Medical Knowledge Assessment Research Articles

Intensive care nurses' knowledge and practices regarding medical device-related pressure injuries: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

This study aims to determine the levels of knowledge and practices of intensive care nurses regarding medical device-related pressure injuries (MDRPIs). This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between September 2023 and February 2024, involving 143 nurses working in intensive care units across three hospitals in Türkiye. The data were collected using the demographic form and the Medical Device-related Pressure Injuries Knowledge and Practice Assessment Tool (MDPI-ASSET). Of the nurses, 74.1% have encountered MDRPIs in their unit, 63.6% feel that their knowledge about MDRPIs is insufficient and 90.2% express a desire to receive training about MDRPIs. The participants' total mean MDPI-ASSET score was 11.12 (out of 21). The nurses achieved the highest mean score on the Aetiology/risk factors sub-scale and the lowest mean score on the Staging sub-scale. The analysis revealed significant differences in the mean MDPI-ASSET total scores among nurses based on the status of previous encounters with MDRPIs (t = 2.342; p = 0.021) and their feelings of responsibility for the development of MDRPIs (t = -2.746; p = 0.007). In this study, the knowledge and practices of intensive care nurses regarding medical device-induced pressure injuries were found to be inadequate. Given the frequent occurrence of MDRPIs in intensive care units, it is necessary to support nurses with continuous organizational-level training to improve the quality of care for critically ill patients.

Foundations of Emergency Medicine: Impact of a Standardized, Open-access, Core Content Curriculum on In-Training Exam Scores.

Learners frequently benefit from modalities such as small-group, case-based teaching and interactive didactic experiences rather than passive learning methods. These contemporary techniques are features of Foundations of Emergency Medicine (FoEM) curricula, and particularly the Foundations I (F1) course, which targets first-year resident (PGY-1) learners. The American Board of Emergency Medicine administers the in-training exam (ITE) that provides an annual assessment of EM-specific medical knowledge. We sought to assess the effect of F1 implementation on ITE scores. We retrospectively analyzed data from interns at four EM residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. We collected data in 2021. Participating sites were geographically diverse and included three- and four-year training formats. We collected data from interns two years before (control group) and two years after (intervention group) implementation of F1 at each site. Year of F1 implementation ranged from 2015-2018 at participating sites. We abstracted data using a standard form including program, ITE raw score, year of ITE administration, US Medical Licensing Exam Step 1 score, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) score, and gender. We performed univariable and multivariable linear regression to explore differences between intervention and control groups. We collected data for 180 PGY-1s. Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores were significant predictors of ITE in univariable analyses (both with P < 0.001). After accounting for Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores, we did not find F1 implementation to be a significant predictor of ITE score, P = 0.83. Implementation of F1 curricula did not show significant changes in performance on the ITE after controlling for important variables.

Evaluation and Monitoring System for Exercise Rehabilitation Based on Combined Chinese and Western Medicine Technology

INTRODUCTION: Developing exercise rehabilitation assessment and monitoring systems is essential in rehabilitation medicine. Introduces a sports rehabilitation assessment and monitoring system based on combining Chinese and Western medicine technology, aiming to integrate traditional Chinese and Western medicine theory and modern Western medicine technology to provide more comprehensive and personalized rehabilitation services. Through the systematic integration of technologies, the author is committed to building an efficient and precise rehabilitation system to provide patients with more scientific and practical rehabilitation programs. OBJECTIVE: The research system employs various sensor technologies, including motion capture devices, biosensors, and pulse recognition technology, by combining Chinese and Western medicine. The motion capture device enables real-time monitoring of the patient's movement trajectory, joint mobility, and other physiological indicators; the biosensor collects the patient's physiological data, such as heart rate and blood pressure. Meanwhile, Chinese and Western medicine pulse recognition technology was introduced to obtain pulse information specific to Chinese and Western medicine to provide more comprehensive data support for rehabilitation assessment. Integrating these technologies, a multi-level and multi-dimensional rehabilitation assessment system was established. METHODS: This study aims to improve the accuracy and personalization of the rehabilitation assessment and to tailor a rehabilitation plan more in line with the patient's actual situation. Through the combination of Chinese and Western medicine techniques, it aims to break the single perspective of traditional rehabilitation assessment and make the rehabilitation plan closer to the physiological characteristics and pathological state of the patients as well as the needs of the combination of Chinese and Western medicine in the identification and treatment. RESULTS: The system has achieved remarkable results in practical application. The accurate monitoring of the motion capture device provides a more comprehensive understanding of the patient's motor status and accurately analyzes the rehabilitation progress. At the same time, the data collection of biosensors provides doctors with more detailed physiological information, enabling them to formulate rehabilitation plans more comprehensively. The introduction of combined Chinese and Western medicine pulse recognition technology adds a unique auxiliary diagnostic tool of collaborative Chinese and Western medicine to the rehabilitation assessment and improves the personalized level of the rehabilitation plan. CONCLUSION: The sports rehabilitation assessment and monitoring system combining Chinese and Western medicine technology brings new ideas and methods for developing rehabilitation medicine. By fully utilizing the advantages of modern technology and traditional medical knowledge, a comprehensive and in-depth rehabilitation assessment system was constructed to provide patients with more scientific and caring rehabilitation services. Future research will optimize the system's performance and promote the broad application of integrated Chinese and Western medicine technology in rehabilitation.

Assessment of medical students' knowledge of primary limb sarcomas

IntroductionTypically, oncology is not a structured part of the curriculum in Brazilian medical schools. Furthermore, sarcomas, which are uncommon tumors, are seldom covered in depth. A lack of comprehensive education on sarcomas might result in medical professionals being ill-equipped to care for patients with this condition.ObjectivesTo assess medical students' understanding and awareness of sarcomas and the specific principles related to these tumors.Materials and methodsA quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire, applied to medical students, focusing on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatments of bone and soft tissue sarcomas. In all tests, the significance level adopted was 5%. The SPSS version 25.0 software was used.ResultsOf the 825 questionnaires distributed, 325 were returned. Educational sessions on sarcomas did not appear to significantly improve the student's knowledge. Only 29.5% of students identified the lack of pain as an indicator of potential malignancy in soft tissue sarcomas, while 73.8% correctly recognized pain as a symptom of bone sarcomas. Limb amputation as the optimal surgical method for patient recovery was incorrectly reported by 39.1% of the sample.ConclusionA great part of the surveyed population does not have adequate knowledge about the basic concepts associated with limb sarcomas. The minority of them are satisfied with the knowledge gained during their medical education about these tumors. Inadequate medical academic training may initially lead to the wrong clinical management of patients with bone and soft tissue tumor lesions. An educational effort is needed to enhance oncology education for medical students, especially concerning sarcomas.

Assessment of medical students knowledge and attitude toward infertility at Jouf University, Saudi Arabia

Background: Infertility is considered a chronic disease of the reproductive system, affecting both males and females. The goal of this study wass to assess medical students&amp;apos; knowledge and attitudes concerning infertility at Jouf University in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out on medical students at Jouf University from February to October of 2023. We designed our study with fourteen questions for knowledge and four questions for attitude. Results: A total of 121 medical students participated, with 46.2% male and 53.7% female. Compared to male students (67.8%), female students (75.3%) exhibited better knowledge and attitudes (P=0.001). Additionally, there was a strong correlation between knowledge and attitude, with means and standard deviations calculated based on demographic factors. However, a lack of knowledge regarding contraceptive use was observed in 75.3% of female and 57.1% of male students. The majority of students responded positively to the attitude questions, with 80% of female students believing that infertility is a curable disease. The binary logistic regression showed that students aged 22 to 26 had 53% more knowledge than those aged 18 to 21 (OR: 1.733; 95% CI 1.087 to 2.865). In addition, second-year students had more knowledge than first-year students (OR: 0.587; 95% CI 0.254 to 0.977), followed by third-year students (OR: 0.462; 95% CI 0.186 to 0.745), fourth-year students (OR: 0.182; 95% CI 0.152 to 0.713), and fifth-year students (OR: 0.287; 95% CI 0.097 to 0.371). Conclusion: The majority of the medical students at Jouf University responded favorably to questions about their knowledge and attitudes toward infertility.

Assessment of medical students' knowledge regarding radiation associated risk and its protection: finding from a cross-sectional study.

The current study assessed the knowledge of the medical students regarding the nature of radiation, associated risks, and protective measures. A cross-sectional study was conducted among international students enrolled in different medical colleges/universities in Xian, PR China. A self-developed and self-reported questionnaire was used for the current study. The descriptive statistics was carried out to summarize the finding of the study. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were conducted to assess the association of the demographics with knowledge level. A total of 796 students responded among 980. Most of the participants fell in the age range of 20-25 years (42.6%), being male (67.1%) and having bachelor's education (56.7%). Participants with previous experience was 58.7%. The age group of 20-25 years (p < 0.001), being male (p < 0.001), having bachelor education (p < 0.001), and previous experience (p = 0.009) was significantly associated with moderate to good knowledge. The overall knowledge about the nature of radiation (96%) and associated risk (82%) was good, but regarding protection, 59% of the participants showed good knowledge. Most of the participants showed satisfactory result. However, the knowledge regarding protection measures was poor in almost half of the population.

ChatGPT Conquers the Saudi Medical Licensing Exam: Exploring the Accuracy of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Knowledge Assessment and Implications for Modern Medical Education.

Background The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is undergoing rapid advancements, with models such as ChatGPT-4 showing potential in medical education. This study aims to evaluate the proficiency of ChatGPT-4 in answering Saudi Medical Licensing Exam (SMLE) questions. Methodology A dataset of 220 questions across four medical disciplines was used. The model was trained using a specific code to answer the questions accurately, and its performance was assessed using key performance indicators, difficulty level, and exam sections. Results ChatGPT-4 demonstrated an overall accuracy of 88.6%. It showed high proficiency with Easy and Average questions, but accuracy decreased for Hard questions. Performance was consistent across all disciplines, indicating a broad knowledge base. However, an error analysis revealed areas for further refinement, particularly with category (Option) A questions across all sections. Conclusions This study underscores the potential of ChatGPT-4 as an AI-assisted tool in medical education, demonstrating high proficiency in answering SMLE questions. Future research is recommended to expand the scope of training and evaluation as well as to enhance the model's performance on complex clinical questions.

Impact of reference panel composition on scores of script concordance test assessing basic nephrology knowledge in undergraduate medical education

Purpose In the assessment of basic medical knowledge, the composition of the reference panel between specialists and primary care (PC) physicians is a contentious issue. We assessed the effect of panel composition on the scores of undergraduate medical students in a script concordance test (SCT). Methods The scale of an SCT on basic nephrology knowledge was set by a panel of nephrologists or a mixed panel of nephrologists and PC physicians. The results of the SCTs were compared with ANOVA for repeated measurements. Concordance was assessed with Bland and Altman plots. Results Forty-five students completed the SCT. Their scores differed according to panel composition: 65.6 ± 9.73/100 points for nephrologists, and 70.27 ± 8.82 for the mixed panel, p < 0.001. Concordance between the scores was low with a bias of −4.27 ± 2.19 and a 95% limit of agreement of −8.96 to −0.38. Panel composition led to a change in the ranking of 71% of students (mean 3.6 ± 2.6 places). Conclusion The composition of the reference panel, either specialist or mixed, for SCT assessment of basic knowledge has an impact on test results and student rankings.

Assessment of medical knowledge toward genetic testing for individuals with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome in Brazil

Genetic testing has become increasingly used in medical practice to enable genetic cancer risk assessment. In Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome (HBOC), it can be used to screen pathogenic germline variants. The access to early diagnosis, from the request until the proper interpretation of genetic tests depends on medical knowledge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of family physicians, oncologists, geneticists and gynecologists regarding genetic testing for patients with suspected HBOC in Brazil. A cross-sectional survey of physicians was performed using a self-administered questionnaire. One hundred and ninety-two physicians answered the questionnaire (23 were geneticists, 38 gynecologists, 39 family physicians, and 92 oncologists). Only 15.4% of family physicians and 26% of gynecologists feel prepared to order genetic testing for patients with personal and/or family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer. Even though 87% of the oncologists have genetic testing available in their clinical practice, only 51.1% consider they have sufficient knowledge to manage patients after detecting a pathogenic germline variant and 17.4% do not feel comfortable interpreting them. Most oncologists and geneticists are very knowledgeable about recommendations for genetic testing order and management of HBOC patients. On the other hand, gynecologists and family physicians order genetic testing less frequently (28.9% and 7.7%, respectively) and have difficulties interpreting (26.3% and 2.3%, respectively) and managing these patients. These observations raise important issues regarding the implementation of genetic testing in Brazil, including the development of training programs for physicians from different specialties.

Success of ChatGPT, an AI language model, in taking the French language version of the European Board of Ophthalmology examination: A novel approach to medical knowledge assessment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of ChatGPT, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) language model developed by OpenAI, in successfully completing the French language version of the European Board of Ophthalmology (EBO) examination and to assess its potential role in medical education and knowledge assessment. ChatGPT, based on the GPT-4 architecture, was exposed to a series of EBO examination questions in French, covering various aspects of ophthalmology. The AI's performance was evaluated by comparing its responses with the correct answers provided by ophthalmology experts. Additionally, the study assessed the time taken by ChatGPT to answer each question as a measure of efficiency. ChatGPT achieved a 91% success rate on the EBO examination, demonstrating a high level of competency in ophthalmology knowledge and application. The AI provided correct answers across all question categories, indicating a strong understanding of basic sciences, clinical knowledge, and clinical management. The AI model also answered the questions rapidly, taking only a fraction of the time needed by human test-takers. ChatGPT's performance on the French language version of the EBO examination demonstrates its potential to be a valuable tool in medical education and knowledge assessment. Further research is needed to explore optimal ways to implement AI language models in medical education and to address the associated ethical and practical concerns.

Improved Performance of ChatGPT-4 on the OKAP Examination: A Comparative Study with ChatGPT-3.5.

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the performance of ChatGPT-4, an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) language model, on the Ophthalmology Knowledge Assessment Program (OKAP) examination compared to its predecessor, ChatGPT-3.5. Methods: Both models were tested on 180 OKAP practice questions covering various ophthalmology subject categories. Results: ChatGPT-4 significantly outperformed ChatGPT-3.5 (81% vs. 57%; p <0.001), indicating improvements in medical knowledge assessment. Discussion: The superior performance of ChatGPT-4 suggests potential applicability in ophthalmologic education and clinical decision support systems. Future research should focus on refining AI models, ensuring a balanced representation of fundamental and specialized knowledge, and determining the optimal method of integrating AI into medical education and practice.

Evaluating ChatGPT Performance on the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds potential in improving medical education and healthcare delivery. ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art natural language processing AI model which has shown impressive capabilities, scoring in the top percentiles on numerous standardized examinations, including the Uniform Bar Exam and Scholastic Aptitude Test. The goal of this study was to evaluate ChatGPT performance on the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE), an assessment of medical knowledge for orthopedic residents. OITE 2020, 2021, and 2022 questions without images were inputted into ChatGPT version 3.5 and version 4 (GPT-4) with zero prompting. The performance of ChatGPT was evaluated as a percentage of correct responses and compared with the national average of orthopedic surgery residents at each postgraduate year (PGY) level. ChatGPT was asked to provide a source for its answer, which was categorized as being a journal article, book, or website, and if the source could be verified. Impact factor for the journal cited was also recorded. ChatGPT answered 196 of 360 answers correctly (54.3%), corresponding to a PGY-1 level. ChatGPT cited a verifiable source in 47.2% of questions, with an average median journal impact factor of 5.4. GPT-4 answered 265 of 360 questions correctly (73.6%), corresponding to the average performance of a PGY-5 and exceeding the corresponding passing score for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Part I Examination of 67%. GPT-4 cited a verifiable source in 87.9% of questions, with an average median journal impact factor of 5.2. ChatGPT performed above the average PGY-1 level and GPT-4 performed better than the average PGY-5 level, showing major improvement. Further investigation is needed to determine how successive versions of ChatGPT would perform and how to optimize this technology to improve medical education. AI has the potential to aid in medical education and healthcare delivery.

A Pilot Study Assessment of Medical Student Knowledge and System Citizenship Attitudes Pertaining to Health Systems Science.

Health system science (HSS) has been described as the third pillar of medical education. We introduced a new health system science and interprofessional practice (HSSIP) curriculum, and measured students' HSS knowledge and attitudes concerning health system citizenship. This pilot study involved first-year (M1) and fourth-year (M4) medical students in two cohorts across 2 years. Only M1 students in the second cohort participated in the new HSSIP curriculum. We compared student performance on a new National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) HSS subject exam, and student attitudes toward system citizenship via a new attitudinal survey. Fifty-six eligible fourth-year students (68%) and 70 (76%) study eligible first-year students participated in the study. NBME HSS exam performance by M4 students was statistically significantly higher than M1 students for both cohorts, with moderate to large effect sizes. Exam performance for M1 students not experiencing the HSS curriculum was higher than for M1 students who received HSS curricular content. Attitudes toward HSS by M4 versus M1 students were statistically significantly different on several survey items with moderate effect sizes. Scale internal consistency for the HSS attitude survey was strong (0.83 or higher). There were differences among M4 and M1 medical students concerning knowledge of and attitudes toward HSS, with performance on the NBME subject exam similar to a national sample. Exam performance by M1 students was likely impacted by class size and other factors. Our results support the need for increased attention to HSS during medical education. Our health system citizenship survey has potential for further development and cross-institutional collaboration.

Assessment of Medical Students' Knowledge of Imaging Methods for Bone Sarcomas.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in Brazil and worldwide. However, Brazilian medical education fails to include oncology as an essential topic. This creates a gap between the health status of the population and medical education. Bone sarcomas fall into both the group of malignant neoplasms and rare diseases and are thus doubly influenced by misinformation. To assess medical students' knowledge of imaging diagnostic methods for bone sarcomas. A cross-sectional, quantitative study was undertaken by obtaining the responses of medical students to a questionnaire containing radiographic images and questions about the radiological aspects of bone sarcomas. The categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test. The level of significance was 5% for all the tests. SPSS software version 25.0 was used for the analysis. A total of 325 responses were collected, with 72% of the participants having no interest in oncology and 55.6-63.9% not knowing how to diagnose a periosteal reaction on bone radiography. Only 11.1-17.1% of the students correctly interpreted the radiographic image of osteosarcoma. Medical students fail to correctly interpret images of bone sarcomas. It is important to promote oncology undergraduate education in general and to include the approach to bone sarcomas in this context.

Development and psychometric property testing of a Medical Device-related Pressure Injuries Knowledge and Practice Assessment Tool.

We aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of a Medical Device-related Pressure Injuries Knowledge and Practice Assessment Tool. Assessment of nurses' knowledge and practices is critical in the prevention of Medical Device-related Pressure Injuries. This was an instrument development and testing study. The sample of the study consisted of nurses (n= 189). The study was conducted in three phases between January and February 2021. In the first phase, multiple-choice items contained within Aetiology/Risk Factors, Prevention Interventions, and Staging domains were created. In the second phase, content validity and criterion validity were evaluated, and the tool was pre-tested. The third phase examined item difficulty, discrimination index and distractor quality. The test-retest method was used for reliability. The Content Validity Index was found to be 0.75, 0.86 and 0.96 for the domains of Aetiology/Risk Factors, Prevention and Staging, respectively. The item difficulty values of the items were between 0.18 and 0.96. A positive, strong and significant relationship was found between the results and a positive, moderate and significant relationship between the tools administered for the proof of scale validity. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was found to be 0.54. The tool is a suitable measurement instrument for use in nursing education, research and clinical settings.

How Does ChatGPT Perform on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)? The Implications of Large Language Models for Medical Education and Knowledge Assessment.

Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is a 175-billion-parameter natural language processing model that can generate conversation-style responses to user input. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of ChatGPT on questions within the scope of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 exams, as well as to analyze responses for user interpretability. We used 2 sets of multiple-choice questions to evaluate ChatGPT's performance, each with questions pertaining to Step 1 and Step 2. The first set was derived from AMBOSS, a commonly used question bank for medical students, which also provides statistics on question difficulty and the performance on an exam relative to the user base. The second set was the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) free 120 questions. ChatGPT's performance was compared to 2 other large language models, GPT-3 and InstructGPT. The text output of each ChatGPT response was evaluated across 3 qualitative metrics: logical justification of the answer selected, presence of information internal to the question, and presence of information external to the question. Of the 4 data sets, AMBOSS-Step1, AMBOSS-Step2, NBME-Free-Step1, and NBME-Free-Step2, ChatGPT achieved accuracies of 44% (44/100), 42% (42/100), 64.4% (56/87), and 57.8% (59/102), respectively. ChatGPT outperformed InstructGPT by 8.15% on average across all data sets, and GPT-3 performed similarly to random chance. The model demonstrated a significant decrease in performance as question difficulty increased (P=.01) within the AMBOSS-Step1 data set. We found that logical justification for ChatGPT's answer selection was present in 100% of outputs of the NBME data sets. Internal information to the question was present in 96.8% (183/189) of all questions. The presence of information external to the question was 44.5% and 27% lower for incorrect answers relative to correct answers on the NBME-Free-Step1 (P<.001) and NBME-Free-Step2 (P=.001) data sets, respectively. ChatGPT marks a significant improvement in natural language processing models on the tasks of medical question answering. By performing at a greater than 60% threshold on the NBME-Free-Step-1 data set, we show that the model achieves the equivalent of a passing score for a third-year medical student. Additionally, we highlight ChatGPT's capacity to provide logic and informational context across the majority of answers. These facts taken together make a compelling case for the potential applications of ChatGPT as an interactive medical education tool to support learning.

Assessment of medical students' Surgery knowledge based on Progress Test.

Progress Testing (PT) is an assessment tool whose use has grown throughout Brazil in the last decade. PT makes it possible to assess the students' knowledge gain throughout the undergraduate course and, for their interpretations to be valid, their items (questions) must have adequate quality from the point of view of content validity and reliability of results. In this study, we analyzed the psychometric characteristics of the items and the performance of students in the content area of surgery from 2017 to 2023. For the analyses, we used the assumptions of Classical Test Theory, Bloom's taxonomy and Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient. The items were easy (average difficulty index between 0.3-0.4), with fair to good discrimination (discrimination index between 0.3-0.4) and with a predominance of medium to high taxonomy. Reliability remained substantial over the years (>0.6). Students' knowledge gain in surgery was found to be progressive and more important from the 3rd year of the undergraduate course, reaching approximately 70-75% in the 6th year. This measurements framework can be replicated in other contexts for a better understanding of student learning and for qualification of evaluation processes.

Assessment of Male Medical Students' Knowledge and Attitudes About Prostate Cancer and Screening at the University of Khartoum

Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common cancer among men in Sudan. It was ranked fourth among all cancer treatment centers in Khartoum. This study aimed to assess knowledge and attitude toward PC among male medical students in their final and semifinal years at the University of Khartoum. Methods and Results: A descriptive cross-sectional online survey was conducted at the University of Khartoum (Faculty of Medicine) on semifinal and final-year male medical students from March 2022 until May 2022. Data were collected from medical students, using a standardized, pretested, coded questionnaire that contained close-ended questions. The questionnaire was distributed online to the medical students using Google Forms. Knowledge levels were determined using 10 questions on risk factors, signs and symptoms, prevention, treatment, and complications of PC. A total of 131 participants received questionnaires, and the response rate was 100%. The results are presented in chronological order in the way they were analyzed, starting with sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, sources of information on PC, knowledge levels (low, medium, and high) of PC, and attitude levels (positive, negative) relating to the year of study. All medical students in the last 2 years have heard about PC, and medical students overwhelmingly (88.5%) believe that early detection of PC through screening improves survival. Almost all the respondents in our study indicated their willingness to go for PC screening (87.8%), and the rest of the respondents’ attitudes about the importance of PC and treatment were positive. Conclusion: Most students have sufficient knowledge about prostate cancer, its risk factors, complications, and treatment. Medical students are an important population in studying the determinants of screening for prostate cancer.

Designing a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Virtual Curriculum: Assessment of Medical Student Knowledge, Surgical Skill, and Community Building.

The COVID-19 pandemic displaced medical students from their rotations and into virtual classrooms. The authors aimed to develop a virtual curriculum with the goals for students to gain knowledge in plastic surgery, to acquire technical skills, and to be able to promote community. The authors developed a 4-week educational curriculum of topics in plastic surgery using the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Resident Education Curriculum and an online plastic surgery curriculum. Virtual flipped classroom case discussions and weekly surgical skills workshops were offered. Precourse and postcourse surveys were administered, and results were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25.0. Three hundred three medical students and recent graduates enrolled in the course in June of 2020. One hundred eighty-two students completed the precourse survey (60 percent response rate), and of those, 50.0 percent ( n = 91) completed the postcourse survey for paired comparison. Students reported significant improvement in confidence discussing the relevant anatomy, workup, and surgical approaches to clinical cases, in addition to confidence in knowledge of all topic areas ( p < 0.001). Confidence in suturing and knot-tying techniques improved significantly among workshop participants ( p < 0.001). Students applying to residency programs this cycle felt significantly more prepared for subinternships ( p < 0.001) and significantly more connected to the community of applicants ( p < 0.001). The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Virtual Curriculum improved knowledge, surgical skills, and community in the field among medical student participants. This course may serve to provide a framework for structured virtual learning activities for students interested in plastic surgery and may have significant long-lasting utility for students interested in the field.

Great Question! The Art and Science of Crafting High-Quality Multiple-Choice Questions.

Assessment of medical knowledge is essential to determine the progress of an adult learner. Well-crafted multiple-choice questions are one proven method of testing a learner's understanding of a specific topic. The authors provide readers with rules that must be followed to create high-quality multiple-choice questions. Common question writing mistakes are also addressed to assist readers in improving their item-writing skills.