Due to the high-stakes nature of medical exams it is prudent for test agencies to critically evaluate test data and control for potential threats to validity. For the typical multiple station performance assessments used in medicine, it may take time for examinees to become comfortable with the test format and administrative protocol. Since each…

Women and people of color continue to be underrepresented among biomedical researchers to an alarming degree. Research interest and subsequent productivity have been shown to be affected by the research training environment through the mediating effects of research self-efficacy. This article presents the findings of a study to determine whether a…

Education has moved from teacher to student-centred practices. Increasing emphasis is placed on "life-long" learning in the context of a rapidly changing knowledge base. Self-evaluation is seen as one strategy to facilitate student-centred continuous professional development. The literature, however, suggests that learners' ability to self-assess…

Learning how to "think like doctors" can be difficult for undergraduate medical students in their early clinical years. Our model of collaborative Integrated Case Learning (ICL) and simulated clinical reasoning aims to address these issues. Taking a socio-cultural perspective, this study investigates the reflective learning interactions and…

As residents and medical students progress through their medical training, they are presented with multiple instances in which they feel they must manipulate the healthcare system and deceive others in order to efficiently treat their patients. This, however, creates a culture of manipulation resulting in untoward effects on trainees' ethical and…

The purpose of this review was to examine the practice of oral assessment in postgraduate medical education in the context of the core assessment constructs of validity, reliability and fairness. Although oral assessment has a long history in the certification process of medical specialists and is a well-established part of such proceedings for a…

The experience of clinical teachers as well as research results about senior medical students' understanding of basic science concepts has much been debated. To gain a better understanding about how this knowledge-transformation is managed by medical students, this work aims at investigating their ways of setting about learning anatomy.…

Feedback is essential to guide students towards expected performance goals. The usefulness of teacher feedback on improving communication skills (CS) has been well documented. It has been proposed that self-assessment and peer-feedback has an equally important role to play in enhancing learning. This is the focus of this study. Objectively…

This study identified youth and adult perceptions of factors that influence initiation of youth drinking, access to alcohol, strategies for deterring youth drinking, and parents' role in prevention. A combination of qualitative (focus group and individual interview) and quantitative (written survey) community-based participatory research methods…

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the self-administered International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form in college students. One hundred twenty-three undergraduate students (20.8 [plus or minus] 1.5 years of age, 76% Caucasian, 74% female) wore an accelerometer and pedometer at their waists…

This study sought variables associated with current smoking for young adult males and females in college compared with those not in college. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by a cohort of 1,270 young adults (ages 20-24) who have been followed from grade 6 for 10 years. Both bivariate and multivariable analyses of demographic…

Children and adolescents in the United States are increasingly overweight at younger ages. Many studies have investigated the issue from the perspective of professionals and other adults. This study assessed early adolescents' perceptions regarding the magnitude of, effects of, causes of, solutions for, and learning preferences related to…

Principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) were applied among migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) in a seven-county region of east Texas. The study purpose was to establish community-based partnerships for CBPR and conduct a preliminary qualitative assessment of perceived health needs and capacities. Key informant interviews…

This study assessed the association of lifestyle and clinical health behaviors with prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests. The study used cross-sectional data from the 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We used Stata 8.0 to take into account the complex sample design in analyses. Both lifestyle and clinical health behaviors…

This paper examines the availability of soft drinks in schools ("pouring rights contracts") and its effects on the growing nutritional problems of American youth. Of special concern is the prevalence of overweight youth, which has been increasing at alarming rates. There has been a direct relationship found between soft drink consumption and…