Studies done in the A.A. Hijmans van den Bergh Building are aimed at improving the quality of education. Staff members at the Center for Research and Development in Education carry out the studies, which fall into three main groups: 'vertical integration', 'determinants of academic success', and 'quality of clinical training', which was added recently.
Vertical integration
Students learn best in the environment in which they will have to apply what they learn. This view underlies 'vertical integration' in the teaching of medicine. Within this framework, Eugène Custers is studying how much basic knowledge doctors need to be good doctors. “In the past, students received a basic education followed by two years of practical training. Nowadays, theory and practice overlap much more than they used to. That’s why we’re studying whether students are still taught enough theory. Another question is: Is it true students can better remember what they’ve learned if they learn this within the context of patient care? After all, this is the environment in which they will have to be able to use this knowledge later on.” It is also important to know how long they retain what they learned in their basic courses once they are out of medical school. “We’re studying this as well.”
Determinants of academic success
Which factors influence a student’s university career? This is the question Prof. Olle ten Cate and Marjo Wijnen-Meijer want to answer in their study into “determinants for the success of trainee doctors.” “Why do medical students choose to specialize in a certain area? And what is the course of the transition from the basic medical program to an advanced training program? Students sometimes have to wait two years before they can start their specialist training. We would like to know whether those students who received a 'modern' education move on to advanced programs more quickly. Are they more aware of what they want to do and how to achieve this?” The researchers are also examining the differences between male and female students. “Does the professional development of men and women happen in a different way, and if so, what are the reasons for this?”
Quality of clinical training
“Many of the studies we conduct have to do with the quality of clinical training,” Ten Cate says. “Giving good feedback is important to this quality. In order to learn from what you do, you have to get feedback. Sometimes you get immediate feedback. For example, if you don’t do it right. Sometimes this feedback is indirect and only comes much later on. Sometimes it’s detailed, sometimes general, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Sometimes from a single individual, sometimes from different people. So what’s the best way to give feedback? At the center, we study this in different ways.”
How do you evaluate a trainee specialist?
What should training for medical specialists involve? And what is the best way to evaluate the trainee specialists (AIOS)? Ten Cate: “When can you comfortably entrust someone with a specific activity, for example, putting in an intravenous drip or giving a patient bad news? Right now the evaluation is often informal and vague. Of course, you want to be certain someone can handle it.” Ten Cate introduced the term “Entrustable Professional Activity” (EPA). These critical professional activities require a variety of different skills all at the same time. “We are trying to determine more accurately what an AIOS has to be able to do to master an activity. In this way we can objectively document their progress,” explains Ten Cate.