CJEM Articles: Janet Nuth

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  • A new emergency medicine clerkship program: students' perceptions of what works
    May 2010 12 3
    A. Curtis Lee, Brian Weitzman, Janet Nuth, Jason R. Frank, Jennifer Beecker, Marianne Yeung, Meridith Marks

    Objective: Emergency medicine is an evolving discipline in Canadian medical schools. Little has been published regarding student preferences for emergency medicine training during the clerkship phase of MD programs. We assessed medical students' perceptions of a newly developed emergency medicine clerkship rotation involving multiple learning modalities. The evaluation process included assessment of the rotation's instructional elements and overall educational value.

    Methods: The first cohort of medical students to complete this new emergency medicine clerkship was invited to answer a questionnaire just before graduation. Students rated their preferences for components of the rotation using paired com­parisons. Open­ended questions explored students' satisfaction with the emergency medicine clerkship as well as perceptions of the rotation's impact on career development.

    Results: Of the 94 students in the first clerkship cohort, 81 (86%) responded to the survey. Students found the emergency medicine clerkship highly valuable, citing the broad range of cases seen, close supervision, and opportunities to develop clinical assessment, decision­making and procedural skills. Students' curricular preferences were for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) (26.4%), clinical shifts (20.6%), supervised clinical shifts (17.8%), procedural skills laboratories (14.8%), tutorials (10.8%) and preceptor­assisted learning sessions (9.8%).

    Conclusion: This new emergency medicine clerkship program incorporated multiple learning methods within a 4­week rotation and was highly rated by students. Although clinical shifts and ACLS were generally preferred activities, students had varying individual preferences for specific learning activities. Multiple learning methods allowed all students to benefit from the rotation. This study makes a compelling case for including an emergency medicine rotation with multiple learning modalities as a core element of clerkship at every medical school.

  • Mentoring in emergency medicine: the art and the evidence
    March 2010 12 2
    Ian G. Stiell, Janet Nuth, Marianne Yeung

    A mentor is a person who takes a special interest in the professional development of a junior colleague and provides guidance and support. Mentoring can be beneficial for students, residents, junior colleagues and researchers and can be very rewarding for the physician who provides this guidance. Although mentoring is a well recognized topic in academic medicine, relatively little has been written about mentoring in emergency medicine (EM). Consequently, we conducted a literature review on mentoring in EM and present our findings in this paper. We discuss different models of mentoring, factors that foster the development of strong mentor ship programs, the responsibilities of mentors and mentees, and issues specific to mentorship of female, minority and research physicians. We also present several case scenarios as a basis for recommendations for teachers and learners in EM.