Academic literature on the topic 'BioMedical Admissions Test'

ObjectiveTo determine whether scores on two undergraduate admissions tests (BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) and University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)) predict performance on the postgraduate Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (MRCP) examination, including the clinical examination Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills (PACES).DesignNational cohort study.SettingDoctors who graduated medical school between 2006 and 2018.Participants3045 doctors who had sat BMAT, UCAT and the MRCP.Primary outcome measuresPassing each section of the MRCP at the first attempt, including the clinical assessment PACES.ResultsSeveral BMAT and UCAT subtest scores displayed incremental predictive validity for performance on the first two (written) parts of the MRCP. Only aptitude and skills on BMAT (OR 1.34, 1.08 to 1.67, p=0.01) and verbal reasoning on UCAT (OR 1.34, 1.04 to 1.71, p=0.02) incrementally predicted passing PACES at the first attempt.ConclusionsOur results imply that the abilities assessed by aptitude and skills and verbal reasoning may be the most important cognitive attributes, of those routinely assessed at selection, for predicting future clinical performance. Selectors may wish to consider placing particular weight on scales assessing these attributes if they wish to select applicants likely to become more competent clinicians. These results are potentially relevant in an international context too, since many admission tests used globally, such as the Medical College Admission Test, assess similar abilities.

AbstractBackgroundJumping to conclusions (JTC), which is the proneness to require less information before forming beliefs or making a decision, has been related to formation and maintenance of delusions. Using data from the National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre Genetics and Psychosis (GAP) case–control study of first-episode psychosis (FEP), we set out to test whether the presence of JTC would predict poor clinical outcome at 4 years.MethodsOne-hundred and twenty-three FEP patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and the probabilistic reasoning ‘Beads’ Task at the time of recruitment. The sample was split into two groups based on the presence of JTC bias. Follow-up data over an average of 4 years were obtained concerning clinical course and outcomes (remission, intervention of police, use of involuntary treatment – the Mental Health Act (MHA) – and inpatient days).ResultsFEP who presented JTC at baseline were more likely during the follow-up period to be detained under the MHA [adjusted OR 15.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.92–83.54, p = 0.001], require intervention by the police (adjusted OR 14.95, 95% CI 2.68–83.34, p = 0.002) and have longer admissions (adjusted IRR = 5.03, 95% CI 1.91–13.24, p = 0.001). These associations were not accounted for by socio-demographic variables, IQ and symptom dimensions.ConclusionsJTC in FEP is associated with poorer outcome as indicated and defined by more compulsion police intervention and longer periods of admission. Our findings raise the question of whether the implementation of specific interventions to reduce JTC, such as Metacognition Training, may be a useful addition in early psychosis intervention programmes.

Abstract Inpatient management of sickle cell disease (SCD) vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) often involves use of high-dose opioids, which may result in opioid-induced pruritus (OIP). This OIP is typically treated with antihistamines like diphenhydramine either orally or intravenously. The oversedation adverse effects of diphenhydramine may be magnified when given in combination with high-dose opioid therapy. Current recommendations made by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute endorse using oral rather than intravenous (IV) antihistamines to avoid the cumulative effect on sedation. Despite this guideline, IV diphenhydramine use is still prevalent in many hospitals that treat persons with SCD. We performed a retrospective, single-center, cohort study comparing rates of oversedation among patients who received IV and oral diphenhydramine for management of opioid-induced pruritus in a large SCD inpatient population. Patients with SCD VOC admitted to an urban hospital between June 1, 2016 to July 30, 2017 were included if they were ≥ 18 years old and received either IV or oral diphenhydramine for OIP. Exclusion criteria: Pregnancy, received <24 hours of diphenhydramine, or <50% of their "as needed" doses of diphenhydramine. Primary endpoint: comparative incidence of oversedation in SCD VOC receiving IV versus oral diphenhydramine. Oversedation was defined as meeting two or more of the following criteria: documentation of oversedation in clinician notes, medication doses held by a nurse due to sedation, a PASERO opioid-sedation score ≤3, or documented hypoxemia with O2 percent saturation ≥ 2 points below baseline. Secondary endpoints included: evaluation of hospital length of stay, amount of diphenhydramine administered per day, indication for IV therapy, and number of days receiving diphenhydramine. Individual admissions were portioned by route of diphenhydramine administration cohorts (IV versus oral). Within each cohort, study endpoints were derived at the patient level. Oversedation was determined at the patient level i.e. experiencing at least one occurrence over the course of their admissions. The number of admissions, length of stay, and days of diphenhydramine treatment were totaled across admissions for each patient. The daily dose of diphenhydramine administration (mg/day) was averaged across the admissions per patient. The proportion of subjects experiencing oversedation was summarized by cohort and compared using Fisher's exact test. Length of stay, number of days on treatment, and average daily dose of diphenhydramine were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques. Length of stay and number of days on treatment were log-transformed prior to statistical analyses. The number of admissions was analyzed with Poisson regression. Fifty unique patients were included in the analysis representing 121 admissions. Seven patients received both formulations on separate admissions and were included in both groups, 15 received oral diphenhydramine, and 42 received the IV formulation. The percent of patients experiencing oversedation was higher in the IV group, however the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.312). The average number of admissions was significantly higher in the IV versus oral group (2.45 vs. 1.20; p = 0.005) with average and median length of stay also significantly higher in the IV versus oral group (30.57, 16.0 vs. 10.67, 10.0; p = 0.003). Similarly, the average and median number of days on diphenhydramine treatment in the IV group was significantly higher than in the oral group (28.79, 14.5 vs. 9.73, 7.0; p = 0.001). The average daily dose of diphenhydramine was similar in the two cohorts with no compelling indications documented for use of IV over oral formulation. In summary, while we did not find a statistically significant difference in the rates of oversedation with use of IV versus oral diphenhydramine formulations, patients with SCD VOC who received IV diphenhydramine were more likely to have more frequent admissions, and a longer length of stay. These findings have clear impact on clinical outcomes and cost of care and clinicians may consider oral diphenhydramine preferentially in appropriate patients over IV administration. Larger, prospective studies are needed to evaluate the absolute risk to benefit ratio between the two formulations particularly among person receiving concomitant parenteral opioid therapy. Disclosures Osunkwo: Terumo BCT: Speakers Bureau; Prolog Pharmaceuticals LLC: Consultancy; Novartis Pharmaceuticals LLC: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Symanowski:Immatics: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board; Eli Lily & Co: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board; Boston Biomedical: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board ; Five Prime Therapeutics: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board .

Most American colleges and universities offer gateway biology courses to meet the needs of three undergraduate audiences: biology and related science majors, many of whom will become biomedical researchers; premedical students meeting medical school requirements and preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT); and students completing general education (GE) graduation requirements. Biology textbooks for these three audiences present a topic scope and sequence that correlates with the topic scope and importance ratings of the biology content specifications for the MCAT regardless of the intended audience. Texts for “nonmajors,” GE courses appear derived directly from their publisher's majors text. Topic scope and sequence of GE texts reflect those of “their” majors text and, indirectly, the MCAT. MCAT term density of GE texts equals or exceeds that of their corresponding majors text. Most American universities require a GE curriculum to promote a core level of academic understanding among their graduates. This includes civic scientific literacy, recognized as an essential competence for the development of public policies in an increasingly scientific and technological world. Deriving GE biology and related science texts from majors texts designed to meet very different learning objectives may defeat the scientific literacy goals of most schools’ GE curricula.

Objectives: Early hemorrhage detection in intensive care units (ICUs) enables timely intervention and reduces the risk of irreversible outcomes. In this study, we aimed to develop a machine learning model to predict hemorrhage by learning the patterns of continuously changing, real-world clinical data.Methods: We used the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care databases (MIMIC-III and MIMIC-IV). A recurrent neural network was used to predict severe hemorrhage in the ICU. We developed three machine learning models with an increasing number of input features and levels of complexity: model 1 (11 features), model 2 (18 features), and model 3 (27 features). MIMIC-III was used for model training, and MIMIC-IV was split for internal validation. Using the model with the highest performance, external verification was performed using data from a subgroup extracted from the eICU Collaborative Research Database.Results: We included 5,670 ICU admissions, with 3,150 in the training set and 2,520 in the internal test set. A positive correlation was found between model complexity and performance. As a measure of performance, three models developed with an increasing number of features showed area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve values of 0.61–0.94 according to the range of input data. In the subgroup extracted from the eICU database for external validation, an AUROC value of 0.74 was observed.Conclusions: Machine learning models that rely on real clinical data can be used to predict patients at high risk of bleeding in the ICU.

<p><strong>Background and Objective:</strong> COVID-19 has emerged as a serious threat to the public health. It has been declared as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) because of morbidity and mortality associated with it all over the world. The objective of the present study was to analyze COVID-19 related fatalities in terms of comorbidity, length of hospital stays and critical illness in Allied hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical University. <strong>Methods:</strong> A retrospective hospital data-based research was carried out on n = 25 fatalities registered in three Allied hospitals (Rawalpindi Institute of Urology &amp; Transplantation, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Holy Family Hospital) of Rawalpindi Medical University. The data included age, gender, date of admission and death, severity of illness, comorbidity, oxygen administration or ventilator support and was gathered through consecutive sampling. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 25.0. Fisher&rsquo;s Exact test was applied to determine statistical significance of association between comorbidity and need for ventilation. Statistical significance of association between length of hospital stay and comorbidity was verified by independent sample t-test. <strong>Results:</strong> Of the total n = 25 COVID-19 related fatalities in Allied hospitals, 76% were males. The mean age of study subjects was 55.9 &plusmn; 15.28 years. The greatest number of overall deaths was among 51 &ndash; 70 years old patients. About 44% fatalities had comorbid states with hypertension and diabetes constituting the highest (45.4%) proportion. Comorbidity had statistically significant association (P &lt; 0.02) with need of ventilators in critically ill patients while length of hospital stays depicted insignificant association with comorbidity (P &gt; 0.80). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> People above the age of 50 years are more likely to die due to COVID-19. Comorbid states of hypertension and diabetes should be carefully managed to avoid grave consequences.</p>