Polly R. Husmann

Many students are increasingly using commercial resources to study during their first two years of medical school, but how thorough are these resources? A rubric was created based on literature to evaluate educational material about celiac disease and used to assess the curriculum from a large US medical school and three popular commercial resources. The medical school curriculum provided more complete information about celiac disease. While this evaluation may not be generalizable to all topics, these data suggest that commercial resources may be focused on "teaching to the test" rather than providing thorough medical education for future physicians.

Research supports the use of multi‐tiered systems of support (MTSS) for meeting student academic, behavioral, and socioemotional needs. MTSS is viewed as an ideal model to deliver school‐based mental health (SBMH) services to students. However, limited research has examined what this framework for service delivery looks like in practice. Utilizing a national participant sample and a mixed‐methods convergent (quan + QUAL) design, the purpose of this study is to examine participant use of MTSS for SBMH and to examine practitioners' perspectives on the implementation of Tier 2 and 3 services. Respondents in our current sample indicated a level of uncertainty regarding the identification of students for SBMH services and the delivery of Tier 2 and Tier 3 services, particularly as this relates to special education. Additionally, respondents indicated “insufficient” supports for the provision of Tier 3 services. Limitations, implications for practice, and future directions are discussed.

Youth with mental health needs significant enough to warrant inpatient psychiatric hospitalization are on the rise. After inpatient hospitalization, youth transitioning back to their school of record need continued support to promote recovery. Little empirical work has been conducted to understand the educational experiences of youth hospitalized for mental health needs. Further, there is a need to document the services provided to youth upon discharge and return to their school of record. Thus, the purpose of this empirical study is to better understand the patient population (n = 264, mean age = 14.04 years old; 70.1% White, 73.2% female) of an acute behavioral health unit in a free-standing Midwestern children’s hospital and the educational services (e.g., consultation, direct instruction, support for reentry, and educational advocacy services) provided by the Hospital-Based School program prior to, during, and post-hospitalization to those students. Significant differences in educational services were identified based on some student demographic characteristics such that older students were more likely to have a 504 plan at admission, and individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, psychosis, and other mental disorders were found to be most likely to have special education services prior to admission. Implications for practice related to improved care coordination upon reentry between hospitals and schools and the role of schools in the provision of behavioral and mental health services, limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are discussed.

Continuity in Education is an open access, peer reviewed journal for the education of children and young people with medical and mental health needs. In line with a biopsychosocial model of health, education and psychological development, the journal reports on different contexts, which may include education in a hospital community or home setting, in urban or rural areas, within different educational systems or structures, across different countries, jurisdictions, and socio-cultural settings, and during different life phases of the individual. The journal aims to focus on the interactions between education and human development in the fields of well-being, resilience, future life choices and opportunities, social and emotional well-being, cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and mental health improvement. The journal is open to all contributions that deepen the concept of learning and education as protective factors in the life of young people facing adversities. The concept of continuity in education is also extended to education delivered in other contexts where children and families are living with some kind of disruptive event in their life. Sign up to the mailing list for news from the journal.

Indiana University School of Medicine – Bloomington launched the Medical Education Scholarly Concentration in 2020. This application-based enrichment program trains medical students to become effective clinical educators through pedagogical coursework, introduction to education research methods, and the development of a scholarly concentration product for publication.

Prior research has reported that experience in undergraduate anatomy did not significantly affect students' grades in professional schools, yet students would still recommend anatomy experience prior to medical school. It has been further posited that this prior experience may have benefits that do not appear in grade outcomes, such as decreased stress levels or different study strategies. The present study investigated whether different study strategies in anatomy were reported between students with and without prior experience. The data were collected using surveys administered near the beginning and the end of the medical anatomy course. The surveys included questions about study strategies used for the course, basic demographics, and prior experience in anatomy and/or physiology. Results confirmed very few differences in course outcomes between students with and without prior experience in anatomy and/or physiology; however, differences were noted in the study strategies reported. Students with prior experience in anatomy were more likely to report use of a wider variety of strategies and less changes in strategies between the surveys. However, these differences were only noted with prior courses of a certain number and level. It is posited that students with prior experience may have already created a basic scaffold of information in their mind that they could then plug additional information into rather than creating an entirely new knowledge structure. While this did not largely change course outcomes, it is likely to have positive effects on students' perceptions of stress and feelings of being overwhelmed during the course.

The Anatomy Education Research Institute (AERI) was held in Bloomington, Indiana in July of 2017. Previous research has shown that AERI was successful in meeting Kirkpatrick’s first two levels of evaluation via positive initial reactions and learning gains identified at the end of AERI. This manuscript demonstrates continued success in Kirkpatrick levels two and three via six-month and thirty-month follow-up surveys and nine-month follow-up focus groups and interviews. Quantitative analyses were completed using Microsoft Excel (2019) and SPSS version 26 while qualitative analyses were completed for both survey responses and focus groups/interviews using thematic analyses. Results demonstrate that the learning gains seen immediately post-AERI 2017 were sustained for all participants (accepted applicants and invited speakers). Qualitative results continued to demonstrate positive reactions to AERI 2017. Both quantitative and qualitative results demonstrated that the main obstacle to educational research for most participants is time, while collaboration, IRB, institutional roadblocks, and devaluing of educational research were also identified as obstacles. The research presented here indicates positive outcomes to Kirkpatrick Levels 1, 2, & 3 of evaluation following AERI 2017. However, substantial obstacles still exist for researchers in medical education. The need for a sustained community of practice for educational researchers was suggested as a potential buffer against these obstacles and multiple options for providing that community are discussed.