Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Educational Studies. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 185-213.

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Background: This narrative study explores the experiences of social scientists in medical education research (MER) units housed in Canadian medical schools. Although MER has been gaining recognition as an important area of research to facilitate the translation of medical education into medical practice, the need for social science research in MER remains poorly understood. Moreover, available literature on the career progression of researchers in MER – with regards to factors like academic promotion, funding opportunities, and job satisfaction – have been largely limited to clinician or biomedical researchers. Purpose: To explore the experiences of social scientists in medical education research (MER) units housed in Canadian medical schools through the research question: How do social scientists experience the evolution of their careers into MER? Research Design: Narrative study. Data Collection and Analysis: This study involved semi-structured interviews with six faculty members of MER units in three medical departments in Canada. Findings: My analysis revealed the following themes: 1) challenges are systematic in nature but rewards tend to be interpersonal; 2) the development of MER units have helped improve social scientists’ experiences in MER; 3) interdisciplinary and interprofessional interactions act as both the greatest challenge and reward of a social scientist’s career in MER; 4) social scientists’ perceived experiences in MER are influenced by their perceived impact on institutional change; and 5) social scientists in MER retain and advocate for their identity as social scientists, but individual differences exist in the perceived gratification of advocacy work.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Background: Gross anatomy is a foundational medical school course upon which other courses and patient care is grounded; however, variability in student performance suggests potential in studying underlying non-academic factors to explain some of these inconsistencies. Thus, this study examined medical students’ implicit theories of intelligence (ITI) and grit in order to better understand student learning outcomes in gross anatomy. Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted using 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year medical students who successfully completed gross anatomy. Students (n=382) completed the ITI Scale and Short Grit Scale in order to identify individual’s ITI and grit scores. Subsequent interviews (n=25) were conducted to explore how medical students set goals, operated while reaching those goals, and monitored their progress in achieving those goals. Results: Entity and incremental theorists with high grit performed significantly better in gross anatomy when compared to those with low grit. Further, highly gritty incremental and entity theorists were hard workers and showed resilience in the face of challenges. Specifically, those with an entity ITI had the central goal of getting an honors grade, while those with an incremental ITI desired to understand and apply their anatomical knowledge. Conversely, low grit individuals became overwhelmed by challenges, were more likely to show an inconsistent work ethic, and questioned their ability to master the material. An individual’s ITI, more so than grit, drove the presence of negative emotions in a medical student, with entity theorists feeling anxious and vulnerable, and incremental theorists feeling fewer negative emotions. Finally, grit level moderated how a medical student would respond to negative emotions, with highly gritty individuals exhibiting more constructive coping mechanisms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that medical students who possess high grit and an incremental theory of intelligence have the most effective learning strategies, set achievable goals, and enlist effective coping mechanisms while learning gross anatomy. The findings and tools used in this study could be incorporated into the medical school admissions process. Finally, findings reinforce the value of examining the ITI and grit of medical students, as they can provide educators with insight regarding important non-academic factors driving learning in gross anatomy.