JMIR Medical Education

Virtual supervisory relationships provide an infrastructure for flexible learning, global accessibility, and outreach, connecting individuals worldwide. The surge in web-based educational activities in recent years provides an opportunity to understand the attributes of an effective supervisor-student or mentor-student relationship.

Websites are an important source of information for fellowship applicants, as they can influence ongoing interest and potential program selection.

Accurate interpretation of a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) demands high levels of skill and expertise. Early training in medical school plays an important role in building the ECG interpretation skill. Thus, understanding how medical students perform the task of interpretation is important for improving this skill.

Concern has been raised that the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent social distancing measures may increase neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with dementia. Thus, we developed and delivered an e-learning training course to professional caregivers on using a web-based tool for psychosocial interventions for people with dementia.

Short instructional videos can make learning more efficient through the application of multimedia principles, and video animations can illustrate the complex concepts and dynamic processes that are common in health sciences education. Commercially produced videos are commonly used by medical students but are rarely integrated into curricula.

Septic shock is a low-frequency but high-stakes condition in children requiring prompt resuscitation, which makes it an important target for simulation-based education.

Burnout interventions are limited by low use. Understanding resident physician preferences for burnout interventions may increase utilization and improve the assessment of these interventions.

The optimal approach to a clinical physical examination via telemedicine is still being explored. The medical community has no standardized or widely followed criteria for telemedicine examinations, so a broad spectrum of approaches is used. Unfortunately, the need for telemedicine is outpacing physical examination validation research. Given that certain specialties have been using telemedicine longer than others, lessons from those specialties might aid in developing standardized protocols for telemedicine. Neurology has been at the forefront of telemedicine use, initially through stroke care and later in multiple subspecialties. We present a framework for optimizing the history taking and physical examination process via telemedicine based on our experience in neurology. This mainly includes remotely examining a patient unassisted or with an untrained assistant present on the patient side of the connection. We also discuss the need for trained, certified assistants to assist the off-site physician in history taking and physical examination. These certified assistants would be allied health professionals who perform high-quality cued patient examinations under direct physician supervision with no responsibility to diagnose or treat. This contrasts with the approach seen in advanced practice providers such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners who undergo years of training to diagnose and treat patients under supervision. This training process would serve as a stepping stone for the development of dedicated certification programs for neurology and other medical specialties; however, assessments of practical training, costs, implementation, and longitudinal quality are warranted.

Sleep quality ensures better physical and psychological well-being. It is regulated through endogenous hemostatic, neurogenic, and circadian processes. Nonetheless, environmental and behavioral factors also play a role in sleep hygiene. Electronic device use is increasing rapidly and has been linked to many adverse effects, raising public health concerns.

Due to challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, residency programs in the United States conducted virtual interviews during the 2020-2021 application season. As a result, programs and applicants may have relied more heavily on social media–based communication and dissemination of information.

Medical postgraduates’ demand for data capabilities is growing, as biomedical research becomes more data driven, integrative, and computational. In the context of the application of big data in health and medicine, the integration of data mining skills into postgraduate medical education becomes important.

The arts and humanities have been integrated into medical student education worldwide. Integrated arts and humanities courses have been found to serve four primary functions: mastering skills, perspective taking, personal insight, and social advocacy. To what extent and how arts and humanities programs achieve these educational outcomes remain unclear.