Posts Tagged ‘school’
Developing counseling skills through pre-recorded videos and role play: a pre- and post-intervention study in a Pakistani medical school
Background:Interactive methods like role play, recorded video scenarios and objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) are being regularly used to teach and assess communication skills of medical students in the western world. In developing countries however, they are still in the preliminary phases of execution in most institutes. Our study was conducted in a naive under resourced setup to assess the impact of such teaching methodologies on the counseling skills of medical students.MethodFifty four, fourth year MBBS students were identified to be evaluated for communication skills by trained facilitators in a pre-intervention OSCE. The same group of students was given a demonstration of ideal skill level by means of videos and role playing sessions in addition to real life interaction with patients during hospital and community rotations. A post-intervention evaluation was carried out six months later through OSCE and direct observation through structured checklist (DOS) in hospital and community settings. The combined and individual performance levels of these students were analyzed.Results:There was a statistically significant difference in the communication skills of students when assessed in the post-intervention OSCE (p = 0.000). Individual post-intervention percentages of study participants displayed improvement as well (n=45, p = 0.02). No difference was observed between the scores of male and female students when assessed for two specific competencies of antenatal care and breast feeding counseling (p = 0.11). The mean DOS (%) score of 12 randomly selected students was much lower as compared to the post-intervention (%) score but the difference between them was statistically non significant, a result that may have been affected by the small sample size as well as other factors that may come into play in real clinical settings and were not explored in this study (59.41 +/-7.8 against 82.43 +/-22.08, p = 0.88).Conclusions:Videos and role play in combination with community and clinical exposure are effective modes of teaching counseling skills to medical students. They can be successfully utilized even in a limited resource setup, as demonstrated by our trial.
A survey on the attitudes towards research in medical school
Background:An observed decrease of physician scientists in medical practice has generated much recent interest in increasing the exposure of research programs in medical school. The aim of this study was to review the experience and attitudes regarding research by medical students in Canada.Methods:An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-report questionnaire was administered to second and fourth year students in three medical schools in Ontario between February and May of 2005. Questions were primarily closed-ended and consisted of Likert scales. Descriptive and correlative statistics were used to analyze the responses between students of different years and previous research experience.Results:There was a 47% (327/699) overall response rate to the questionnaire. Despite 87% of respondents reporting that they had been involved in some degree of research prior to medical school, 43% report that they have not been significantly involved in research activity during medical school and 24% had no interest in any participation. There were significant differences in the attitudes towards research endeavors during medical school between students in their fourth year compared to second year. The greatest barriers to involvement in research in medical school appear to be time, availability of research mentors, formal teaching of research methodology and the perception that the student would not receive appropriate acknowledgement for work put towards a research project.Conclusion:The results of this self-report survey outline the significant differences in attitudes towards mandatory research as a component of critical inquiry and scholarship in the undergraduate curriculum in Ontario medical schools.
Job requirements compared to medical school education: differences between graduates from problem-based learning and conventional curricula
Background:Problem-based Learning (PBL) has been suggested as a key educational method of knowledge acquisition to improve medical education. We sought to evaluate the differences in medical school education between graduates from PBL-based and conventional curricula and to what extent these curricula fit job requirements.Methods:Graduates from all German medical schools who graduated between 1996 and 2002 were eligible for this study. Graduates self-assessed nine competencies as required at their day-to-day work and as taught in medical school on a 6-point Likert scale. Results were compared between graduates from a PBL-based curriculum (University Witten/Herdecke) and conventional curricula.Results:Three schools were excluded because of low response rates. Baseline demographics between graduates of the PBL-based curriculum (n=101, 49% female) and the conventional curricula (n=4720, 49% female) were similar. No major differences were observed regarding job requirements with priorities for “Independent learning/working” and “Practical medical skills”. All competencies were rated to be better taught in PBL-based curriculum compared to the conventional curricula (all p<0.001), except for "Medical knowledge" and "Research competence". Comparing competencies required at work and taught in medical school, PBL was associated with benefits in "Interdisciplinary thinking" (Delta +0.88), "Independent learning/working" (Delta +0.57), "Psycho-social competence" (Delta +0.56), "Teamwork" (Delta +0.39) and "Problem-solving skills" (Delta +0.36), whereas "Research competence" (Delta -1.23) and "Business competence" (Delta -1.44) in the PBL-based curriculum needed improvement.Conclusion:Among medical graduates in Germany, PBL demonstrated benefits with regard to competencies which were highly required in the job of physicians. Research and business competence deserve closer attention in future curricular development.
Perceived Stress, Sources and Severity of Stress among medical undergraduates in a Pakistani Medical School
Background:Recently there is a growing concern about stress during undergraduate medical training. However, studies about the same are lacking from Pakistani medical schools. The objectives of our study were to assess perceived stress, sources of stress and their severity and to assess the determinants of stressed cases. MethodsA cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was carried out among undergraduate medical students of CMH Lahore Medical College, Pakistan during January to March 2009. Perceived stress was assessed using the perceived stress scale. A 33-item questionnaire was used to assess sources of stress and their severity.Results:The overall response rate was 80.5% (161 out of 200 students). The overall mean perceived stress was 30.84 (SD= 7.01) and was significantly higher among female students. By logistic regression analysis, stressed cases were associated with occurrence of psychosocial (OR 5.01, 95% CI 2.44-10.29) and academic related stressors (OR 3.17 95% CI 1.52-6.68). The most common sources of stress were related to academic and psychosocial concerns. ‘High parental expectations’, ‘frequency of examinations’, ‘vastness of academic curriculum’, ’sleeping difficulties’, ‘worrying about the future’, ‘loneliness’, ‘becoming a doctor’, ‘performance in periodic examinations’ were the most frequently and severely occurring sources of stress. There was a negative but insignificant correlation between perceived stress and academic performance (r = -0.099, p>0.05). ConclusionA higher level of perceived stress was reported by the students. The main stressors were related to academic and psychosocial domains. Further studies are required to test the association between stressed cases and gender, academic stressors and psychosocial stressors.
Flu Pandemics May Be Worsened By Short-Term School Closures, Pitt Study Finds
Closing schools for less than two weeks during a flu pandemic may increase infection rates and prolong an epidemic, say University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published ahead-of-print and online in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The findings, developed from a series of computer simulations based on U.S…
Link Between Insomnia Symptoms And Medical Complaints In Young School-Aged Children
A study in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine indicates that significant associations exist between parent-reported insomnia symptoms and medical complaints of gastrointestinal regurgitation and headaches in young school-aged children. Results of multivariate regression analysis show that parent-reported insomnia was 3…
School-based H1N1 Influenza Clinics To Begin For K-3 Students, Alabama
The Alabama Department of Public Health will begin offering nasal mist flu vaccine to kindergarten through third grade students in Alabama schools at voluntary H1N1 influenza vaccination clinics. A few clinics will begin the week of Nov. 23, but the majority will be held beginning the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 5. “Vaccination is the best way to protect your children from this potentially serious disease,” said State Health Officer Dr. Donald Williamson.
Why Weren’t H1N1 Vaccines Available For Children Before School Started?
President Barack Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency this weekend, a status that will give the federal government greater flexibility and authority to contain the pandemic. But the current shortage of H1N1 vaccine underscores the severe lack of U.S. preparedness in responding to pandemics, whether through natural disease transmission or manmade bioterrorist attacks, according to a new video from the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
School Of Pharmacy Reacts To Terror Arrest
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The Mehanna family isn't lacking in medicinal knowledge. In fact, Tarek, his brother and his father are well versed in pharmacology.
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Lessons From 1918 On Influenza-related School Closure Planning
During last spring’s influenza A/H1N1 pandemic, closing schools was a common and often contested strategy for curbing spread of the virus. This debate likely will persist if the flu pandemic continues or worsens in the United States this fall. Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a qualitative analysis of 43 U.S.
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