Happy New Year! About those resolutions...

Succeeding as a Clinician Educator: Useful tips and resources.  Castiglioni A, Aagaard E, Spencer A, Nicholson L, Karani R, Bates CK, Willett LL, Chheda SG. J Gen Intern Med. 2012; 28(1):136-140. Available online from the Baystate Health Sciences Library, or from PubMed at your institution.

Oh, August: A new crop of residents. Tired, sunburned faculty and staff. All reminders that another annual cycle is beginning, which in itself is a reminder that your annual cycle doesn't ever seem to end. August brings an academic's New Year's celebration, and so it is with that silver-lining perspective that I present to you this article, with its built-in list of resolutions that I will condense and paraphrase: 

Resolution 1: Take control of your academic destiny.

Castiglioni and colleagues present this article as a plan of attack for junior faculty. Their protagonist, Dr. Enthusiast, seems like a great guy. He seems to be doing everything that he can. But these authors have the gall to suggest that he could - and should! - do more. 

The authors present six action areas for Dr. Enthusiast: 1) set goals, 2) seek mentors, 3) find your niche, 4) network, 5) move your work to scholarship, and 6) seek funding. Why should you want to take action in these areas? The authors present literature on how critical such actions are for advancement. To this I add that there is no more frustrating feeling than sitting in a conference listening to someone present a project you implemented LAST YEAR. And yours was much better, I might add. 

We do great things at this institution and because of that, we attract great learners and great teachers. But we can be even better. We can put the enthusiasm of our teaching into our careers and the careers of our junior faculty. We can seek mentors and serve as mentors, and we can become the type of mentees that we want of our learners. We can network and we can help others to network. And we can all move our work to scholarship. 

So this year, I grant you permission to move "floss daily" further down the list; make it a priority to advance your academic career instead. Then, flash those pearly whites during your own conference presentation.

Bottom Line:

The New Year is a clean slate with the opportunity to set new resolutions. Capitalize on that opportunity by setting a SMART goal (or two), and keep this article handy as your outline for success. 

For Your Review: Mixed Bag of Mixed Methods?

Impact of interprofessional education on collaboration attitudes, skills, and behavior among primary care professionals.  Robben S, Perry M, van Nieuwenhuijzen L, van Achterberg T, Rikkert MO, Schers H, Heinen M, Melis R. J Continuing Ed Health Prof. 2012; 32(3): 196-204. Available online from the Baystate Health Sciences Library, or from PubMed at your institution.

Robben and colleagues offer a perfect platform for discussion with this article outlining a program evaluation of an interprofessional educational intervention in the Netherlands. As if the application of social cognitive theory and Kirkpatrick's levels of program evaluation outcomes weren't enough, we are also invited to enjoy the design and analysis of a mixed-methods approach to evaluation. 

So we're good, right? Not quite. Similar to the way that my computer's Spellcheck--er, Spell-check feature still questions me when I write "interprofessional" as a non-hyphenated word even though I do it on purpose, so too must we continue to question educational research even though it is published. 

I do not profess to say that this study is flawed (or that it isn't). But it does require exploration into key concepts. For example, the tools used for the quantitative exploration of this study are noted to produce valid scores; but where's the evidence? Also, the qualitative data support many themes in the results, but no data (direct quotes) are provided? And I dare you to read this article without Googling "human movement scientist" and "Hawthorne effect."  All in all, this article is a stone on which to sharpen your critical analysis teeth. Dig in.  

Bottom Line:

Excellent example of a mixed-methods program evaluation or novice term paper filled with fancy words but little substance? You decide. The interprofessional inter-professional nature of the content is just the cherry on top. 

How Does Your Research Measure Up?

Association between funding and quality of published medical education research.  Reed DA, Cook DA, Beckman TJ, Levine RB, Kern DE, Wright SM. JAMA. 2007; 298(9): 1002-1009. Available online from the Baystate Health Sciences Library, or from PubMed at your institution. 

In their quest for determining the quality of funded versus non-funded educational research, Reed and his colleagues could not find in the literature a tool to measure the quality of medical education research. SO, they did what each of us would have done in the same situation - they developed and validated one. 

Thus, this article double dips as a call for funding in medical education research (yay!) and a tool that holds us researchers accountable for producing higher quality research (wait, what?). 

Those of us who are familiar with Reed and Cook in the literature have likely already dog-eared and highlighted this synopsis of rigorous quantitative research. The tool (medical education research study quality instrument, or MERSQI) and the description of its development boil down elements of rigorous research that should guide our work. 

In fact, what the MERSQI lacks in snappy name recognition, it makes up for in utility. Consider the emphasis on study design, data analysis, and validity. Admittedly, the authors omit "subjective" criteria from their MERSQI, such as relevance of the research question and appropriateness (and use!) of a conceptual framework. Also, the MERSQI should not be used with qualitative research. Additional side effects may include the urge to rely too heavily on a recipe that may not be appropriate for your research question. 

Ultimately, having access to a tool like this and knowing how to use it are the aspects that make research difficult (and great). 

Bottom Line:  

The medical education research study quality instrument (MERSQI) - developed to help the authors answer their research question - is the real meat of this article. Use it like guard rails on the highway to keep your research on the right path.