In this study, I examined the hypothesis that undergraduate research enhances the educational experience of science undergraduates, attracts and retains talented students to careers in science, and acts as a pathway for minority students into science careers. Undergraduates from 41 institutions participated in an online survey on the benefits of undergraduate research experiences. Participants ...

Objective: A well-designed final year may ease the transition from medical school to postgraduate training, if it has enough depth to enable the acquisition of early specialty expertise, while keeping enough breadth to support the graduation as all-round physician. Aim of this article is to describe the design of a multidisciplinary dedicated transitional year (DTY) around the theme of recognit...

The Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) is an organisation whose membership is comprised of educationalists and clinicians with a commitment to medical education and is an influencial body in developing medical educational structures. Members include deans, (postgraduate, undergraduate, and general practice) and hospital clinical tutors, together with trainee and student membe...

BACKGROUND Structured examination routines have been developed as educational resources for musculoskeletal clinical skills teaching, including Gait-Arms-Legs-Spine (GALS), Regional Examination of the Musculoskeletal System (REMS) and paediatric GALS (pGALS). In this study, we aimed to assess the awareness and use of these examination routines in undergraduate medical teaching in UK medical sch...

BACKGROUND The script concordance test (SCT) is a validated method of examining students' clinical reasoning. Medical students' professional skills are assessed during their postgraduate years as they study for a specialist qualification in general practice. However, no specific provision is made for assessing their clinical reasoning during their postgraduate study. OBJECTIVE The aim was to ...

Interventions in the quality of research training provided in universities today focus largely on educating supervisors and monitoring their performance as well as student progress. More private than any other scene of teaching and learning, postgraduate supervision and more generally the pedagogic practices of the PhD has largely remained unscrutinised and unquestioned. This article explores t...

BACKGROUND Curriculum constructors and teachers must decide on the content and level of objectives and materials included in the medical curriculum. At University Medical Centre Utrecht it was decided to test relatively detailed knowledge at a regular level in study blocks and to design a progress test aimed at the medical core knowledge that every graduating doctor should possess. This study w...

At our University, the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education has delivered a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses via flexible distance learning for many years. Distance learning can be a lonely experience for students who may feel isolated and unsupported. However e-learning provides an opportunity to use technology to motivate students to interact with each other and their...

We read the publication by Liu (2016) on authorship misconduct with a great interest. In fact, the authorship misconduct is no uncommon and has to be managed. Liu (2016) noted that “Proper authorship embodies honesty, integrity, fairness and transparency, which surely are the very essence of any scientific pursuit.” Due to the present requirement on academic publication to support academic rank...