A validated search assessment tool: assessing practice-based learning and improvement in a residency program

Objective:

The objective of this study was to validate an assessment instrument for MEDLINE search strategies at an academic medical center.

Method:

Two approaches were used to investigate if the search assessment tool could capture performance differences in search strategy construction. First, data from an evaluation of MEDLINE searches from a pediatric resident''s longitudinal assessment were investigated. Second, a cross-section of search strategies from residents in one incoming class was compared with strategies of residents graduating a year later. MEDLINE search strategies formulated by faculty who had been identified as having search expertise were used as a gold standard comparison. Participants were presented with a clinical scenario and asked to identify the search question and conduct a MEDLINE search. Two librarians rated the blinded search strategies.

Results:

Search strategy scores were significantly higher for residents who received training than the comparison group with no training. There was no significant difference in search strategy scores between senior residents who received training and faculty experts.

Conclusion:

The results provide evidence for the validity of the instrument to evaluate MEDLINE search strategies. This assessment tool can measure improvements in information-seeking skills and provide data to fulfill Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies.

Highlights

• The University of Michigan MEDLINE Search Assessment tool can be used to assess search skills in residency education.
• Five elements were identified as critical elements in the development of an effective MEDLINE search strategy: inclusion of all search concepts, appropriate use of Medical Subject Headings, appropriate use of search limits, successful combination of all concepts, and search efficiency.

Implications

• This validated assessment tool can serve as an effective means to measure improvements in residents'' information-seeking skills and provide data to fulfill Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies.

     

Learning about domestic violence: young people's responses to a Healthy Relationships programme

This paper reports on an evaluation of a drama‐based Healthy Relationships programme on domestic violence delivered on a pilot basis to Year 8 pupils. The programme included a play delivered by a local theatre‐in‐education company followed by a series of weekly workshops. Eighty‐five pupils in a secondary school located in an area with high rates of social exclusion participated in the programme and the evaluation. Pupils completed questionnaires immediately before and after the programme and one year after the programme had finished. Thirteen pupils also took part in gendered discussion groups, which considered their views and opinions concerning the play and the workshops. The evaluation indicated that the programme was successful in enhancing pupils' understandings of domestic violence up to one year after delivery. Pupils responded well to the use of drama as a medium for learning, and some young people were able to demonstrate that they had developed positive ideas about healthy relationships. However, there was evidence of uncertainly for some young people with regard to the gendered nature of domestic violence following the programme. The discussion highlights this issue and identifies additional recommendations for both future research and future programmes.     

First order or higher order general factor?

The Schmid‐Leiman decomposition of a hierarchical factor model converts the model to a constrained case of a bifactor model with orthogonal common factors that is equivalent to the hierarchical model. This article discusses the equivalence and near‐equivalence of the hierarchical and bifactor models and the implications of the difficulty of distinguishing between these models because of low power in samples commonly found in academic research.     

The Immigrant Paradox in the Problem Behaviors of Youth in the United States: A Meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesizes the empirical data on problem behaviors among foreign- (G1) and U.S-born (G2+) youth and explores the effects of immigrant status on youth internalizing and externalizing problems. A random effects meta-regression with robust variance estimates summarized effect sizes for internalizing and externalizing problems across 91 studies (N = 179,315, M_age = 13.98). Results indicated that G1 youth reported significantly more internalizing problems (g = .06), and fewer externalizing problems than G2+ youth (g = −.06). Gender and sample type moderated the effects. The findings provide a first-step toward reconciling mixed support for the immigrant paradox by identifying for whom and under what conditions the immigrant experience serves as a risk or protective factor for youth.