really good stuff Multiple mini-interviews combined with group interviews in medical student selection Shih-Chieh Liao, Tzuen-Ren Hsiue, Chyi-Her Lin & A-Min Huang What problems were addressed? The multiple mini-interview (MMI) is a multi-station interview consisting of eight to 12 stations, each of which lasts 8–10 minutes. A standardised scenario at each station evaluates a single facet of competence or a personal trait through the interviewer–interviewee interaction. It provides a valid, reliable and defensible approach to medical student selection. However, the MMI is insufficient for evaluating interpersonal skills, which are crucial for the medical practitioner. What was tried? This study added a group interview to seven MMI stations in medical student admission interviews at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan, in order to strengthen the evaluation of applicants’ interpersonal skills, and to construct a more holistic and valid medical student admission interview. In 2011, NCKU interviewed 122 people who applied for admission to its medical programme. A total of 33 interviewers participated in the interviews. They all received at least 7 hours of training that aimed to establish an interview blueprint and scoring criteria, which would increase inter-rater consistency. Based on the mission and philosophy of the Department of Medicine at NCKU, the seven stations evaluated the following competencies and personal traits: empathy; respect for life; crisis management; initiative; insightfulness; integrity, and communication skills. At the group interview, a 5-minute video was played, after which four standardised questions were used to stimulate group discussion. Each group consisted of six or seven interviewees and three interviewers who monitored and evaluated the interviewee peer discussion. Based on statistical analyses, the correlations between each of the seven MMI stations and the group interview were all positive, ranging from 0.15 to 0.42. The correlation coefficients were all significant (all p < 0.05), the only exception being that for station 5 (insightfulness) (p = 0.10). Cronbach’s alpha for the seven MMI stations was 0.54. When data for the group interview were added to the analysis, Cronbach’s alpha for the MMI combined with the group interview rose to 0.63.
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What lessons were learned? The combination of the MMI with the group interview improved the validity of the medical student selection interview. In test item selection, the primary concern is to design and choose items that increase internal consistency first, and convergent and discriminatory validity secondly.1 The interviewee–interviewee peer discussion in the group interview is quite different from the interviewer–interviewee interaction in MMI stations. The positive correlations between the MMI stations and the group interview, then, can be taken as a good indication of convergent validity. It means the MMI stations and the group interview measured similar competencies in accordance with the mission and philosophy of the Department of Medicine at NCKU. Furthermore, the inclusion of the group interview with the MMI raised Cronbach’s alpha from 0.54 to 0.63. This proves that the combining of the group interview with the MMI increased the internal consistency of the entire interview and made it a more valid interview. Interpersonal skill is hard to measure by MMI, but it can be measured in a group interview. In the medical profession, interpersonal skill is indispensable. This study added a group interview in the form of a peer discussion session to the MMI design and proved that this innovation created a more valid medical student selection interview. REFERENCE 1 Raubenheimer J. An item selection procedure to maximise scale reliability and validity. SA J Ind Psychol 2004;30 (4):59–64. Correspondence: A-Min Huang, Department of Physiology, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan. Tel: 00 866 6 235 3535; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12562
Individualising psychiatry clerkships to medical student career choice Aqeel Hashmi, Megan Talley & Ajay K Parsaik What problem was addressed? A minority of students graduating from US medical schools pursue
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 1104–1132
really good stuff careers in psychiatry.1 Academic psychiatrists are therefore given the task of training medical students for whom psychiatry is typically not a popular specialty. We implemented an innovative teaching strategy by individualising the psychiatry clinical rotation according to students’ future career plans. Previous studies have placed greater focus on influencing recruitment than on stimulating interest in psychiatry among medical students, although it is recommended that the learning process should be individualised. Therefore, interest in psychiatry among medical students during clinical clerkships might be improved by the addition of a learning component that links psychiatry to the student’s future career specialty. What was tried? Thirty Year 3 medical students (in the 2012–2013 academic year) at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston were assigned a specific learning task during one of two 3-week psychiatry clinical rotations. At the beginning of the clinical clerkship, faculty teaching staff discussed each student’s future choice of specialty in residency. This informal interaction investigated the student’s views on his or her particular field of interest and was followed by a brief discussion of the importance of recognising the burden imposed by mental illness on patients with physical ailments, and how mental health care in office-based medical practice is often provided by non-psychiatrist physicians. Thereafter, students were asked to undertake a literature search for articles on common psychiatric issues that pertain to their chosen future specialties and to give an oral presentation describing how the information learned would be beneficial in their future day-to-day clinical practice. What lessons were learned? Twenty-nine of 30 students responded to an anonymous electronic survey at the end of the rotation. Responses were recorded as ‘strongly disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘neutral’, ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’. Most students (96%) felt that the discussion of their future career plans at the beginning of the clerkship represented a positive experience. The majority of students (89%) found the assignment linking psychiatry to their future specialty choice to be useful. A total of 87% of students felt that the learning task improved their attitudes towards and knowledge about the importance of psychiatry. More than half (67%) of the students reported that their opinions about psychiatry improved to a greater extent than in the other 3week psychiatry rotation in which the specific learning task was not given. The initial informal discussion provides an opportunity for faculty members to engage with students and develop strong mentoring relationships. It also
helps faculty members to instil an increased value of their roles as psychiatrists. This learning task increased students’ knowledge about the psychiatric issues that might be involved in their respective future specialties. This type of initiative may also help students to recognise the role and importance of integrated care. Moreover, this approach appeared to stimulate and maintain the interest of students in psychiatry during their psychiatry clerkship. This teaching method is convenient and easily replicable. It appears to be engaging and effective and can be applied to clerkships across other specialties. REFERENCE 1 Roberts LW, Ohayon M, Coverdale J, Goldsmith M, Beresin EV, Louie AK, Tait GR, Balon R. Strengthening psychiatry’s numbers. Acad Psychiatry 2013;37 (5):293–6. Correspondence: Aqeel Hashmi, Department of Psychiatry and Behaviour Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, Harris County Psychiatric Center, 2800 South MacGregor Way, Houston, Texas 77021, USA. Tel: 00 1 713 741 3835; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12560
Evaluating the national student association of medical research Clark D Russell, Adam M H Young, David A Lomas & Garth M Funston What problems were addressed? The future wellbeing of academic medicine in the UK was called into question in the 2005 Walport Report, which described its status as ‘perilous’. The report recommended that medical students should understand the attractions of academic medicine and be made aware of how to follow this career pathway. Undergraduate medical curricula appropriately focus on producing safe and competent graduates, often leaving little room for significant exposure to aspects of academic medicine. Extracurricular strategies such as student-led research societies may therefore have an important role in engaging students with academic medicine. What was tried? In a previous edition of ‘Really Good Stuff’, we described the establishment of the Cambridge University Clinical Research Society, one example of a student-led research
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 1104–1132
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What lessons were learned? The combination of the MMI with the group interview improved the validity of the medical student selection interview. In test item selection, the primary concern is to design and choose items that increase internal consistency first, and convergent and discriminatory validity secondly.1 The interviewee–interviewee peer discussion in the group interview is quite different from the interviewer–interviewee interaction in MMI stations. The positive correlations between the MMI stations and the group interview, then, can be taken as a good indication of convergent validity. It means the MMI stations and the group interview measured similar competencies in accordance with the mission and philosophy of the Department of Medicine at NCKU. Furthermore, the inclusion of the group interview with the MMI raised Cronbach’s alpha from 0.54 to 0.63. This proves that the combining of the group interview with the MMI increased the internal consistency of the entire interview and made it a more valid interview. Interpersonal skill is hard to measure by MMI, but it can be measured in a group interview. In the medical profession, interpersonal skill is indispensable. This study added a group interview in the form of a peer discussion session to the MMI design and proved that this innovation created a more valid medical student selection interview. REFERENCE 1 Raubenheimer J. An item selection procedure to maximise scale reliability and validity. SA J Ind Psychol 2004;30 (4):59–64. Correspondence: A-Min Huang, Department of Physiology, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan. Tel: 00 866 6 235 3535; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12562
Individualising psychiatry clerkships to medical student career choice Aqeel Hashmi, Megan Talley & Ajay K Parsaik What problem was addressed? A minority of students graduating from US medical schools pursue
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 1104–1132
really good stuff careers in psychiatry.1 Academic psychiatrists are therefore given the task of training medical students for whom psychiatry is typically not a popular specialty. We implemented an innovative teaching strategy by individualising the psychiatry clinical rotation according to students’ future career plans. Previous studies have placed greater focus on influencing recruitment than on stimulating interest in psychiatry among medical students, although it is recommended that the learning process should be individualised. Therefore, interest in psychiatry among medical students during clinical clerkships might be improved by the addition of a learning component that links psychiatry to the student’s future career specialty. What was tried? Thirty Year 3 medical students (in the 2012–2013 academic year) at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston were assigned a specific learning task during one of two 3-week psychiatry clinical rotations. At the beginning of the clinical clerkship, faculty teaching staff discussed each student’s future choice of specialty in residency. This informal interaction investigated the student’s views on his or her particular field of interest and was followed by a brief discussion of the importance of recognising the burden imposed by mental illness on patients with physical ailments, and how mental health care in office-based medical practice is often provided by non-psychiatrist physicians. Thereafter, students were asked to undertake a literature search for articles on common psychiatric issues that pertain to their chosen future specialties and to give an oral presentation describing how the information learned would be beneficial in their future day-to-day clinical practice. What lessons were learned? Twenty-nine of 30 students responded to an anonymous electronic survey at the end of the rotation. Responses were recorded as ‘strongly disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘neutral’, ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’. Most students (96%) felt that the discussion of their future career plans at the beginning of the clerkship represented a positive experience. The majority of students (89%) found the assignment linking psychiatry to their future specialty choice to be useful. A total of 87% of students felt that the learning task improved their attitudes towards and knowledge about the importance of psychiatry. More than half (67%) of the students reported that their opinions about psychiatry improved to a greater extent than in the other 3week psychiatry rotation in which the specific learning task was not given. The initial informal discussion provides an opportunity for faculty members to engage with students and develop strong mentoring relationships. It also
helps faculty members to instil an increased value of their roles as psychiatrists. This learning task increased students’ knowledge about the psychiatric issues that might be involved in their respective future specialties. This type of initiative may also help students to recognise the role and importance of integrated care. Moreover, this approach appeared to stimulate and maintain the interest of students in psychiatry during their psychiatry clerkship. This teaching method is convenient and easily replicable. It appears to be engaging and effective and can be applied to clerkships across other specialties. REFERENCE 1 Roberts LW, Ohayon M, Coverdale J, Goldsmith M, Beresin EV, Louie AK, Tait GR, Balon R. Strengthening psychiatry’s numbers. Acad Psychiatry 2013;37 (5):293–6. Correspondence: Aqeel Hashmi, Department of Psychiatry and Behaviour Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, Harris County Psychiatric Center, 2800 South MacGregor Way, Houston, Texas 77021, USA. Tel: 00 1 713 741 3835; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12560
Evaluating the national student association of medical research Clark D Russell, Adam M H Young, David A Lomas & Garth M Funston What problems were addressed? The future wellbeing of academic medicine in the UK was called into question in the 2005 Walport Report, which described its status as ‘perilous’. The report recommended that medical students should understand the attractions of academic medicine and be made aware of how to follow this career pathway. Undergraduate medical curricula appropriately focus on producing safe and competent graduates, often leaving little room for significant exposure to aspects of academic medicine. Extracurricular strategies such as student-led research societies may therefore have an important role in engaging students with academic medicine. What was tried? In a previous edition of ‘Really Good Stuff’, we described the establishment of the Cambridge University Clinical Research Society, one example of a student-led research
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 1104–1132
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