August in this issue

Renewing a health education curriculum is a significant undertaking, requiring substantial effort and resourcing. However, no comprehensive list of curriculum renewal drivers exists to guide educators that are considering commencing a renewal. This scoping review identified and catalogued published drivers of curriculum renewal of health professional degrees across a 10-year period. Qualitative content analysis was then used to generate 10 categories that clustered drivers into groups. The proposed framework may be used to scaffold future curricular review processes and for informing future scholarly inquiry into the renewal process.

Kok, D, Xu, M, Trumble, S, Matthews, K, Wright, C. Categorising drivers of curriculum renewal in entry-to-practice health professional education: a scoping review. Med Educ. 2025;59(8):812-822. DOI: 10 1111/medu15614.

A meta-study review was conducted to explore the current state of historical scholarship in medical education, to understand the state of the art and to improve methodological, analytical and reporting rigour. Although there were some exemplary articles identified, the majority reflected many deficits in scholarly practice including a lack of methodology, no engagement with theory, inattention to replicability and lack of reflective critique and positionality. There is a discursive space for historical scholarship in medical education that needs further exploration and development to bring together the best of scholarship from the traditions of medical education and history.

Ellaway, R, MacLeod, A, Schalkwyk, S, Cleland, J. Study the past if you would define the future: historical methods in medical education scholarship. Med Educ. 2025;59(8):823-832. DOI: 10 1111/medu15621.

This qualitative study enhances our understanding of how social structures affect the training of intraprofessional collaboration between family physicians and specialist physicians. Conducted in an academic outpatient setting in Canada, the study examines how macrosocial imperatives shape physician supervisors' engagement and teaching of intraprofessional collaboration. The findings reveal that intraprofessional collaboration is influenced by discourses that ironically reinforce professional boundaries, thereby maintaining asymmetric power dynamics. The article proposes how the sociological concepts of discourse and boundaries could guide the development of intraprofessional learning initiatives in ways that mitigate the impact of structural power.

Wong, R, Whitehead, C. Exploring how structural forms of power shape the training of intraprofessional collaboration between family physicians and specialty physicians in outpatient workplace settings. Med Educ. 2025;59(8):842-852. DOI: 10 1111/medu15607.

The enduring myth that medical students' tolerance for uncertainty determines their specialty choice—favouring ‘softer’ fields like psychiatry over seemingly ‘solid’ ones like surgery—has shaped medical education and research for decades. However, our study found no evidence to support this claim. Methodological flaws, inconsistent constructs and professional stereotypes have likely perpetuated this myth despite its lack of empirical grounding. By oversimplifying complex professional decisions, the myth continues to influence educational practices and policies. Our findings call for greater scrutiny of this myth and propose strategies to address its impact on medical training and professional identity formation.

Wegwarth, O, Pfoch, M, Spies, C, Möckel, M, Schaller, S, Wehler, M, Giese, H. Tolerance for uncertainty and medical students' specialty choices: a myth revisited. Med Educ. 2025;59(8):833-841. DOI: 10 1111/medu15610.