must Read

Thoughtful, specific, and actionable feedback is crucial to guiding learners’ development, but written comments are often lacking. This article’s concrete recommendations can promote narrative assessments that better support learning.

Featured

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Human Resources for Health: A. Elma, M. Nasser, L. Yang, I. Chang, D. Bakker, and L. Grierson
Medical education interventions influencing physician distribution into underserved communities: A scoping review
The Gist
• Scoping review of educational interventions intended to encourage family practitioners to work in underserved locations.
• A variety of interventions can be effective, especially selecting learners from and conducting educational experiences in underserved areas.
Why This is a Must Read

Many places still have limited access to physicians. This article summarizes evidence-based strategies and highlights the need to align educational interventions with other policies and initiatives intended to improve the distribution of physicians.

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Teaching and Learning in Medicine: J. Beck, C. N. Falco, K. L. O'Hara, H. K. Bassett, C. L. Randall, S. Cruz, J. L. Hanson, W. Dean, and K. Senturia
The norms and corporatization of medicine influence physician moral distress in the United States
The Gist
• Interviews of U.S. pediatric residents and hospitalists asking about sources of moral distress.
• Hierarchies in the profession can disempower learners to speak up when something is wrong, and health system corporate influences can make it difficult to do what is right, leading to moral distress.
Why This is a Must Read

Many physicians experience dissonance between what they expect patient care to be and what it is in practice. This article helps us better understand why this occurs and encourages us to focus on structures and systems to improve clinical environments.

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Academic Medicine: A. N. Leep Hunderfund, C. P. West, S. J. Rackley, E. J. Dozois, S. M. Moeschler, B. E. V. Stelling, R. C. Winters, D. V. Satele, and L. N. Dyrbye
Social support, social isolation, and burnout: Cross-sectional study of U.S. residents exploring associations with individual, interpersonal, program, and work-related factors
The Gist
• Cross-sectional survey of 762 residents from 58 programs at one institution, analyzing variables associated with social support and isolation.
• Residents’ sense of autonomy and their relationships with faculty were linked to social support and isolation, while program characteristics were not.
Why This is a Must Read

This survey, before the COVID-19 pandemic, shows a variety of factors that may underlie residents’ sense of social well-being. These data can inform interventions and future study of changes made during the pandemic.

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Academic Medicine: K. A. LaDonna, L. Cowley, C. Touchie, V. R. LeBlanc, and E. G. Spilg
Wrestling with the invincibility myth: Exploring physicians’ resistance to wellness and resilience-building interventions
The Gist
• Interviews of Canadian faculty physicians focusing on perceptions of organizational wellness initiatives.
• Participants described a need to be superhuman and sacrifice everything for medicine – leading to worse well-being and resentment toward individual wellness interventions.
Why This is a Must Read

Professional and organizational cultures in medicine can dehumanize physicians. As we strive to deliver compassionate, patient-centered care, we must ensure that providers are also shown compassion.

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Healthcare: D. A. Asch, L. M. Bellini, S. V. Desai, D. Darragh, E. L. Asch, and J. A. Shea
An innovation tournament to improve medical residency
The Gist
• Online competition asking U.S. internal medicine residents and program directors for ideas to improve residency, then to rate the ideas.
• 128 residents and 36 program directors from 51 programs submitted 328 ideas, with awards given for special categories and the most popular submissions.
Why This is a Must Read

Medical residency programs require innovative and disruptive approaches to address ongoing challenges. The ideas in this article, solicited broadly from those closest to daily resident life, may inspire new thinking about how to improve resident training.

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Academic Medicine: S. A. Jacob, U. D. Palanisamy, J. Napier, D. Verstegen, A. Dhanoa, and E. Y. Chong
Health care needs of deaf signers: The case for culturally competent health care providers
The Gist
• Commentary describing health disparities experienced by deaf individuals who use sign language.
• Authors suggest strategies for curriculum development and tips for teaching to facilitate culturally appropriate treatment.
Why This is a Must Read

All patients should receive excellent care. This article brings attention to the unique challenges that deaf signers face and can help educators and providers better meet their needs.