An educational outcome cohort has been established at Keimyung University School of Medicine to help make educational policy decisions and improve educational programs based on data. The purpose of the educational outcome cohort is to support educational policy decisions for achieving graduation outcomes smoothly and to accomplish the intended human resources development of the university through objective analyses and regular monitoring, providing continuous feedback. The data collected for the educational outcome cohort include the student identifications of freshmen, entrance exam scores, premedical and medical school grades, titles and forms of student academic research, the results of psychological testing, scholarship recipient lists, volunteer clubs, and so forth. The data are collected using an information utilization agreement approved by the Institutional Review Board, and the collected data are encrypted and stored on a dedicated computer for enhanced personal information security. Proposals to access and utilize the educational outcome cohort data must be discussed and approved by the Educational Outcome Cohort Committee, which decides on the scope and method of utilization. The collected and managed educational outcome cohort data have been used to develop comparative programs to improve students’ competency and to support admission policy decisions through an analysis of the characteristics and performance of medical school students. The establishment and utilization of the educational outcome cohort will play an important role in determining the School of Medicine’s educational policies and suggesting new directions for educational policies in the future.

This study utilized cohort data, student lifestyle surveys, and mental health examination results from a medical school to investigate the impact of factors such as hometown, alcohol use, smoking, university life adaptation, and aptitude on academic failure, with mental health serving as a mediator. We analyzed data from 409 of the 549 incoming students at Keimyung University School of Medicine, excluding 140 individuals with missing data, from the academic years 2015 to 2021. Significant differences were found according to hometown in feelings of depression, suicidal tendencies, and internet addiction. There were also significant differences based on university life adaptation in feelings of depression, suicidal tendencies, and internet addiction, as well as significant differences according to academic aptitude in feelings of depression and internet addiction. Academic failure showed significant differences based on hometown, university life adaptation, and academic aptitude. Furthermore, students’ hometown had a complete mediating effect on academic failure together with feelings of depression, suicidal tendencies, and internet addiction. University life adaptation exhibited a complete mediating effect with suicidal tendencies and a partial mediating effect with feelings of depression and internet addiction. Academic aptitude demonstrated partial mediating effects on feelings of depression, suicidal tendencies, and internet addiction. Based on these results, we suggest establishing counseling programs tailored to the characteristics of medical students, and various programs for university life adaptation are necessary. There is also a need for diverse programs not only for clinical training, but also for different career paths.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction is an established prognostic factor in patients with severe tri‑ cuspid regurgitation (TR). However, accurate assessment of RV systolic function using conventional echocardiography remains challenging. We investigated the accuracy of strain measurement using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for evaluating RV systolic function in patients with severe TR. Methods: We included consecutive patients with severe TR who underwent echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) within 30 days between 2011 and 2023. Two-dimensional STE was used to measure RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) and global longitudinal strain (RVGLS). These values were compared with the RV ejection fraction (RVEF) from CMR. RV systolic dysfunction was defined as a CMR-derived RVEF < 35%. Results: A total of 87 patients with severe TR were identified during the study period. Among echocardiographic RV strain measurements, RVFWLS was the best correlate of CMR-derived RVEF (r = –0.37, P < 0.001), followed by RVGLS (r = –0.27, P = 0.012). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that RVFWLS provided better dis‑ crimination of RV systolic dysfunction, yielding an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.770 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.696–0.800) than RV fractional area change (AUC, 0.615; 95% CI, 0.500–0.859). Conclusions In patients with severe TR, STE-derived RVFWLS showed the best correlation with RVEF on CMR and dis‑ played superior discrimination of RV systolic dysfunction compared with the RV fractional area change. This study suggests the potential usefulness of STE in assessing RV systolic function in this population.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction is an established prognostic factor in patients with severe tri‑ cuspid regurgitation (TR). However, accurate assessment of RV systolic function using conventional echocardiography remains challenging. We investigated the accuracy of strain measurement using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for evaluating RV systolic function in patients with severe TR. Methods: We included consecutive patients with severe TR who underwent echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) within 30 days between 2011 and 2023. Two-dimensional STE was used to measure RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) and global longitudinal strain (RVGLS). These values were compared with the RV ejection fraction (RVEF) from CMR. RV systolic dysfunction was defined as a CMR-derived RVEF < 35%. Results: A total of 87 patients with severe TR were identified during the study period. Among echocardiographic RV strain measurements, RVFWLS was the best correlate of CMR-derived RVEF (r = –0.37, P < 0.001), followed by RVGLS (r = –0.27, P = 0.012). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that RVFWLS provided better dis‑ crimination of RV systolic dysfunction, yielding an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.770 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.696–0.800) than RV fractional area change (AUC, 0.615; 95% CI, 0.500–0.859). Conclusions In patients with severe TR, STE-derived RVFWLS showed the best correlation with RVEF on CMR and dis‑ played superior discrimination of RV systolic dysfunction compared with the RV fractional area change. This study suggests the potential usefulness of STE in assessing RV systolic function in this population.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction is an established prognostic factor in patients with severe tri‑ cuspid regurgitation (TR). However, accurate assessment of RV systolic function using conventional echocardiography remains challenging. We investigated the accuracy of strain measurement using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for evaluating RV systolic function in patients with severe TR. Methods: We included consecutive patients with severe TR who underwent echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) within 30 days between 2011 and 2023. Two-dimensional STE was used to measure RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) and global longitudinal strain (RVGLS). These values were compared with the RV ejection fraction (RVEF) from CMR. RV systolic dysfunction was defined as a CMR-derived RVEF < 35%. Results: A total of 87 patients with severe TR were identified during the study period. Among echocardiographic RV strain measurements, RVFWLS was the best correlate of CMR-derived RVEF (r = –0.37, P < 0.001), followed by RVGLS (r = –0.27, P = 0.012). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that RVFWLS provided better dis‑ crimination of RV systolic dysfunction, yielding an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.770 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.696–0.800) than RV fractional area change (AUC, 0.615; 95% CI, 0.500–0.859). Conclusions In patients with severe TR, STE-derived RVFWLS showed the best correlation with RVEF on CMR and dis‑ played superior discrimination of RV systolic dysfunction compared with the RV fractional area change. This study suggests the potential usefulness of STE in assessing RV systolic function in this population.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction is an established prognostic factor in patients with severe tri‑ cuspid regurgitation (TR). However, accurate assessment of RV systolic function using conventional echocardiography remains challenging. We investigated the accuracy of strain measurement using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for evaluating RV systolic function in patients with severe TR. Methods: We included consecutive patients with severe TR who underwent echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) within 30 days between 2011 and 2023. Two-dimensional STE was used to measure RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) and global longitudinal strain (RVGLS). These values were compared with the RV ejection fraction (RVEF) from CMR. RV systolic dysfunction was defined as a CMR-derived RVEF < 35%. Results: A total of 87 patients with severe TR were identified during the study period. Among echocardiographic RV strain measurements, RVFWLS was the best correlate of CMR-derived RVEF (r = –0.37, P < 0.001), followed by RVGLS (r = –0.27, P = 0.012). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that RVFWLS provided better dis‑ crimination of RV systolic dysfunction, yielding an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.770 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.696–0.800) than RV fractional area change (AUC, 0.615; 95% CI, 0.500–0.859). Conclusions In patients with severe TR, STE-derived RVFWLS showed the best correlation with RVEF on CMR and dis‑ played superior discrimination of RV systolic dysfunction compared with the RV fractional area change. This study suggests the potential usefulness of STE in assessing RV systolic function in this population.