INTRODUCTION In order to optimise the selection process for admission to specialist training in family medicine, we developed a new design for structured applications and selection interviews. The design contains semi-structured interviews, which combine individualised elements from the applications with standardised behaviour-based questions. This paper describes the design of the tool, and of...

To maintain the high quality of its civilian employees, the Department of Defense (DoD) off ers opportunities for education, training, and professional development (ET&D) both within and outside the DoD. Many ET&D institutions are located on military bases. Th us, when bases and other infrastructure are reconfi gured through the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process, ET&D institutions can...

In this paper, we analyze the properties of cross-validation from the perspective of the stability, that is, the difference between the training error and the error of the selected model applied to any other finite sample. In both the i.i.d. and non-i.i.d. cases, we derive the upper bounds of the one-round and average test error, referred to as the one-round/convoluted Rademacher-bounds, to qua...

HAIRVEQ is a proficiency testing program for hair analysis of illicit drugs organized by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Rome, Italy) and the Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica (Barcelona, Spain). The aim of the three exercises performed in 2006 was the evaluation of 32 laboratories' performance when analyzing the same hair sample containing opiates, cocaine and methadone, after carryin...

BACKGROUND Surgical education is becoming competency-based with the implementation of in-training milestones. Training guidelines should reflect these changes and determine the specific procedures for such milestone assessments. This study aimed to develop a consensus view regarding operative procedures and tasks considered appropriate for junior and senior trainees, and the procedures that can...