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AMA Research Challenge 2022

Development of an Innovative Quality Improvement Curriculum for Residents and Medical Students in Anesthesia

Welcome to the largest national, multi-specialty research event **featuring research from 750 medical students, residents and fellows, and international medical graduates.**


#### Event Details
The 2022 American Medical Association Research Challenge includes a poster symposium hall and a semifinals hall with the top scored research. Log in at any time throughout the event to:
* **View posters and presentations** on a variety of topics and specialties
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* **Connect with participants** and provide feedback to help advance their research

At the conclusion of this event, the AMA will announce the top five finalists who will advance to the AMA Research Challenge finals, present their research to an elite panel of judges and compete to win a $10,000 grand prize sponsored by Laurel Road.
 

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**Oct. 20, 6 — 7 p.m. Central**
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 **Speakers**
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Ricardo Correa, MD, EdD
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Stuart M. Greenstein, MD
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Stephanie Strohbeen, MD
 
 **Oct. 22, 11 a.m. — Noon Central**
 **How to get published**
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 **Speakers**
![](https://assets.underline.io/uploads/markdown_image/1/image/8ce6235e957d31cb5e6f9097cc6f6972.jpg)
Jessica Li, MD/PhD Candidate
![](https://assets.underline.io/uploads/markdown_image/1/image/9950ef2e0237f54cb3d8280334d42491.jpg)
Charles Lopresto, DO

### Sponsor
AMA would like to thank Laurel Road for sponsoring a $10,000 grand prize for the winner of the AMA Research Challenge. Laurel Road is not involved in the judging or scoring process to select the winner. The winner will be announced on Dec. 7 during the AMA Research Challenge finals. Payment of the grand prize will be directly from Laurel Road. See the AMA Research Challenge Official Rules for terms and conditions.

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**There is no registration fee for this event! **

Register to explore research in a variety of topics. AMA members get exclusive access to score posters in the semifinals.

**Please use the link below to register for free if you have not already done so:**

https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge

Registration Is Required

Welcome to the largest national, multi-specialty research event featuring research from 750 medical students, residents and fellows, and international medical graduates.


poster

ACLS instructor certification training as effective preparation for clinical practice

Background: The United States leads the world in incarceration, yet medical students and resident physicians rarely undergo formal training in providing care of the incarcerated patient. 
Methods: A virtual curriculum addressing issues of patient confidentiality, consent, and transitions of care was delivered in the fall of 2021. An interdisciplinary team of clinicians, a formerly incarcerated person, hospital administrators and lawyers, the local police department, and the local jail system created a didactic featuring case vignettes and a panel of a correctional medicine physician and a formerly incarcerated person. In small groups, residents discussed common areas of confusion, such as navigating the presence of an accompanying officer, patient shackling, obtaining the appropriate consent for the treatment of minors in custody, and ensuring patients will receive medications when discharged to a correctional facility. The panel featured a formerly incarcerated person who shared her experiences of receiving healthcare in the jail and prison system, including being pregnant and delivering while being incarcerated. The correctional medicine physician discussed the background of the American criminal justice system, strategies for providing patient-centered care for incarcerated patients, and potential avenues of advocacy and research. 
Results: Post-didactic surveys showed that the curriculum addressed gaps of knowledge regarding the care of the incarcerated patient, such as the structure of the American criminal justice system and the relevance of patient confidentiality laws. Furthermore, qualitative feedback analysis showed resident appreciation for hearing firsthand experiences of incarceration and health, as well as the discussion about the purpose of carceral institutions. 
Conclusion: In a time of increased attention to social inequity, residents should receive explicit training regarding the care of incarcerated patients. Medical schools and residency programs should identify opportunities to provide instruction regarding equitable care of the incarcerated patient. Educational content should also include the role physicians can play in advocating for the health and wellness of patients, including those who are incarcerated.

But What About the Cuffs? A Novel Didactic About the Care of the Incarcerated Patient

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, we identified a gap in adequate discharge counseling for COVID-19 patients in the Emergency Department. This was due to high patient volumes and lack of patient education regarding a novel disease. Medical students were also restricted from the clinical area due to safety concerns, compromising their clinical experience. We piloted a novel program in which medical students served as virtual discharge counselors for COVID-19 patients via teleconference. We aimed to demonstrate an impact on patient care via examining the patient bounce back rate as well as assessing medical student education and experience. 

Methods: This program was piloted in a tertiary care Emergency Department. Medical student volunteers served as virtual discharge counselors. Students were trained in discharge counseling with a standardized protocol and a discharge script. Eligible patients for virtual discharge counseling were 18 years old or greater with a diagnosis of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and no impediment precluding them from participating in a telemedicine encounter. Counseling was provided via secure teleconference in the patient’s preferred language. Counseling included diagnosis, supportive care with medication dosing, quarantine instructions, return precautions, follow up, and time to ask questions. Duration of counseling was recorded and medical students were anonymously surveyed regarding their experience. 

Results: Over an 18-week period, 45 patients were counseled for a median of 20 minutes. The 72-hour ED revisit rate was 0%, versus 4.2% in similarly-matched, not counseled COVID-19 patients. 90% of medical students believed this project increased their confidence when speaking with patients while 80% indicated this was their first telemedicine experience.

Conclusion: Our pilot discharge program provided patients with an extensive discharge counseling experience that would not otherwise be possible in an urban ED setting and demonstrated benefit to patient care. Medical students received a safe clinical experience that improved their communication skills. 


Piloting a Novel Medical Student Virtual Discharge Counseling Process in the Time of COVID

Value-added medical education refers to the experiential learning of medical students to become competent clinicians. We propose applying it for training medical educators: value-added medical educator education (VAMEE). VAMEE is based on the principle of immersive learning for medical students to cultivate skills for teaching, participating in institutional-service-activities, and forming scholarly approaches for curricula development, assessment, and evaluation. Medical students can have value-added roles as student educators under faculty guidance. We present a primary-care clerkship’s student-developed/facilitated cultural humility session, made pre-COVID19 in response to our diverse patient population and LCME requirements, as an example of VAMEE. 

Student educators developed a virtual version of the session: a case-based approach with role-play in breakout rooms. Adaptations were made in response to time constraints, more engaging methods for remote use, and students’/educators’ feedback, under faculty supervision. Session participants were asked to complete pre-/post-surveys, linked through an anonymous identifier, on their confidence in addressing culturally-informed patient encounters, perceived usefulness of the session, and feedback. 

From 01/2021 to 02/2022, there were 161 pre-survey and 124 post-survey responses. Removing duplicates/incompletes yielded 99 paired-responses. Pre-session ratings were 2.7,2.9,and 2.5(scale:0-4) on students' confidence in understanding what “cultural humility” means, understanding cultural humility in primary-care, and approaching patients in a culturally-appropriate way, respectively. Post-session, averages increased to 3.2,3.4,and 3.1. A Wilcoxon-SR test was used to assess significance (mean rank=28.68,Z=-5.3,p<0.001; mean rank=29.17,Z=-5.3,p<0.001; mean rank=28.19, Z=-5.5,p<0.001, respectively). On whether students had learned something useful, responses averaged 4.8(scale:0-6). 

The adaptive potential and benefits of VAMEE were apparent when medical students enhanced faculty’s ability to quickly transform curricula with the pandemic. Results show that not only students benefit by learning from peers but also student educators who gain skills: developing/evaluating curriculum, leading small groups, and giving feedback, through this student-driven reiterative process. Further challenges in curricula are expected with the pass/fail change of Step 1 and the diverse learning needs of current student cohorts. Student educators can work with faculty to innovate educational approaches to transform physician training. Future directions include evaluating long-term impact of the session and surveying student facilitators on the effectiveness of VAMEE in developing their medical educator skills.

VAMEE: Engaging Future Medical Educators to Transform Medical Education Today 

Introduction: 
There are multiple factors that can impact a student’s success in a surgical clerkship, including preclinical curriculum and grades, previously completed clerkships, clerkship sequence and schedule, length of clerkship, work-study balance, and quality of education during the clerkship. These factors make it difficult for medical educators to assess the effectiveness of their preclinical and clinical curricula. This is the first systematic review to date that has analyzed the factors that negatively or positively influence NBME Surgery Subject Exam scores. 


Methods: 
Computer systematic literature searches of the Embase and Pubmed databases were performed. The studies included in this systematic review were papers testing variables that affect NBME subject exam performance of medical students in their third-year surgical clerkships.


Results: 
The literature search resulted in 2,823 articles, of which 17 were selected for analysis. The studies included in this review were grouped into three categories based on variables assessed: preclinical factors, third-year clerkship scheduling or structure, and surgical clerkship educational methods.
Analysis shows that the quality of medical students’ preclinical education plays a strong factor, as USMLE Step 1 scores and second-year NBME scores have a strong positive correlation with exam scores, while shortened preclinical curricula negatively impact third-year NBME exam scores. While the length of the surgery clerkship has varied significance based on multiple studies, the sequence of clerkships showed a consistent correlation with third-year NBME exam scores. Taking medicine clerkship prior to the surgery clerkship showed significant improvement in third-year NBME exam scores across multiple studies. The quality of clinical education received at clerkships is also very important; multiple studies of different educational models have shown that increased student engagement through presentations, small-group case-based learning, and direct resident interaction resulted in increased test scores. Additionally, the student-perceived educational quality along with preceptor-perceived clinical competency via clerkship evaluations and OSCE are positively correlated with NBME subject exam scores.


Conclusion: 
This systematic review looked at multiple factors that influence student success of the NBME Surgery Subject Examination and should be a useful tool for medical educators and students looking to increase NBME Surgery Subject Examination grades at their institution.


Factors Influencing NBME Surgical Shelf Exam Scores: A Systematic Review

Background
Pre-clinical medical students at our institution are trained in sterile technique by volunteer scrub technicians in a simulated operating room experience. Standardized patients (SPs) have long been recognized for their contributions to medical education, but have yet to be broadly integrated into simulations that go beyond role play scenarios, such as scrub training. Their unique skill set makes them strong candidates to lead hands on simulation-based training sessions.
Methods
Pre-clinical medical students were invited by email to sign up for one of two optional scrub training workshops in our institution’s simulation center. One session was led by a scrub technician and a senior medical student, as it has been in the past. The other training was led by specially trained standardized patients. Students were asked to complete anonymous pre and post-surveys which collected demographics, attitudes towards simulation, attitudes towards the training itself, and a brief quiz on aseptic hand hygiene. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables and t-tests were used to assess the relationship between groups. 
Results
Both the standardized patient group and the scrub tech group saw significant increases in their pre and post scores (0.7 to 0.9; p<0.01 for both groups). There was no appreciable difference when the post-scores of both groups (0.9 and 0.9) were compared to one another. Similarly, there was no significant difference between students’ perceived quality of the training nor their confidence in scrubbing in following the training (p=0.0805 and p=0.619, respectively). Overall, both groups saw a significant increase in their scrubbing confidence (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
Our results suggest that scrub training led by trained standardized patients is comparable to those led by scrub technicians. Both trainings were successful, as evidenced by increased quiz scores and increased scrubbing confidence. Importantly, learners did not perceive a qualitative difference between the two trainings. In the future, SP-led scrub training may lead to more flexibility in scheduling, and ultimately increased learner participation. Although already heavily utilized in medical education, scrub training may represent another area where SPs can meaningfully contribute.

Standardized Patients as Effective as Scrub Technicians at Scrub Training Medical Students

Abstract Title: Considerations for designing and implementing a multi-institution undergraduate medical education experience

Background: Cancer Care Experience (CCE) is an extracurricular program for undergraduate medical students to explore oncology. With the transition to virtual learning during the pandemic, program leaders offered CCE to students at Duke University School of Medicine and Penn State College of Medicine as a dual-institutional program. To our knowledge, there are few other dual-institution programs discussed in the literature, with most focusing on graduate medical education. Therefore, we aimed to assess 1) virtual learning effectiveness, 2) student perspectives on a multi-institutional model, and 3) the feasibility of implementing a multi-institutional program. 

Methods: An electronic voluntary Qualtrics survey of Likert-type statements was distributed to participants at the end of the program. Percent agreement to statements was determined and reported as a frequency. A Friedman Test (p<0.05) with post hoc analysis was conducted to assess preference for different program modalities.

Results: Seventeen (26%) students completed the voluntary survey. Students indicated that participation expanded their understanding of oncology care (100.00%) and raised their comfort in communicating bad news (88.20%). Interestingly, students felt comfortable learning on the online platform (93.80%), but few agreed that it was effective for engagement in large group sessions (37.50%). There was a statistically significant difference in preference among models of instruction (χ2(4)=38.315, p<0.001), with the multi-institution hybrid model ranked highest. Comparisons between multi-institution hybrid and single-institution in-person (Z=-2.718, p=.007), single institution virtual (Z=-3.602, p<.001), and single-institution hybrid (Z=-2.829, p=0.005) demonstrated a preference for the multi-institutional hybrid model.

Conclusion: Most students agreed that the virtual platform was convenient, engaging, and had few limitations. They agreed that a multi-institutional program was valuable and would recommend it to others. From an implementation perspective, there was a benefit of reaching more students and having access to additional faculty and resources. This approach allowed individuals from geographically distant institutions to participate, highlighting inter-institutional strengths, and facilitating broader educational and mentorship opportunities. Our study demonstrates the benefits of multi-institution programs and hopefully will encourage more collaboration in the future to host multi-institutional programs.

Considerations for Designing & Implementing a Multi-Institution Undergraduate Medical Education Experience

Background
Physical examination (PE) is an essential component of high-quality medical care that can aid in diagnosis, guide workup, and impact management decisions. Incomplete or deficient PE is a common source of diagnostic error and contributes to adverse patient outcomes. PE is one of many skills that should be developed and cultivated during medical training, but direct observation of, and feedback regarding, PE is limited. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a marked increase in telemedicine visits and a decline in in-person appointments, posing new challenges to performing the PE. Furthermore, while PE skills are associated with competency in other clinical domains during in-person encounters, little is known about PE skills during telemedicine encounters.

Methods
Forty-five internal medicine interns (24 females and 21 males) from two academic health centers participated in a clinical skills assessment via an online platform where they were evaluated by volunteer patients and faculty preceptors. Preceptors rated resident performance in seven domains: 1) physical examination technique; 2) identification of physical signs; 3) clinical communication; 4) differential diagnosis; 5) clinical judgment; 6) management of patient concerns; and 7) maintenance of patient welfare. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to evaluate relationships between performance in these domains. Resident self-ratings for each domain were also obtained and compared to preceptor scores.

Results
PE technique was significantly correlated with accurate identification of physical signs (r = 0.42, P = 0.004), clinical communication (r = 0.31, P = 0.036), clinical judgment (r = 0. 60, P < 0.0001), and managing patient concerns (r = 0.41, P = 0.005). Residents rated their performance more highly than did preceptors on the domains of clinical communication, clinical judgment, and managing patient concerns. Residents highly rated the feedback they received during the experience.

Conclusion
While the telemedicine PE differs from the in-person PE, our findings highlight that it remains an essential clinical skill that is associated with performance in multiple other clinical domains. Given the rise in telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic and resident overestimation of their skills, there is an increased need for dedicated telemedicine PE teaching.

Assessment of graduate medical trainee clinical skills during telemedicine encounters

Background
The authors identified gaps in the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) reproductive curriculum and surveyed students for interest. Respondents expressed interest in comprehensive pregnancy options counseling, which was not previously included. Using evidence-based recommendations, the authors collaborated with faculty to develop an educational session about medical shared decision-making related to pregnancy. As a result, a pregnancy options counseling panel was added to the preclinical Endocrine, Reproductive, Musculoskeletal, and Dermatology (ERMD) course.

Methods
The authors and reproductive course management team developed an optional, live 90-minute physician panel held via Zoom videoconferencing software and disseminated to students at all nine regional campuses. Three recorded lectures, fifteen minutes each, were produced by experts about abortion, adoption, and continuing pregnancy to provide background information. The panel included providers with diverse practices and opinions about abortion and reproductive healthcare. After the panel, a 19-item survey was distributed including questions asking students to rate abortion, adoption, and pregnancy continuation counseling preparedness before and after the panel on a scale of 1-5. Paired t-tests were performed to determine whether preparedness significantly improved. The study was reviewed as an exempt project by the IUSM Institutional Review Board (protocol #13987).

Results
Out 353 students second year students, 207 (57%) attended the panel. Fifty-three attendees (26%) responded to the survey; 39 (73%) identified as female, 12 (23%) as male, and 2 (3%) as nonbinary. 41 (77%) respondents were White, 6 (11%) Asian, 4 (8%) Black or African American, and 2 (4%) identified as other. The mean improvement for abortion counseling preparedness was 1.33 (p<0.001, 95% CI [1.12,1.53]). For adoption counseling the mean improvement was 0.75 with (p<0.001, 95% CI [0.52,0.98]). Finally for pregnancy continuation mean improvement was 0.87 with (p<0.001, 95% CI[0.64,1.09]).

Conclusion
Overall students rated their preparedness significantly higher after attending the panel for comprehensive pregnancy options counseling. Using a statewide physician videoconference panel modality can help provide students across a multi-campus medical school access to physician expertise and unified content. Having access to the experts from other regional campuses is a powerful resource for bridging gaps in pregnancy counseling and creating much needed standardized curriculum.

Development and Implementation of Pregnancy Options Counseling Curriculum in Preclinical Medical Education

Background
A minimally-invasive approach is the standard for most benign pelvic surgeries, which now are increasingly performed with robotic assistance. Currently, there is no standardized curriculum for robotic training among Ob-Gyn residents and no method of quantitative assessment of robot confidence at Creighton. 

Methods
PGY1-PGY3s completed a pre-survey to establish baseline comfort with robotic surgery. A Likert scale (1 - very unsatisfied or not at all confident, 5 - very satisfied or extremely confident) was used to determine self-assessed comfort with robotic components: port and instrument placement, docking, bipolar and monopolar instrumentation, camera, switching instruments, suturing, and overall comfort with surgery. Residents completed an Intuitive training module for the da Vinci Xi P8 robot. An in-person training was led by a representative and attending where residents were taught basics of robotic surgery and how to access the simulation trainer and complete modules independently. PGY1-PGY3s completed a post-survey to evaluate changes in competence and confidence in robotic training.

Results
Paired T-tests were performed using pre and post-responses. There was a significant increase in overall satisfaction of gynecologic training opportunities among all residents (p < 0.001). The average satisfaction before intervention increased from 2.58 to 4.36. PGY1s had improved confidence with basic components of robotic surgery, from 1 to 2.66 (p = 0.03). There was no difference in confidence regarding suturing and performing an entire DaVinci surgery. PGY2s had improved confidence with port placement of instruments and docking the camera & instruments at the bedside (both p = 0.01). Average confidence of port placement and docking improved from 2.5 to 4.5. There were no significant increases in PGY3s’ confidence among measured components. Among all residents, confidence increased in components of robotic surgery except for suturing and performing an entire surgery (p < 0.05).

Conclusion
Residents indicated improved satisfaction with the robot curriculum. They demonstrated improved confidence in several robot surgery components, aside from overall confidence in completing a robotic surgery. In future iterations, residents will have online and in-person training during intern orientation, simulator sessions during didactics, and simulator modules correlated to each year.

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