Our five-year study, following a curriculum overhaul to an 18-month integrated pre-clerkship module, showed no notable disparity in student pediatric clerkship performance in clinical knowledge and skills across 11 varied geographic teaching sites, after adjusting for pre-clerkship performance. Maintaining consistency across numerous teaching sites and faculty within a growing network can be achieved by developing specialty-specific curriculum resources, faculty development support, and objective-based assessments of learning.

Earlier research on the professional progress of USU's medical graduates made use of a survey administered to USU alumni for the source of the data. The impact of accomplishments on military retention is the focus of this current study; the analysis examines the relationship between military achievements, such as military career milestones and academic successes, and military retention.
Using survey responses from USU alumni (1980-2017), researchers studied the link between various survey items—military rank, medical specialties, and operational experiences—and military retention.
Of the respondents with a deployment history in support of operational missions, 206 (representing 671 percent) chose to extend their service beyond their initial active duty commitment or planned to do so. Fellowship directors, numbering 65 (723% of the total), demonstrated a superior retention rate compared to other positions. The PHS alumni group demonstrated the most significant retention rate (n=39, 69%) across military branches, contrasting with the relatively lower retention figures for physicians specializing in areas of high demand, such as otolaryngology and psychiatry.
Future research will help stakeholders identify necessary improvements in retaining highly skilled physicians in the military by exploring why full-time clinicians, junior physicians, and specialists in high-demand medical fields are less likely to remain.
Future research will examine the causes of lower retention among full-time clinicians, junior physicians, and high-demand medical specialists to allow stakeholders to determine the necessary interventions for successfully retaining highly skilled physicians within the military.

The USU School of Medicine (SOM) employs a yearly program director (PD) evaluation survey, designed in 2005, to assess the results of its training program. This survey involves PDs assessing graduates in their first (PGY-1) and third (PGY-3) post-graduate training years. A 2010 revision of the survey aimed to better reflect the competencies defined by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, but subsequent evaluations and revisions have not taken place. This study aimed to refine the psychometric properties of the survey, utilizing 12 years of collected data, with a specific goal to reduce the length of the questionnaire. A supporting objective was to modify the phrasing of existing questions and integrate new components to assess and measure health systems science proficiency.
The survey, circulated to PDs supervising USU SOM graduates of 2008 to 2019 (n=1958), yielded 997 responses for the PGY-1 PD survey and 706 responses for the PGY-3 PD survey. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the 334 complete PGY-1 survey responses as well as the 327 responses obtained from the PGY-3 survey. The survey responses of experienced PDs and the EFA findings were thoroughly reviewed by health professions education scholars, USU Deans, and a group of PDs, who then iteratively developed a proposed revised survey.
Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the PGY-1 and PGY-3 data unveiled three factors. A total of seventeen items showed cross-loading between factors in the PGY-1 or PGY-3 surveys. digital pathology Items that proved problematic due to unclean loadings, ambiguities, redundancy, or difficulty in assessment by PDs were either revised or removed from the list. Revisions and additions to existing items were implemented to align with the SOM curriculum's needs, particularly regarding the newly developed health systems science competencies. Replacing the original 55-item survey with a 36-item revised survey, each of the six competency domains—patient care, communication and interpersonal skills, medical knowledge, professionalism, system-based practice and practice-based learning and improvement, and military-unique practice, deployment, and humanitarian missions—had at least four items.
Over 15 years of data from the PD surveys have yielded significant benefits for the USU SOM. We determined which questions functioned effectively within the survey, and these were improved and supplemented to optimize survey performance and close the knowledge gaps regarding graduate performance. Determining the performance of the modified set of questions will necessitate efforts to increase the completion rate to 100% and ensure the highest possible response rate, with a subsequent EFA to be conducted after approximately 2-4 years. Proceeding beyond residency, USU graduates' longitudinal performance should be assessed to discover if early evaluations (PGY-1 and PGY-3 surveys) are predictive of long-term proficiency in patient care and treatment outcomes.
The USU SOM has enjoyed positive outcomes due to the 15+ years of results gathered from the PD surveys. We pinpointed the high-performing questions, which were subsequently refined and enhanced to improve the survey's effectiveness and address knowledge gaps regarding graduate performance. A 100% survey response and completion rate will be sought in order to assess the success of the revised questions, followed by repeating the EFA analysis in about 2 to 4 years. Medical Knowledge It is crucial to monitor the long-term development of USU graduates beyond residency to understand if their PGY-1 and PGY-3 survey responses are indicative of their future performance and patient outcomes.

There has been a surge in interest in fostering physician leadership across the country. Programs for developing leaders in undergraduate medical education (UME) and graduate medical education (GME) have become more prevalent. Leadership education undertaken by graduates during postgraduate years (PGY) is demonstrably applied to patient care; however, the extent to which leadership qualities cultivated during medical school correlate with performance in graduate medical education (GME) is largely undetermined. Experiential assessments of leadership effectiveness are vital for forecasting future performance. The aim of this study was to examine if (1) a relationship exists between leader performance in the fourth year of medical school and leadership performance in PGY1 and PGY3, and (2) fourth-year medical leadership predicts military leadership performance in PGY1 and PGY3, accounting for prior academic records.
Performance of student leaders within the classes of 2016-2018, in their fourth medical school year, was assessed, along with their subsequent leadership during the post-medical school phase. Leader performance within the medical field practicum (UME leader performance) was evaluated by faculty. Program directors performed evaluations of graduate leader performance after the completion of PGY1 (N=297; 583%) and PGY3 (N=142; 281%). Pearson correlation analysis delved into the associations between UME leader performance and the different facets of PGY leader performance. To investigate the relationship between final-year medical school leadership and military leadership in the first and third postgraduate years, stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were conducted, accounting for academic performance.
Statistical analysis, utilizing Pearson correlation, revealed a connection between UME leader performance and three of the ten variables assessed at the PGY1 phase; in contrast, a strong correlation between UME leader performance and all ten variables emerged at PGY3. Tefinostat concentration Multiple linear regression, employing a stepwise approach, demonstrated that leadership skills developed during the fourth year of medical school accounted for an additional 35% of the variance in PGY1 leadership performance, when controlling for prior academic indicators (MCAT, USMLE Step 1, and Step 2 CK). Differing from other performance indicators, the leaders' performance in their fourth year of medical school alone represented an additional 109% increase in the variation of their leadership skills at the PGY3 level, separate from the effects of their academic achievements. In terms of predicting PGY leader performance, UME leader performance exhibits greater predictive power compared to the MCAT or USMLE Step exams.
The study's outcomes demonstrate a positive link between leadership skills attained at the end of medical school and leadership abilities shown in PGY1 and the subsequent three years of postgraduate medical training. Significantly stronger correlations were present in the PGY3 group than in the PGY1 group. PGY1 residents frequently concentrate on mastering the art of medicine and efficient teamwork, a focus which contrasts with the enhanced understanding of responsibilities and readiness for leadership roles often seen in PGY3 residents. This investigation's findings also showcased that the performance of applicants on the MCAT and USMLE Step exams had no bearing on their leadership performance in postgraduate years one and three. Through these findings, the significance of continuous leadership development in UME becomes apparent, extending its positive impact to other institutions.
Observed leadership performance at the end of medical school is positively related to leadership performance in PGY1 and during the ensuing three years of residency, as indicated by this study's findings. The observed correlations exhibited greater strength among PGY3 residents as opposed to those in PGY1. PGY1 residents are often engrossed in the process of becoming physicians and functioning effectively within a team; contrastingly, PGY3 residents, with a deeper grasp of their roles and obligations, are better positioned to assume more prominent leadership roles. This research further indicated a lack of predictive power for the MCAT and USMLE Step exams in evaluating leadership capabilities amongst PGY1 and PGY3 residents.