For Medical Students

"Hidden curriculum" found in residency programs

What kind of physician will you be? A new report says that depends on where you complete your residency training.

Along with a residency program's reputation, location and training curriculum, medical students should carefully consider the patterns of care at teaching hospitals when making their residency rankings, according to a report released Oct. 30 by the Dartmouth Atlas Project.

The report examines 23 of the nation's top academic medical centers, shedding light on hospital characteristics that can affect how physicians who train there practice medicine throughout their careers. The study authors call these characteristics a "hidden training curriculum" of which medical students and residents need to be aware.

The report found marked variation among the hospitals in its review of end-of-life care for chronically ill patients, variation in surgical procedures, and quality and patient experience data.

"Hospitals providing a higher intensity of care are not necessarily providing higher quality care or better patient experiences," Anita Arora, MD, a co-author of the report who graduated from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth earlier this year, said in a news release. "For medical students and residents, that means training at hospitals with less intensive practice patterns may better prepare us to provide higher quality care that respects patient preferences."

The report advises medical students to understand how variations in care can shape their residency training and practice of medicine.

AMA-MSS meeting packed with events, policy debate

More than 500 medical students discussed more than 30 items of business and participated in more than 10 education programs Nov. 8–10 during this year's AMA Medical Student Section Interim Assembly Meeting.

The AMA-MSS created dynamic policy on a wide range of topics, including support for an increase in health policy fellowships and working to reduce medical student loan interest rates. Consult the Annotated Reference Committee report for more information on all actions taken by the AMA-MSS Assembly at the meeting.

Education programs covered a range of topics, including leadership development, cultural competency, patient navigators and community service.

On Nov. 9, the AMA-MSS joined the AMA Minority Affairs Section in holding an AMA Doctors Back to School™ event at Honolulu's Kaewai Elementary School. More than 40 medical students and physicians reached out to about 100 fourth- and fifth-graders with lessons about healthy lifestyle choices and how medicine is an attainable career for everyone. The event doubled as an AMA-MSS National Service Project event. Read more about the event in AMA Wire.

The section also held its 10th annual research symposium in conjunction with the AMA Resident and Fellow Section and the AMA International Medical Graduates Section. More than 180 students participated in the event. The AMA-MSS awarded poster winners in the following eight categories:

• Biochemistry/cell biology – Arasi Kavin Arasar, University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford
• Cancer biology – Jimmy Yao, Albany Medical College
• Clinical Outcomes and Healthcare Improvement – Kelly Regan, The Ohio State University, and Rajani Sharma, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Camden
• Immunology/infectious disease/inflammation – Warren Pan, University of Michigan Medical School
• Neurobiology/neuroscience – Danielle Zheng, New York University School of Medicine
• Public Health and Epidemiology – Roman Krivochenitser
• Radiology/Imaging – Anna Brown, Duke University School of Medicine
• Surgery/biomedical engineering – Thomas Bemenderfer, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis

Kelly Regan of The Ohio State University and Rajani Sharma of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson tied as the overall winners of the poster competition. Christopher Bailey of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine was the overall podium winner. Read more about the event in AMA Wire.

The AMA-MSS Assembly elected Atul Nakhasi of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as AMA-MSS Governing Council chair-elect and Ryan Ribeira of University of California, Davis School of Medicine to the medical student position on the AMA Board of Trustees. Their terms will begin in June after the Annual Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates.