December 5, 2012, Vol 308, No. 21, Pages 2171-2296 | Medical Education

Lucas and coauthors conducted a cluster randomized crossover trial to compare the effects of 2- vs 4-week inpatient attending physician rotations on patient outcomes, trainee ratings of attending physicians’ performance, and self-rated psychological health of attending physicians.

To determine whether medical interns sleep more and perform better with protected sleep while on extended overnight shifts, Volpp and coauthors conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 106 interns and senior medical students. Participants were randomly assigned in twelve 4-week blocks to a standard shift or one that included protected sleep from 12:30 to 5:30 am.

To assess a clinically integrated e-learning evidence-based medicine (EBM) course in low-middle–income countries, Kulier and coauthors randomized 60 clinical training units to an integrated course using the World Health Organization Reproductive Health Library (RHL) or a self-directed course using the RHL. In the related Editorial, Prasad discusses teaching EBM in countries with limited resources.

Yeates and coauthors report on the effect of exposure to good vs poor medical trainee performance on attending physician ratings of subsequent performances.

Eva and coauthors analyzed a medical school admissions protocol using a 12-station multiple mini-interview by comparing scores on Canadian national licensing examinations. In an Editorial, Kirch describes how changes to the admissions process can help identify students who have the greatest potential to be the physicians of the future.

To evaluate the general medicine career plans of internal medicine residents and how career plans evolve during training, West and Dupras analyzed data from 16 781 third-year internal medicine residents in the United States. See the related Editorial by Schwartz.