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Doctors Are Scrambling to Learn "Webside" Manner

By: Ashley Abramson
Submitted by: Marsha Harman, Rush University

As patients turn to telemedicine, doctors must learn to convey empathy over screens. This short article includes some tips and tricks from the medical director of a telehealth service, as well as a discussion of what is gained and lost on video vs. in-person visits. One hospital uses video calls for COVID patients while they are in the hospital so that doctors and nurses can converse with them without wearing PPE, so the patients can see the providers’ facial expressions instead of just seeing a mask. As we are all preparing to offer more “telesim” learning opportunities, I found this article helpful in articulating some of the challenges and opportunities for our learners and our SPs.

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Using Simulation-based Learning to Provide Interprofessional Education in Diabetes to Nutrition and Dietetics and Exercise Physiology Students Through Telehealth

Lead Author: Marie-Claire O’Shea
Submitted by: Janice Radway, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

This study describes a telehealth interprofessional simulation-based learning experience with nutrition and dietetics and exercise physiology students. The common practice area of interacting with patients who have type 2 diabetes was targeted, and the simulation was delivered in partnership with simulated patients via a telehealth platform to allow interprofessional teams to work collaboratively in remote locations.

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Relaxation Techniques for Anxiety

Medically Reviewed By: Wendy M. Yoder, PH.D.
Submitted by: Kathy Herzberger, Loma Linda School of Medicine

These are trying times. I am sure everyone is feeling more anxiety during this period of uncertainty. We are concerned for the health of our loved ones and ourselves. Those of us still working are under more stress trying to develop innovative techniques to continue our jobs. I know I am feeling anxious and tense. This article provides techniques that we have probably heard of before, but it is a nice reminder to know there are positive skills we can insert into our lives to help us remain mentally and physically healthy.

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SP Practice From My Corner of the World

Author: Louise Schweickerdt, SP Facilitator, Skills Centre, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa

My corner of the world is a country, renowned to be one of the most diverse and beautiful places on earth. It is also a country that is plagued by realities like planned power outages (load shedding), precarious internet, violence, strikes, horrific roads and a constant and intense awareness that safety, security and/or efficient health services are not a given.

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In The Spotlight: Elon University

Submitted By: Nita Skillman

Full Center Name: School of Health Sciences

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Hidden Brain – When Everything Clicks: The Power of Judgment-Free Learning

Author: Shankar Vedantam,
Submitted by: Dan Brown, Emory University

Hidden Brain is a podcast that “reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, and the biases that shape our choices.” Nearly every episode illuminates our work in Human Simulation in some way, but the episode “When Everything Clicks” is particularly applicable. The episode is an exploration of how we learn, and the environments in which we’re expected to learn, and the keys to success and failure as a learner.

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She Didn’t Want a Pelvic Exam. She Received One Anyway.

By: Emma Goldberg, The New York Times
Submitted by: Todd Lash, The Ohio State University

Janine, a nurse in Arizona, checked into the hospital for stomach surgery in 2017. Before the procedure, she told her physician that she did not want medical students to be directly involved. But after the operation, Janine said, as the anesthesia wore off, a resident came by to inform her that she had gotten her period; the resident had noticed while conducting a pelvic exam. “What pelvic exam?” Janine, 33, asked. Distressed, she tried to piece together what had happened while she was unconscious. Why had her sexual organs been inspected during an abdominal operation, by someone other than her surgeon? Later, she said, her physician explained that the operating team had seen she was due for a Pap smear.

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IMSH 2020 Plenary Speaker: Cary Lohrenz

Submitted by: Janice Radway, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

I had the good fortune to attend the 2020 International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare conference in San Diego this past January. Not only did I enjoy beautiful San Diego and the warm weather, but I took in a variety of keynote speakers and a number of inspiring workshops and talks.

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Reliability of Scores Obtained from Standardized Patient and Instructor Assessments

Lead Author: Gulsen Tasdelen Teker
Submitted by: Kathy Herzberger, Loma Linda School of Medicine

We all know how hard it is to recruit instructors to participate in OSCE assessment. One alternative is to use standardized patients as raters. However, are they as reliable as instructors are? Although not a large study, I found the results very interesting.

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Three Zones of Cultural Competency: Surface Competency, Bias Twilight, and the Confronting Midnight Zone

By: Tanisha Jowsey
Submitted by: Todd Lash, The Ohio State University

Regulatory authorities in healthcare are authorized to develop and assess the cultural competence of their professionals. There remains significant diversity on approaches to cultural competency training and assessment. Little evidence exists about whether existing cultural competency training leads to improved patient health outcomes and reductions in health disparity.

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Three-Dimensional Needs of Standardized Patients in Nursing Simulations and Collaboration Strategies: A Qualitative Analysis

Lead Author: Hye-Rim Jin
Submitted by: Kerensa Peterson, NBOME Chicago

The authors of this study in Korea have asked what drives Standardized Patients to do great simulation work.  Their results give further explanation to studies that have been conducted since the 1990s, offering examples of how SPs find meaning in their work, are shown empathy for their work, and participate in the education process.

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U.S. Medical Schools Boost LGBTQ Students, Doctor Training

By: Lindsey Tanner, AP News
Submitted by: Todd Lash, The Ohio State University

Aliya Feroe recalls the flustered OB-GYN who referred her to another physician after learning she identified as queer. For Rhi Ledgerwood, who was designated female at birth, identifies as trans and doesn’t have sex with men, it was a doctor advising about condoms and pregnancy prevention. For Tim Keyes, who came out as gay at age 17, it’s when doctors automatically assumed he sleeps with women. Ask any LGBTQ patient about awkward doctor visits and chances are they’ll have a story to tell.

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Girl Scouts Teach Budding Doctors How to Communicate with Young Patients

Author: Mari A. Schaefer
Submitted by: Janice Radway, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Have you had difficulty finding pediatric patients for your SP programs? The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine found a great collaboration in their local Girl Scouts troupe. These scouts were trained as SPs to give osteopathic students a chance to practice their interpersonal and communication skills with pediatric patients. The scouts also benefited from the experience, noted Renee Cree, spokesperson for the college. They learned what to ask of doctors when dealing with their own health.

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Are Rating Scales Really Better than Checklists for Measuring Increasing Levels of Expertise

Lead Author: Timothy Wood
Submitted by: Kathy Herzberger, Loma Linda School of Medicine

This is a very interesting article reexamining the relationship between increased training and scoring instruments on OSCE stations. This study explores whether checklists or global rating scales are better at evaluating increasing levels of expertise.

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In The Spotlight: California Baptist University

Submitted By: Sarah Pearce

Full Center Name: School of Nursing Interprofessional Education Learning Resource Center

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ASPE Standards of Best Practice Translated into Japanese

Lead Author: Keiko Abe, Aichi Medical University Collage of Nursing and Cathy Smith, Baycrest Health Sciences
Submitted by: Holly Gerzina,
Northeast Ohio Medical University 

The Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) Standards of Best Practice (SOBP), published in Advances in Simulation in 2017, represents an important milestone in the development of SP methodology and the professionalization of the practices of those who work with SPs. Designed to be used in conjunction with other simulation standards, such as those developed by INACSL, the ASPE SOBP focus on providing principles and practices that help ensure safety and effectiveness related to the work of all human role players involved in simulation. Currently, the SOBP have only been published in English. Although the SOBP are being implemented in many English speaking countries, there is a barrier related to putting the ASPE SOBP into practice in countries where English is not the first language. As ASPE’s mission is global the ASPE International Committee has initiated the translation of these standards into other languages. The Japanese version is available now on ASPE’s website. This initiative represents the first of many translations of ASPE SOBP into other languages to ensure that simulation practitioners around the world can benefit from using these standards.

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In The Spotlight: University of Portland

Submitted By: Jodi Blankenship

Full Center Name: University of Portland Simulated Health Center

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Saving the Family Physician One Doctor at a Time through ‘Lifestyle Medicine’

Author: Melissa Chefec
Submitted by: Janice Radway, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Physician burnout, especially among family doctors who often labor long hours with little support, is a major problem in the United Sates, contributing to a growing nationwide shortage of practitioners. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based St. Luke’s University Health Network has launched an innovative residency program to stop burn-out before it happens. The new program promotes “lifestyle medicine” not only for patients, but also for doctors themselves.

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Effect of a Single-Session Communication Skills Training on Empathy in Medical Students

Lead Author: Cheryl D’souza
Submitted by: Catherine Hagele, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Empathy scores have been found to decline over the years spent in medical school. These authors aimed to evaluate the change in empathy levels in medical students following a single-session communications skills training. While levels initially went up, they then went down after a few weeks. A regular communications skills training program may enhance empathy and prevent its decline over the years.

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How to Define Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entry into Residency?

Lead Author: Ylva Holzhausen
Submitted by: Mary Launder, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

The definition of core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for entry into postgraduate training has become an active field of development. Many institutions are currently considering the use of EPAs as outcomes for their undergraduate medical programs. These institutions can build in part on EPAs which have been reported at a national level and at a local level, but will be required to undertake their own content validation process to adapt these EPAs to their specific context. However, available reports do not include a fully detailed description of the EPA development process which could guide other institutions. In this article, we report in detail on a systematic, literature-based approach we employed to define core EPAs for entry into residency as outcomes for the undergraduate medical curriculum at Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

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