Scholars@Duke
David Charles Gordon

David Charles Gordon

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine
davidc.gordon@duke.edu
Box 3096 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
1680 Duke North, Durham, NC 27710

Scholarly Works - Journal articles

Evaluation of a novel formative objective structured clinical examination for clinical reasoning processes in undergraduate medical education: a pilot study.

Journal article Acad Med · July 1, 2026 PURPOSE: Current clinical reasoning assessments rely mostly on outcome-based rather than process-based indicators, which fails to account for early reasoning processes that impact overall diagnostic accuracy. Between 2022 and 2024, the National Board of Me ... Full text Link to item Cite

Does the Timing of USMLE Step 1 Affect Performance? A Comparison of Pre- and Post-Clerkship Timing in the Pass/Fail Era.

Journal article Teach Learn Med · April 30, 2026 In 2022, Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination transitioned to pass/fail scoring, removing a major performance-oriented incentive that historically shaped how and why students prepared for the exam. While Step 1 is typically taken befor ... Full text Link to item Cite

Validity Evidence for Using Virtual, Interactive Patient Encounters to Teach and Assess Clinical Reasoning for First-Year Medical Students.

Journal article Acad Med · April 1, 2025 PURPOSE: Despite universal agreement on the importance of clinical reasoning skills, inadequate curricular attention to these skills remains a problem. To facilitate integration of clinical reasoning instruction and assessment into the preclerkship phase, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Stepping Back: How Should Pass/Fail Scoring Influence Step 1 Timing?

Journal article Acad Med · February 1, 2025 Although most students complete Step 1 before clerkships, some institutions delay the exam until after clerkships. The change to pass/fail grading adds additional complexity that should be considered when deciding about exam timing. Both early and late adm ... Full text Link to item Cite

Away Rotation Applications in Emergency Medicine: Medical Student Behaviors, Outcomes, and Stressors.

Journal article J Emerg Med · March 2022 BACKGROUND: Completing an emergency medicine (EM) away rotation is integral to matching successfully into an EM residency program. The demand for EM away rotations (ARs) drives students to submit numerous applications without evidence-based recommendations ... Full text Link to item Cite

Advancing the assessment of clinical reasoning across the health professions: Definitional and methodologic recommendations.

Journal article Perspect Med Educ · March 2022 The importance of clinical reasoning in patient care is well-recognized across all health professions. Validity evidence supporting high quality clinical reasoning assessment is essential to ensure health professional schools are graduating learners compet ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of a Structured Observation Tool to Promote Medical Student Engagement in Trauma Resuscitations.

Journal article J Surg Educ · 2022 OBJECTIVE: We describe a novel approach to promoting medical student learning and engagement during trauma resuscitation with implementation of a structured observation and debriefing tool. DESIGN: In the context of a multifaceted quality improvement effor ... Full text Link to item Cite

More Is More: Drivers of the Increase in Emergency Medicine Residency Applications.

Journal article West J Emerg Med · December 10, 2020 INTRODUCTION: The average number of applications per allopathic applicant to emergency medicine (EM) residency programs in the United States (US) has increased significantly since 2014. This increase in applications has caused a significant burden on both ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

COVID-19: A Driver for Disruptive Innovation of the Emergency Medicine Residency Application Process.

Journal article West J Emerg Med · August 19, 2020 The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on undergraduate medical education with limitation of patient care activities and disruption to medical licensing examinations. In an effort to promote both safety and equity, the eme ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mapping clinical reasoning literature across the health professions: a scoping review.

Journal article BMC Med Educ · April 7, 2020 BACKGROUND: Clinical reasoning is at the core of health professionals' practice. A mapping of what constitutes clinical reasoning could support the teaching, development, and assessment of clinical reasoning across the health professions. METHODS: We condu ... Full text Link to item Cite

The terminology of clinical reasoning in health professions education: Implications and considerations.

Journal article Med Teach · November 2019 Introduction: Clinical reasoning is considered to be at the core of health practice. Here, we report on the diversity and inferred meanings of the terms used to refer to clinical reasoning and consider implications for teaching and assessment. Methods: In ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical Reasoning Assessment Methods: A Scoping Review and Practical Guidance.

Journal article Acad Med · June 2019 PURPOSE: An evidence-based approach to assessment is critical for ensuring the development of clinical reasoning (CR) competence. The wide array of CR assessment methods creates challenges for selecting assessments fit for the purpose; thus, a synthesis of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Drawing Boundaries: The Difficulty in Defining Clinical Reasoning.

Journal article Acad Med · July 2018 Clinical reasoning is an essential component of a health professional's practice. Yet clinical reasoning research has produced a notably fragmented body of literature. In this article, the authors describe the pause-and-reflect exercise they undertook duri ... Full text Link to item Cite

GME Concentrations: A Collaborative Interdisciplinary Approach to Learner-Driven Education.

Journal article J Grad Med Educ · September 2015 BACKGROUND: Graduate medical education (GME) programs may struggle to provide the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to meet trainee career interests and goals beyond a clinical focus. Sponsoring institutions can partner with programs to deliver ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessing patient care: summary of the breakout group on assessment of observable learner performance.

Journal article Acad Emerg Med · December 2012 There is an established expectation that physicians in training demonstrate competence in all aspects of clinical care prior to entering professional practice. Multiple methods have been used to assess competence in patient care, including direct observati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Emergency medicine clerkship curriculum: an update and revision.

Journal article Acad Emerg Med · June 2010 In 2006, the latest version of a national curriculum for the fourth-year emergency medicine (EM) clerkship was published. Over the past several years, that curriculum has been implemented across multiple clerkships. The previous curriculum was found to be ... Full text Link to item Cite