Category Archives: Medical School

Introduction

Examinations are ubiquitous in the lives of medical students. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a high-stake clinical assessment that evaluates a broad range of competencies, including history taking, physical examination, communication/interpersonal skills, professionalism, clinical reasoning, and telemedicinewhich has gained importance since the COVID-19 outbreakand the ability to integrate these skills. Effective summative assessment using OSCE (sOSCE) is a time consuming, demanding, and costly operation. OSCEs are exceptional and distinctive in assessing competencies that are difficult to evaluate using other methods. OSCEs have superior psychometric properties. The psychometric attraction of the OSCE is that it assesses the shows how level of the Millers Pyramid with reliability and validity.1 The tips provided are based on available literature and authors expertise in managing formative, summative, and virtual OSCE experiences. Formative OSCEs are assessments FOR learning; they do not count toward a final grade and are for self-assessment purposes only. Summative OSCEs are assessments OF learning that count toward a grade. It has been said that When the cook tastes the soup, thats formative; when the guests taste the food, thats summative.

In view of the current times, the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effect of the administration of all types of OSCE experiences, face-to-face OSCEs have been converted to an online or hybrid format; as a result, tips on virtual OSCEs (vOSCE) have been provided as well. The pandemic has presented educators and learners with several challenges in conducting realistic OSCE experiences. Medical schools have become very adept in using technologies for the continuation of this educational experience. vOSCE is an emerging model for administration of OSCEs. The majority of medical schools in North America have avoided face-to-face learner/Standardized Patient (SP) contact. Very few medical schools provide telemedicine/TeleOSCE instruction to medical students.2 Despite the impediments posed by COVID-19, telemedicine has flourished, and it has been a glimmering highlight that advances medical students knowledge of this new technology through virtual OSCEs. Transitioning to a virtual videoconferencing mode, will necessitate dramatic changes to the administration of vOSCEs. Assessment endpoints needs to be consistent, thus educational objectives need adaption to the virtual milieu. Attributes of digital communication and webside manners need to be introduced. Furthermore, standardized patient training methodologies will require translation from in-person to the new environment as well. In the virtual environment, the medical history is obtained from the standardized patient, and the intended physical examination maneuver is verbalized by the learner. Virtual OSCEs necessitate the use of reliable digital videoconferencing technologies. Numerous commercial platforms are available. Training needs to be provided to learners, SPs, staff, and faculty for a seamless experience. Pre-brief session instructions are delivered in a virtual waiting room. Subsequently, each dyad (learner and SP) enters a timed virtual breakout room. A major challenge to overcome for the learner is optimization of engagement and non-verbal communication. This can be mitigated by explaining the encounter steps to the SP as the session evolves. Optimal camera positioning for appropriate framing will enhance the experience.

SPs are actors/laypersons who are highly trained to portray patients in OSCE stations for the purpose of teaching and assessment. Their performance is routinely monitored, evaluated, and reviewed by SP trainers and faculty. This is different from peer role play, in which the participants have no prior training. SPs do not replace real patients, are faithful to the standardization of the scenario case portrayal and are not supposed to express personal originality or inventiveness.

Most formative OSCEs and some sOSCEs utilize non-binary checklists3 as well as various global rating instruments. Notwithstanding the use of checklists by SPs for grading, it should be noted that an OSCE assessment is not a prescriptive checklist performance, as every encounter is distinctive, has its own climate, and needs to be customized to the door note/SP presentation. A successful OSCE depends on having a growth mindset and adjusting the process to the content.

Over the years, the evaluation of medical students clinical skills and performance has evolved from direct observation to OSCEs.1 With the exception of cost, this assessment format optimizes a number of variables such as objectivity, reliability, validity, and feasibility. The reliability of the summative OSCE, covering a wide curriculum, is increased by a large number of stations. The number of OSCE stations that are sampled vary from one medical school to another, from 5 to more than 15.4 However, 12 to 16 stations will cover a good range of content and provide an acceptable level of reliability (0.6 to 0.7).5 Rigorous training and assessment of SPs and the use of checklists ascertain the objectivity of an OSCE station. OSCEs have modest validity.6 In order to be valid, OSCE stations must assess a wide array of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that reflect the scope of the curriculum. Faculty will not conduct OSCE experiences on aspects that are not clearly defined in the medical schools course objectives or suited to the learners level of experience. The complexity of the scenarios can vary reasonably by faculty to accommodate the training level of the learners. To be feasible, an OSCE station, to some extent, needs to be straightforward and easy to manage. OSCEs are very resource intensive and take an astonishingly long time develop; it has been said that instructional systems designs traditionally follow a multistage, iterative model.7 This four-step process includes: Needs Assessment, Program Development, Design and Implementation, and Evaluation.7 Consideration should also be given to time, complexities of case development, number of available SPs, and faculty training.

The following compilation of 20 tips and pointers can help guide medical students preparing for OSCEs:

Most medical students and residents are successful in OSCEs. Although some face challenges and a few even fail OSCEs, the best solution is preparation and deliberate practice. Based on the experience of the authors, they can conclude that the most participants who have challenges in OSCEs need additional deliberate practice.

Know the environment of the clinical center and the OSCE venue. Take a tour before the OSCE experience. Most centers will be happy to give you a tour.

The door note used to be a clipboard; however, these days, it is a screen document. In some centers it may still be written on a clipboard. This is one of the most common causes of applicants not performing well in OSCEs. Because the door note is the road map of the station, time should be taken to read it carefully and follow its instructions. Do not do more than is asked or less than is directed. You must follow it exactly as you are told. If the instructions ask you to verbalize your physical examination in virtual OSCEs, you may use clinical terminology. If the instructions ask you to perform a toe examination, do not waste your time reviewing the history or the management. The SPs are provided with a pre-determined checklist and grade your performance accordingly. No extra grade is given. More is not always better.

It is imperative to avoid the use of medical jargon. Learners need to use simple laypersons language that will be understandable to someone with a fifth-grade education. Do not ask: Why were you admitted to the sickyou (SICU) after surgery? Instead, ask: Where were you admitted after surgery? If you use medical jargon, the SPs will act confused and may seek further explanation.

Avoid asking multiple rapid-fire questions strung together. In such situations, SPs are advised to answer only the last question put forth to them. An example of such a multiple, rapid-fire question would be: You seemed to be concerned about lung cancer. Do you smoke, drink, or cough up blood? Incidentally, what kind of work do you do and for how long have you been doing it?. This line of questioning is confusing to the patient and does not give the SP adequate time to mentally process what is being asked.

The mnemonic device WIPERS can be used after you enter the room and close the door. Establish rapport early, at the beginning of the encounter. Let the patient talk and do not interrupt; where appropriate, express empathy.

Patients are clued to the nonverbal behavior of the providers; thus, this mnemonic will be very helpful when dealing with SPs. Moreover, these are easy points in the checklist.

The SOFTEN mnemonic is used to enhance nonverbal behavior during the SP encounter.

SOFTEN nonverbal communication skills.

As the HPI: Timeline, not a Time Machine reveals,10 time is the main organizational element. Always begin with a starting point in mind: When were you well before all this started? The chronology of the story should begin at the baseline state of health and the narrative should develop and flow smoothly, in an insightful and judicious fashion, while managing the psychological safety of the patient. A diagnosis cannot be made without taking an all-inclusive and appropriate HPI. That being said, you cannot take the HPI without knowing how to do it. Do not forget to enquire about the setting and its effect on the patients day to day activities. Taking the HPI is probably the most important and difficult requirement of the OSCE. Always use a structured, fluent, and laser-focused approach.

An SP is an actor who has been faithfully trained to simulate a patient in the domains of history and physical, communication, and other necessary clinical skills with an authenticity that often cannot be distinguished by expert clinicians. In reality, the OSCE is a staged play11 that requires certain predetermined skills to be learned. Remember that SPs are actors, most of whom have been recruited from local theaters. That being said, this is not a mindset that medical students want to have. The key to success is think of SPs as real patients. SPs take their tasks very seriously, have to pass competency tests for each case, and are even re-assessed after performances if learners fail or if there are complaints.

An OSCE is an immersive experience and it is imperative to treat the SPs as real patients. Additionally, it is crucial to accept the SPs chief complaint as real and immerse oneself into the medical context of the simulation. In reality, the SP should be treated as the question in an examination. It is important to note that SPs rarely go off-script and will not provide all answers unless they are asked.

ICEing the patient at the end of the HPIusing the mnemonic ICE for Ideas/Impact, Concerns, and Expectationsinvolves asking the patient what s/he thinks is happening and how it has impacted his/her daily life as well as identifying what is worrying him/her and determining his/her expectations from treatment.

Signposting imparts structure and organization to the OSCE experience. It engages the SP and lets him/her share your thoughts. Acknowledge what you have discussed and use it to link the topic you will be asking subsequently (eg: So you have talked to me about your chest pain; next, I would like to discuss your risk factors for coronary artery disease).

Before you start the physical examination, it is useful to consider the mnemonic device SET UP:

At the end of the OSCE experience, a summary statement is expected and should be discussed with the SP. The summary statement heralds the end of the session, with the aim of restating the important salient information that you have obtained and is needed for continuity of care. It should always explain the next steps that will be taken. This will give the SP a chance to clarify the information if necessary. An example would be:

I know that, until now, I have given you a lot of information; at this time, I will summarize and discuss my findings, which will give you a chance to clarify the information and ask questions as well.

A concise summary statement will bring the session to a smooth close.

Interviewing real psychiatric patients is time consuming; instead of 60 minutes, your interview will have to be completed in 8 minutes in OSCEs! Remember that OSCEs are mock situations, with SPs, simplified scenarios, and impractical time constraints. The core framework of the psychiatric interview makes undergoing an OSCE station a challenging experience. The key to success is reading the door note carefully, watching the clock, and ensuring not to waste time. Do not perform a mental status examination unless the door note instructs you to do so.

Efficiency is the key to psychiatric interview stations; always enquire about the following:

Interactions with patients via videoconferencing are referred to as ones webside manner. This is a new competency domain for vOSCE sessions and a modern twist on bedside manner. Appropriate webside manner12 will add to patient satisfaction and better outcomes.12 The key elements of webside manner are: proper set up, acquainting the participant, maintaining conversation rhythm, responding to emotion, and closing the visit.13 Enquiries should be made as to whether the SP can hear or see with technology. You should be patient-centered and focused at all times, and all distractions with the computer interface should be explained in real time. When reviewing the electronic health record (EHR), verbalize what you are doing. Similar to bedside manner: possessing nuanced verbal and nonverbal webside manner skills is essential to conducting serious illness conversations during virtual visits.7 After your summary, ask the SP to echo back your recommendations.

It is important to understand the difference between an OSCE and a Clinical Skill Assessment (CSA), also known as an integrated OSCE (iOSCE). The CSA assesses the medical learners ability to integrate and apply multiple skills in each station, e.g., communication, physical exam, diagnostic, and professionalism.14 This why it is of utmost importance to read the door note carefully.

OSCEs are performance-based assessments that present all candidates with the same challenge. Scoring, when performed by SPs, is accomplished using checklists. The SPs ratings are improved using non-binary ratings. SPs rate whether an action/question was not done, attempted, or done. It is important for learners to verbalize what they are performing during the physical examination to get the point in the checklist and, thus, improve the overall score. As noted earlier, global rating scores may be used when grading is done by trained examiners.

OSCE stations are either dynamic or static. Dynamic stations assess clinical competency skills, are manned with an SP, and are interactive. Static/ question stations are called pseudo-OSCEs and assess knowledge. Although learners interpret electrocardiograms (EKGs), chest X-rays (CXRs), arterial blood gases (ABGs), and other tests, no actual clinical tasks are involved. The approach to pseudo OSCEs should be the same as answering a multiple-choice question. These types of OSCE pretender stations are not being used frequently and, in reality, contravene the sound educational underpinnings of a solid clinical skill assessment program. Studies on the reliability and validity of OSCEs are based on learners performing clinical tasks.

OSCEs are reliable and valid instruments of assessment for medical students and residents. They can be formative or summative. Success in OSCEs (in-person and virtual) is process and content dependent. We have encapsulated a series of practical and actionable approaches for medical students and residents. Understating theses specific tips and strategies will improve and optimize the OSCE experience.

All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

The authors have received no funding.

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

1. Khan KZ, Ramachandran S, Gaunt K, Pushkar P. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): AMEE Guide No. 81. Part I: an historical and theoretical perspective. Med Teach. 2013;35(9):e1437e1446. doi:10.3109/0142159X.2013.818634

2. Nesbitt TS, Dharmar M, Katz-Bell J, Hartvigsen G, Marcin JP. Telehealth at UC Davisa 20-year experience. Telemed J EHealth. 2013;19(5):357362. doi:10.1089/tmj.2012.0284

3. Pugh D, Halman S, Desjardins I, Humphrey-Murto S, Wood TJ. Done or almost done? Improving OSCE checklists to better capture performance in progress tests. Teach Learn Med. 2016;28(4):406414. doi:10.1080/10401334.2016.1218337

4. Barzansky B, Etzel SI. Educational programs in US medical schools, 20032004. JAMA. 2004;292(9):10251031.

5. Gruppen LD, Davis WK, Fitzgerald JT, McQuillan MA. Reliability, number of stations, and examination length in an objective structured clinical examination. In: Scherpbier AJJA, van der Vleuten CPM, Rethans JJ, van der Steeg AFW, editors. Advances in Medical Education. Dordrecht: Springer; 1997;441442. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-4886-3_133.

6. Carraccio C, Englander R. The objective structured clinical examination: a step in the direction of competency-based evaluation. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154(7):736741. doi:10.1001/archpedi.154.7.736

7. Hastie MJ, Spellman JL, Pagano PP, Hastie J, Egan BJ. Designing and implementing the objective structured clinical examination in anesthesiology. Anesthesiol. 2014;120:196203. doi:10.1097/ALN.0000000000000068

8. Roper TA. Time for a sinister practice. BMJ. 1999;319(7223):1509. doi:10.1136/bmj.319.7223.1509

9. Qayyum MA, Sabri AA, Aslam F. Medical aspects taken for granted. McGill J Med. 2007;10(1):4730.

10. Packer CD. Presenting Your Case: A Concise Guide for Medical Students. Springer; 2018.

11. Michaels J. History Taking for Medical Finals. Banbury, UK: Scion Publishing; 2018.

12. McConnochie KM. Webside manner: a key to high-quality primary care telemedicine for all. Telemed J EHealth. 2019;25(11):10071011. doi:10.1089/tmj.2018.0274

13. Chua IS, Jackson V, Kamdar M. Webside manner during the COVID-19 pandemic: maintaining human connection during virtual visits. J Palliat Med. 2020;23(11):15071509. doi:10.1089/jpm.2020.0298

14. Gerzina HA, Stovsky E. Standardized patient assessment of learners in medical simulation. In StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546672/. Accessed August 20, 2021.

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Virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examination | AMEP - Dove Medical Press

The CUNY School of Medicine is an expansion of City College's Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, which was founded in 1973.The medical school houses a novel 7-year BS/MD program and one of the oldest physician assistant programs in the US. It is the only school in the US that has eliminated the MCAT as a barrier to access to medical careers and integrates medical education within the undergraduate curriculum. It is the only public medical school in Manhattan and is known for producing excellent and diverse health professionals who are leaders in providing primary care and serving in health professional shortage areas.

"The CUNY School of Medicine at City College is one of our great contributions to New York society and I am thrilled that it is poised to benefit from the visionary leadership of Carmen Green," said Dr. Vincent Boudreau, president of The City College. "Dr. Green comes at a pivotal time in our national deliberations about public health and the need to serve the whole people. Her background positions the School of Medicine to be a critical voice in that conversation."

Green joins CSOM from Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, one of the world's premier research universities with 19 schools and colleges nationally ranked for excellence in education, research, and clinical care. Green, tenured at U-Michigan, is a pain medicine physician and anesthesiologist.

While at U-Michigan she held several senior faculty positions including:

At U-Michigan, Green completed an anesthesiology residency and pain medicine fellowship. She is considered one of the top pain doctors in the country by US News and World Reports and a top doctor and anesthesiologist. She provided care for patients at Michigan Medicine's Back and Pain Center.

Green's health policy and research interests focus on pain, disparities, and the social determinants of health. She is also an expert in minority and women's health, aging, and diversity in academic medicine.Dr. Green was also the Director of the Healthier Black Elders Center at the NIH-funded Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research. Her published articles focused on the "unequal burden of pain" shouldered by minorities and race-based disparities in hospital security calls, and are considered foundational.

A graduate of U-M Flint (BS) and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MD), Green is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. As a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy fellow at the National Academies, she worked in the US Senate on the Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee and the Children & Families Subcommittee where she was instrumental in developing the National Pain Care Policy Act, included in the Affordable Care Act and passed by the US Congress (2010).

Among Green's numerous honors for community and scientific service are the John Liebeskind Pain Management Research Award and the Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements. She was the inaugural Mayday Pain and Society fellow, a Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine fellow, and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. She serves on advisory boards for the NIH, US Secretary for Health and Human Service, and American Cancer Society and is frequently invited to speak to national and international audiences including at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Conference Center in Italy.

Green will also be the Anna and Irving Brodsky Medical Professor and Professor in CCNY's Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. She takes up her appointment as CSOM Dean in Oct. 2021.

Contact: Jay Mwamba, 212.650.7580, [emailprotected]

SOURCE City College of New York, Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications

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CCNY appoints Carmen Renee' Green, MD and health policy expert, new Dean of CUNY School of Medicine - PRNewswire

The following is a letter from Jay Hartzell, president of The University of Texas at Austin, sent to campus on July 15, 2021.

Dear UT Community,

Last week, we announced that Clay Johnston was stepping down from his roles as Dean of the Dell Medical School and Vice President for Medical Affairs at UT. We are incredibly grateful to Clay for his stellar leadership and glad that his pursuit of exciting new opportunities will still permit him to play a key role on our transition team and to continue helping our transformation effort as we push the boundaries of how we think about health not just health care at Dell Med.

This transition also presents an opportunity for UT to consider how we build our leadership structure to support the next chapter of expansion, growth and excellence in our medical journey. After consulting with Clay, our leadership team, and other stakeholders at the medical school, we have decided to take the opportunity of this transition to separate the two roles of Dell Med Dean and UT Vice President for Medical Affairs.

The monumental growth at Dell Med during the past seven years makes this structural change both necessary and exciting. The school will continue to be one of the most innovative and transformative medical schools in America, attracting incredible students and faculty members who are drawn to its unique position. Similarly, UT Health Austin, our clinical practice,which has grown fivefold since 2018,will continue to provide increasing amounts of world-class care to our community.This change is also a testament to our deep commitment to investing in outstanding staff members who play a powerful role in our universitys mission.

To enable us to continue to grow and develop while we have some uncertainty about the timing of Clays next role, weve asked George Macones, M.D., chair of Dell Meds Department of Womens Health, to serve as interim Dean, beginning September 1. Also, Martin Harris, M.D., MBA, the schools Associate Vice President of the Health Enterprise and Chief Business Officer, has agreed to be our interim Vice President for Medical Affairs, beginning August 1.

Moving forward, well follow standard UT procedures for selecting a new dean, a process that begins with an election of faculty members to form the basis for a search committee that advises university leadership along the way. Well also begin the search for a Vice President for Medical Affairs by convening a second search committee that will be chaired by Professor Chuck Fraser, M.D., Dell Meds chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Amy Shaw Thomas, Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs with The University of Texas System.

Thanks to the work of Clay and countless others, our medical school is on an exciting trajectory. We look forward to engaging with the campus community during the coming months as we work together to write the next chapters of Dell Meds powerful and transformative story as a place that changes the impact and reputation of UT Austin and health in Austin, Texas, and ultimately, the world.

Sincerely,

Jay HartzellPresident

Sharon WoodExecutive VP and Provost Designate

Continued here:
Interim Leadership Named at Dell Medical School - UT News - UT News - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

High school students committed to a path to medicine might be considering direct medical, or BS/MD programs. These programs allow students to matriculate directly to the partnered medical school after earning their bachelors degree, making it an attractive option to students who are positive they want to pursue their medical degree. One such program is The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)s 7-Year Medical Program. Students earn their undergraduate degree from TCNJ in three years and then matriculate to the New Jersey Medical School.

Students can gain admission to medical school when they are still in high school through the 7-Year ... [+] Medical Program at The College of New Jersey

Moon Prep sat down with Dr. Sudhir Nayak, professor and co-director of the 7-Year Medical Program at the College of New Jersey. The interview sheds light on the admission process and how students can be competitive BS/MD candidates, even in the coronavirus era. The full interview can be viewed here.

Kristen Moon: What advice do you have for students applying to your program this year? Has the pandemic altered your process?

Dr. Sudhir Nayak: I would tell students to stop worrying. If you were a good student before Covid-19, you're going to be a good student after Covid-19. We look at the population of applicants in a relative sense. Students still have to meet the minimums set by the medical school, but thats it.

Most of the questions that we've gotten from parents and students imply that we think they're robots. We understand that you're going to have limited access to certain experiences that you potentially could have had. For example, as a part of our application evaluation process, we've had to deemphasize a couple of things. Shadowing a doctor is not possible right now. Most hospitals have just shut down their volunteering system completely. We expect that students applications are going to be a little bit different this year than usual.

Some things we haven't changed. We've always offered Zoom or Google Meet interviews for our out-of-state students or in-state students with accessibility issues. We do not expect there to be any differences in the number of students admitted.

We evaluate the program every year. I anticipate that the repercussions of the pandemic will last for a year or two.

Moon: What type of student are you looking for?

Nayak: We're not looking for students who would just burn right through the program; we're looking for students who want to be part of TCNJ by sharing its values for a cooperative learning environment. We specifically look for eager learners who have challenged themselves in high school and want to continue to do so in college.

Some of the other highlights we're also looking for are students who want to be in a liberal arts college. While this is a Bachelor of Science degree, we want people who have nontraditional premed experiences, see value in diversity and have plans to study abroad.

We look for students who have diverse interests who have long-standing interests in music, business or law, but they dont have to be hyper-focused. In fact, we tend not to focus on the hyper-focused.

Finally, I would say the only thing we actively dont want is students in a rush. We think that the third year of the undergraduate program is critical for personal and professional development. Not every candidate who would make a good accelerated candidate is the right fit for our program.

Moon: What is the selection process?

Nayak: The first step is validating that students are hitting the minimums for the program. While getting 1550 versus 1510 on the SAT might seem to be a significant advantage, it's not for this program. As long as theyve met those minimums, they are in the pool to be evaluated.

The second step is what I call a micro screening. In no particular order, we look at the transcript. They must've taken challenging courses, in STEM, in particular, to indicate that they would be a good fit for an accelerated program.

But the caveat is that we're not looking for perfect grades. Getting a couple of Bs here and there doesn't matter. I cannot emphasize this enoughthat's not how our evaluation process works. We look at the transcript overall: did they take a variety of challenging courses, and then did they test themselves? Did they take AP exams or any other types of achievement tests?

Next, we look at activities, and here's where I think that students have the biggest misconception. They believe that putting a lot of activities on their transcript is good when it's actually counterproductive. What we are specifically looking for at TCNJ is deep involvement in a few things. For example, are you an Eagle Scout, do you have a black belt in TaeKwonDo or are you an EMT? Have you been in band or Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) for two or three years? Are you an athlete? Those are the types of things we look at, but you don't have to have all of those things. You just need one or two.

Next, we look at recommendations and evaluate to see if the student is exceptional.

We also look for direct exposure to the healthcare profession. Students could gain this experience by working as an EMT, becoming certified in CPR, shadowing a doctor or volunteering at a hospital. However, some students are more focused on biomedical research, and here at TCNJ, you can come in as a biomedical engineer. Those students tend to have a slightly different profile and have done internships at biomedical research companies or developing orthopedics. No experience is less valuable than another.

We also like to see something where they're working toward the greater goodvolunteering through a church, school, some formal organization or starting something on your own like a food drive or nonprofit. This one is important because one of TCNJs core values is giving back.

Next, we read their essay, and that does take quite a while. We evaluate their personal statement and secondary essays for thoughtfulness, completeness, ability to answer the question directly and expand on it and provide evidence. It's a new essay question every year.

One of the final aspects would be the interview. We are evaluating whether the person on the paper is the person we see in real life. We also check if they are a good fit for TCNJ and our specific seven-year program.

Moon: What are the average stats of your accepted students?

Nayak: We don't look at GPAs that carefully because they are weighted in so many different ways, and there can be grade inflation at some schools and not at others. When available, we use class rank. Students in our program are generally ranked in the top 3% of their class; they were among the best students at their school. The SAT average is generally between 1530 and 1550; it was 1535 for the last cycle. The ACT was around 34 for the students who took it.

Moon: How many students do you interview and accept into the program?

Nayak: We get between 300-400 applications each cycle. There is no fixed number of seats for our programs, and its ranged from 10 to 25 over the last 30 years. In the past five years, the number has varied from 13 to 20 students. I believe we have 18 students in the previous cycle.

We interview about a hundred, and then we submit around 60 to 80 to the medical school to evaluate the candidates. Then, 40 of those students are ultimately admitted.

Moon: Whats the MCAT policy?

Nayak: They have to take the MCAT, but there is no minimum score required. The only exception is if a student is on probation because they dropped below the 3.5 GPA. Then, they might have an MCAT minimum imposed on them by the medical school.

Moon: Can you tell me some of the highlights of the program?

Nayak: I think the most important part about the TCNJ program is the flexibility. You don't have to major in biology; you can major in whatever you want, within reason. For example, some options are biomedical engineering, chemistry, physics, math, or computer science. Some non-STEM majors are even approved, like English, philosophy, history and Spanish. You can also design your major at TCNJ, provided it's approved.

Another way TCNJ is flexible is because we encourage our students to study abroad to expand their sense of self and develop as a person. This is one reason we keep that third year of undergraduate because I think two years is not enough to grow and mature. Our graduates are a little more mature than others because they've been interacting with diverse populations for an extended period. We want students to have a meaningful undergraduate experience, which means they can join clubs and activities.

Moon: Can you share any insights into the accomplishments of past applicants?

Nayak: Once they finish medical school, the students land tremendous residencies. And when they are TCNJ, they are also achieving amazing things. The EMS crew on TCNJ was started by seven-year students in the late nineties. It's an all-volunteer EMS squad that has run since then, and they integrated with the rest of the campus, campus police, emergency services, and rescue services.

Another thing that is neat that seven-year students created is the Alpha Zeta Seven-Year Medical Society. Theyve unified the students in the program because they're in different majors. They bring in alumni and coordinate events where students can talk and get advice from alumni.

The application deadline for TCNJs 7 Year Medical Program is November 1 each year. For more information, visit here.

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Top Insights Into The College Of New Jerseys 7-Year Medical Program - Forbes

Colleen M Farrell

THE WASHINGTON POST As the coronavirus overwhelmed hospitals in New York last spring, some medical schools offered their final-year students an unusual option: They could graduate early to begin working as physicians on the front line of the pandemic. In her new book, Life on the Line: Young Doctors Come of Age in a Pandemic, Emma Goldberg takes us into the lives of six students who, despite their fears of contracting the novel virus (and in some cases, despite the pleas of their parents), felt themselves called for duty.

These students from New York University (NYU), Mount Sinai and Albert Einstein had already completed all the core requirements of medical school. Had the pandemic not disrupted social rituals, they would have spent the spring celebrating their residency matches and graduations, surrounded by friends and family. Instead, they chose to face the many challenges of being Day One doctors (even a simple Tylenol order prompts an anxious triple-check) amid a pandemic that was overwhelming their senior colleagues, killing hundreds of New Yorkers daily and isolating millions more.

In the opening pages we meet Sam, a NYU medical student. Sam joins the COVID wards at Bellevue Hospital which once cared for more patients with AIDS than any other hospital with a sense of historic purpose.

As I read about Sams entry into Bellevue, I could feel myself standing in the eerily quiet, glass-encased lobby of that hospital. When the pandemic began, I was an internal-medicine resident at Bellevue. Like many health-care workers on the front lines of this crisis, the trauma of the spring surge goodbyes over FaceTime, beds crammed into makeshift intensive care units (ICUs), endless alerts called overhead has left me with scars. It has been hard to revisit that time in my mind without my heart racing and stomach clenching. I worried that reading this book would reopen those wounds.

But remarkably, with her sensitive reporting and deeply human portrayals of Sam, Gabriela, Iris, Elana, Ben and Jay, Goldberg has created a work that not just documents a significant moment in time but helps us heal from it, too. For anyone seeking to understand, or remember, what New York and its hospitals were like in the spring of 2020, Life on the Line is essential reading.

News stories from New Yorks COVID spring emphasised the medical interventions of intensive care: intubation, dialysis, CPR. The new doctors entry into the hospitals is steeped in war metaphors. The vice dean for academic affairs at NYU tells them they are joining the COVID Army. At Montefiore Hospital, they are dubbed the Coalition Forces. Like new military recruits, they don layers of protective gear, put their bodies at risk and witness a horrifying number of casualties.

But the stories in Life on the Line offer a refreshingly different view of the pandemic than those eye-catching headlines and talk of war. Given their inexperience and their institutions appropriate commitments to minimise their exposure to the virus, the interns are largely removed from the adrenaline-pumping action. In one scene, Sam literally has a patients door closed in front of him. Inside the room, the resident physicians perform CPR, trying to resuscitate the patient, whose heart has stopped. Sam stands at a mobile computer in the hallway, placing orders. His is a necessary job, but as Goldberg puts it, if this were a TV medical drama, Sam would be an extra.

The interns distance from life-or-death emergencies allows different, yet vitally important, aspects of pandemic health care to shine through. Iris cares for a man who survived the COVID ICU but still breathes through a tube in the front of his neck and is barely conscious. Not sure how to act around him, she makes a point of cheerily introducing herself to him. After days without him ever seeming to register her presence, when she tells him that his family loves him, she sees a tear fall from his eye.

In one of the most moving passages of the book, we meet Manny, a 38-year-old man with Down syndrome and severe anxiety whom Jay is caring for. Manny initially came to the hospital because his father, his sole family member, was sick with covid. Manny had no one else to care for him, and so the hospital staff allowed him to live in the hospital while his father was admitted. When his father tragically dies of the virus, Manny has nowhere to go, so he is admitted to the hospital as a patient until Alicia, the social worker, can find him a safe home. Jay wholeheartedly devotes herself to Mannys care, even accompanying him on a visit to a group home.

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Fresh out of medical school, they volunteered to help battle the coronavirus pandemic Borneo Bulletin Online - Borneo Bulletin Online

Newswise JULY 19, 2021, Nutley, NJ Experts from Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine will host a virtual conference July 30 to address the record number of opioid deaths in the nation, treatment options and training clinicians to prescribe addiction medication.

The virtual conference, Recovery from Opioid Use Disorders: State-of-the-Art Science to Advance Clinical Care, will cap a three-year federal grant shared between the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the Seton Hall University College of Nursing, and the Seton Hall University School of Health and Medical Sciences.

The opioid epidemic is one of our nations greatest health challenges, said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. We are deeply committed to expanding access to care for addiction and mental health issues, better coordinating care and innovating treatment.

More than 93,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, a staggering record that reflects a nearly 30 percent increase from 2019, according to the CDC. Nearly 450,000 people died from overdoses involving both prescription and illicit opioids from 1999-2019, according to the CDC.

The conference features keynote speaker Beth Macy, an award-winning journalist and the New York Times best-selling author of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, as well as industry leaders in the field of opioid-use disorders. Experts will discuss compelling research and treatment protocols considered best practices.

This is the product of three years of highly collaborative interprofessional work into training future clinicians to be best prepared to combat this epidemic, said Kathleen Neville, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the Seton Hall College of Nursing.

This presentation shows whats at stake, and what we can do to save as many lives as possible in the years to come, said Stanley R. Terlecky, Ph.D., associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies, and chair of Medical Sciences at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

According to Brian B. Shulman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, FASAHP, FNAP, dean of the School of Health and Medical Sciences, Research conducted by SHMS faculty and administrators working interprofessionally has helped to expand our knowledge in various disciplines and push the established boundaries of this national epidemic to target the widespread misuse of opioids.

This event caps the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant which was awarded in 2018 to an interprofessional leadership team with members from Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine: College of Nursing Associate Dean Neville; School of Health and Medical Sciences Department Chair and Assistant Professor Christopher Hanifin, Ed.D., PA-C; and Hackensack School of Medicine Professor Terlecky. The purpose of the grant, Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian Health Interprofessional Medication Assisted Treatment Training Program, is to train nurse practitioners, physician assistants and medical students on medication-assisted treatment for individuals with opioid-use disorders.

Additional conference speakers will present on their respective areas of study. Alexis LaPietra, D.O., Chief of Pain Management/Addiction Medicine at the Alternative to Opioid Program at St. Josephs University Medical Center, will present the Alternative to Opioids Program, a unique alternative to opioid treatment for acute pain in the emergency room. Ramon Solhkhah, M.D., Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, will speak on the current status of the opioid-use crisis and evidence-based solutions, and Steve Drzewoszewski, MSW, LCSW, LCADC, CCS, Former Director of Substance Abuse Counseling Services at HMH Carrier Clinic, will present on motivational interviewing and OUDs.

During the event, each project director will also present their respective schools outcomes of their grant, with CEO of Hackensack MeridianHealth Robert C. Garrett introducing the conference with Seton Hall University Provost and Executive Vice-President Katia Passerini.

Recovery from Opioid Use Disorders: State-of-the-Art Science to Advance Clinical Care is on Friday, July 30, 11 a.m. 3 p.m. CME will be offered to healthcare professionals. This educational activity has beenapproved forAMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)

To register for the event and to learn more about the agenda and speakers, visit here.

ABOUTHACKENSACKMERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 34,100 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list.

Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit http://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org.

ABOUTSETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the countrys leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been showing the world what great minds can do since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Halls academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 110-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received more than 30 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. The University is also proud to be among themost diverse national Catholic universitiesin the country.

In recent years, the University has invested more than $165 million in new campus buildings and renovations. The Universitys beautiful main campus in suburban South Orange, N.J. is only 14 miles from New York City offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Halls nationally recognized School of Law is located prominently in downtown Newark. The Universitys Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses Seton Halls College of Nursing, its School of Health and Medical Sciences as well as Hackensack Meridian Healths Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

For more information, visit http://www.shu.edu.

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Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and Seton Hall University Opioid Conference to Feature Addiction Experts Working to Combat National Crisis -...