MADEL see the Medical and Dental Education Levy. One of the NHS funding streams for training (MADEL, SIFT. NMET)
MAGICAL THINKING: attributing to one’s own actions something that had nothing to do with them
MANAGEMENT PLAN: A clinical protocol that has been distilled into a series of clear auditable criteria and standards
MANUALS – process or procedure manuals which give instructions on an element/workings of the project/service
MAP Membership (of the RCGP) by performance. An assessment of performance (knowledge skills and attitudes) of the doctor at work through peer review. Success makes a candidate eligible for membership of the RCGP
MATCHING The deliberate process of making a study group and comparison group comparable with respect to factors that are extraneous to the purpose of the investigation, but that might interfere with the interpretation of the findings of the study (e.g. in case control studies, individual cases might be matched or paired with a specific control on the basis of comparable age, gender, clinical features, or a combination).
MATERNAL MORTALITY (RATE) The ratio of women who die from causes related to childbirth to the total number of women giving birth, in a given area during a given period, most often a year. Maternal death is defined by WHO as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, if this cause is not accidental or incidental but related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.
MEAN The average calculated by summing all measures and dividing by the number of measures.
MEASUREMENT SCALE The complete range of possible values for a given measurement, if this is a functional status index, the measurement scale means all the possible answers to the questions. Measurement scales can be classified into five different types: 1. Dichotomous scale: items are arranged into one of two mutually exclusive categories. 2. Nominal scale: items are arranged into different categories which have no inherent order, i.e. sex, age, social class. 3. Ordinal scale: classification into ordered qualitative categories where there is no natural distance between the possible values, i.e. social class I, II, III, etc. 4. Interval scale: divided up in equal intervals, where the distance between the values in one end of the scale means the same as a similar distance in the other end of the scale, e.g. temperature scale, date of birth. 5. Ratio scale: a ratio scale with a true zero point. The values between each point have a well-defined meaning like body height, income, weight.
MEDIAN The midpoint of a score distribution which divides it into two parts containing 50% each.
MEDICAL AND DENTAL EDUCATION LEVY. This provides the NHS funding for GP registrars salaries and trainers grants, It is administered by the Deanery.
MEDICAL AUDIT: Audit activities concerning the performance of doctors professional activity where the structure, process or outcome is analysed and compared with a `gold standard', to see to what degree the professional performance reaches the criteria which the profession has defined as good or optimal. Sheldon defined in 1982 medical audit: "Medical Audit is a study of some part of the structure, process and outcome of medical care carried out by those personally engaged in the activity concerned, to measure whether set objectives have been attained and thus assess the quality of care delivered." It includes self audit and peer review.
MEDICAL CARE See HEALTH CARE.
MEDICAL STANDARDS The precise count or quantity (of' criteria) that specifies an acceptable level of care. It is established by consensus and approved by a recognized medical body that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.
MEDICAL TEACHER. An international Journal of Education in Practice for Educators in the Health Sciences www.carfax.co.uk
MEETINGS – a session with a set agenda and a small number of people brought together to discuss and debate a specific issue, often small numbers attend
MENTAL MODELS are the deeply held assumptions and generalisations formed by individuals that influence how people make sense of the world.
MENTOR: Someone who counsels you on your professional needs and development.
MENTORING – a continued level of support, advice and guidance given to an individual or organisation to develop their service. Mentorship may be given through one to one sessions, telephone or e-mail
META LEARNING (Triple Loop), Learning that produces learning about learning and can transform organisations.
META-ANALYSIS A review that incorporates a specific strategy for assembling the results of a several studies into a single estimate, a review performed in a formal way using methodological criteria to select publications on the subject and, if possible, a formal condensing of the evidence (pooling) of the results of the selected studies. See REVIEW.
METHODS With regard to teaching and research can have two meanings: I. The ways in which the selected learning situations are used, choosing those which are most suitable for achieving particular educational objectives within particular learning experiences.2. The way a research project is performed and procedures defined, described as accurate as possible.
MILLERS PYRAMID for Assessing Clinical Competence. Knows, knows how, shows how, does
Mini Cex - Mini-Clinical Evaluation eXercise is an assessment tool, it is a15 minute snapshot of doctor/patient interaction. It is designed to assess the clinical skills attitudes and behaviours of trainees. This is used in foundation years and ST1 and ST2.
MINIMUM BASIC DATA SET (Syn: minimum data set) Standardized data which may include demographic data, coded diagnoses and procedures, admission and discharge data, or other data. The definition of this data set is typically produced by agreement among groups of users.
MOC Maintenance of Competence
MODE Can have two meanings:1. One of the several ways in which a certain tool or instrument can be used. 2. A measure of central tendency defined as the class with the highest frequency in the frequency distribution; the most frequently occurring value.
MODELLING – projecting outcomes based on a proven model which has been used and proved successful in similar situations
MODIFICATION, DIAGNOSTIC The revision of a preliminary diagnosis as an episode evolves.
MODULE Part of the whole; a section or separate unit. In the `family of classifications' concept, modules have been described as `separate classifications which may be united through a common conversion structure'.
MONITORING The ongoing measurements of a variety of indicators of health care structure, process, or outcome.
MONO HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION Partially ordered classification system in which each node may have only one parent node.
MORBIDITY A collective term for all the health problems presented by a patient, a group of patients or a practice population during a defined period of time, usually a year.
MORTALITY RATE (Syn: crude death rate) The number of deaths that occur among a population during a year, divided by the average number `at risk' during the same year (expressed per 1000 persons). See DEATH RATE.
MOTIVATION, that part of a person’s being that makes him or her perform physical or mental tasks without extraneous stimulation
MRCGP EXAMINATION. An examination that is an objective accreditation of the competency and care of individual doctors. Examination success makes candidate eligible for membership of the RCGP (see also MAP)
MSF Multi-source feedback or 360degree feedback on performance – this in an externally applied assessment and is used three times during a 3 year program.
MTAS Medical Training Application Service
MULTI DISCIPLINARY: Different professional groups working together
MULTI HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION Partially ordered classification system in which each node may have several parent nodes.
Multi-source Feedback MSF (GP-SPRAT) – this in an externally applied assessment and is used three times during a 3 year program.
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS (Syn: multiple regression) A statistical method to evaluate the relationship between a continuous outcome and the linear combination of two or more predictor variables.