Important question writing requirements

We are implementing an important policy change for submitters.  When a physician reads an article and completes the quiz, we have an ethical obligation to make sure that they have learned something from the activity.  To ensure this, physicians will need to take a 2-3 question pre-test BEFORE accessing the article and completing the 5 question quiz.  The pre-test is simply 2-3 questions from the post-test and by analyzing the difference in scores between pre and post-test, we will know if the physician learned something!

When you write your 5 question quiz, ensure at least 3 of the questions are "stand alone" and can be reasonably answered without looking at the article.  This does NOT mean these questions should be easy, it only means that they should include findings from the paper usually from the discussion, but not details about the methods used by the authors.  The best way to explain is with some examples.

Here are examples of questions that are NOT stand alone: 

• "What was the primary endpoint of the study?"
• "What were the main patient groups in the study?"
• "What was the independent variable that was assessed in this study?"
• "All of the following are applications of this study except:"

Here are some examples of questions that ARE stand alone:

• "Venous thromboembolism must be routinely considered when caring for critically-ill patients, even for those who are on thromboprophylaxis."
• "Intralymphatic immunotherapy as a treatment for bee venom allergy likely produces an increased level of which class of antibodies?"
• "Which of the following is NOT a characteristic sign of Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS)?"
• "Which of the following is a benefit of polymeric hydrogels for treatment?"

Sometimes, you can convert a non-stand-alone question to a stand alone question, for example:

Not stand alone (T/F question): "The results of this study showed a benefit to a 14 day course of Rifaximin in patients with IBS-D"

Stand alone question: "It has been shown in the literature that patients who receive a 14 day course of Rifaximin have decreased IBS-D symptoms"

Finally, when you write stand alone questions, please make sure you define all acronyms unless they are very common and everyone has a general understanding of their meaning.