Browsing by Author "Kerns, Elizabeth"

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    Celiac Disease in Medical Curriculum
    (2025-04-25) Kerns, Elizabeth; Husmann, Polly
    Introduction/Background: Students attending US medical schools are often turning to commercial resources as a primary learning tool during their preclinical years. However, the quality and content of the material presented within these sources has not been widely studied. This study sought to compare sources of preclinical medical education using celiac disease, a common autoimmune illness. Celiac disease has an exceedingly variable range of presentations across many body systems, including subclinical symptoms. Despite accessible testing and treatment, most individuals with celiac have not been diagnosed, imposing significant disease burden. Study objective/Hypothesis: This study sought to evaluate and compare the IUSM preclinical curriculum and popular commercial resources regarding their presentation of celiac disease. Methods: After conducting a literature review, an evidence-based rubric was created to evaluate information about celiac disease. The rubric was applied to the IUSM preclinical curriculum and USMLE World, First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, and Boards and Beyond, commercial resources widely used by preclinical medical students. Results: The IUSM curriculum scored higher overall and higher in all but one category than all the commercial resources. USMLE World had the highest score of the commercial resources. All sources showed deficits in two or more categories. Conclusions: All sources assessed exhibit opportunities for improvement. However, the IUSM curriculum presented more thorough information regarding celiac disease. Although the commercial resources included within this study are used by students to prepare for standardized exams, they may be more concerned with improving test scores than providing students with the information needed to become effective physicians. Students may gain more complete information regarding celiac disease from the IUSM curriculum.
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    Utilization of Lecture-Based and Simulation-Based Teaching of Trauma-Informed Care in First-Year Medical Curriculum
    (2025-04-25) Kerns, Elizabeth; Gasaway, Elsie; Baumberger, Geneva; Husmann, Polly
    Introduction: Trauma-informed care (TIC) has become increasingly recognized in clinical practice and medical education. It is essential that medical students understand how to provide care using a trauma-informed approach before entering the clinical environment. With various modalities for teaching TIC, best practices for medical student education should be established. Therefore, instructional methods for teaching TIC principles must be evaluated with similar appraisal to other clinical skills. Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness of an introductory trauma lecture and intimate partner violence (IPV) simulation in teaching TIC to medical students. Methods: First-year IUSM-Bloomington medical students attended a 1-hour lecture about trauma followed by an optional peer-led IPV simulation. De-identified data was collected at this time for quality improvement, including a pre/post-lecture survey (n=29), and a post-simulation survey (n=5) and focus group transcription (n=6). The present study used retrospective analysis to further explore this data. Lecture survey data was analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test. De-identified data for dissemination was deemed not human-subjects research. Results: Lecture survey data indicated that participants felt significantly more confident in identifying red flags of domestic violence, mandatory reporting, safety planning, and considering TIC in patient encounters. Simulation survey data revealed decreased confidence with TIC, which participants attributed to an awareness of their limited knowledge. During the focus group, participants recognized the simulation as an effective learning tool and emphasized the importance of widespread TIC education and more practice-based learning opportunities. Conclusions: The data suggest that lecture based-learning can increase medical student confidence in their ability to conduct TIC. Additionally, simulation-based learning provides a potential avenue to advance TIC education. Students express favorable views towards experiential learning through simulation and report positive learning outcomes. Integrating TIC curriculum into medical school could enhance students’ confidence in applying a trauma focused approach to patient care.