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Clinician-scientists (CSs) are vital in connecting the worlds of research and practice. Yet, there is little empirical insight into how CSs perceive and act upon their in-and-between position between these socio-culturally distinct worlds. To better understand and support CSs' training and career development, this study aims to gain insight into CSs' social identity and brokerage. The authors conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 17, purposively sampled, CSs to elicit information on their social identity and brokerage. The CSs differ in how they perceive their social identity. Some CSs described their social identity strongly as either a research or clinical identity (dominant research or clinical identity). Other CSs described combined research and clinical identities, which might sometimes be compartmentalised, intersected or merged (non-dominant-identity). In the types of brokerage that they employ, all CSs act as representatives. CSs with a non-dominant identity mostly act as liaison and show considerable variability in their repertoire, including representative and gatekeeper. CSs with a dominant identity have less diversity in their brokerage types. Those with a dominant research identity typically act as a gatekeeper. Combining lenses of social identity theory and brokerage types helps understand CSs who have a dual position in-and-between the worlds of clinical practice and research. Professional development programs should explicitly address CSs' professional identities and subsequent desired brokerage. Research and policy should aim to clarify and leverage the position of CSs in-and-between research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background; Until 2018, the Breast and Endocrine surgery had no student calendar. A questionnaire survey was conducted on how students felt by creating a weekly schedule of individual students from 2019. Method: 6th-year elective courses, targeted at students who selected Breast and Endocrine surgery clinical clerkship. The schedule clarifies the contents of the training as follows; outpatient visits, small group study (preparation for graduation and national exams including mammography reading), simulator training, and surgery. The questionnaire adopted an anonymous five-point evaluation method (5; I think very much; 4; Somewhat I think; 3; Normal; 2; Somewhat I don't think; 1; I don't think), and provided a free text box. The following seven questions were asked; A. I was able to send a good training, B. I was useful for studying national and graduation exams, C. Time constraints were appropriate, D. I could fully experience surgery, E. Appropriately experienced outpatients, F. Assignments (presented at conference) appropriate, G. I was interested in Breast and Endocrine surgery. Results: Average values were A. 4.7, B. 4.9, C. 4.6, D. 4.9, E. 4.8, F. 4.7, G. 4.7. However, C and F received low ratings of 1 and 2. In the free text box, there were favorable opinions such as the fact that it was good to prepare for the national examination and that reading mammography was helpful. Conversely, there were some negative opinions, such as a time spent outpatient was too long, a difference in enthusiasm among the instructors, and a hope to see more at the first visit and to cope with the procedure. Discussion: Preparing a weekly calendar of individual students generally yielded satisfactory results, but also highlighted the potential for future improvements in clinical clerkship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe their experience in developing local, institution-based immersion opportunities for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) experiences in the subdisciplines of laboratory medicine. Topics they cover include the reason they consider the discipline of laboratory medicine as unique among clinical specialties in the U.S., the career-development path of doctor of medicine (MD)- and PhD-trained laboratory directors and examples of nonuniversity-based forums in laboratory medicine.

Objective: Since fine-motor movements and complex procedures, which are often necessary in dental practice, can be compared to those used by professional athletes, the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the mental training technique, established in sport science, on dentistry. Method and Materials: In a randomized, controlled study, 2 groups of 20 and 21 dental students in their second semester (experimental group with mental training, and control group with conventional training, respectively), were evaluated at 2 time points (pre- and posttest) by measuring the effect of training by the criteria "knowledge," "process," and "quality" of a crown preparation on the computer-assisted Dental-Simulator (DenX). Results: The improvements of the experimental group and of the control group from pre- to posttest could be distinguished for all criteria in favor of the experimental group, in which improvements of knowledge (F1,39 = 72.674, P < .001) and process (F1,39 = 6.63, P = .01) were statistically significantly better. Conclusion: The significantly greater improvements of the experimental group regarding knowledge and process compared to the control group indicate that the improvement in learning and performance caused by mental training is detectable in dental education, especially with regard to cognitive aspects of dental procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The specialty of orthopedics and traumatology that is completed in the 5 years period in our country is a challenging educational process and our purpose in this study is to demonstrate through a survey training conditions of the orthopedic assistants in our country and the effects of this process on assistants. MATERIAL AND METHODS 524 (70.05%) of 748 assistants who receive specialization training in Turkey were reached. There were 20 multiple choice questions ( 1 mark each) and 3 questions (more than 1 mark each) in the survey consisting of twenty-three questions. Our study group was formed by doctors who have still worked as assistant in our country and have accepted to participate in the study. The doctors who finished assistantship with any reason and did assistantship for time less than 6 months and did not exactly fill the questionnaire form were excluded from the study. RESULTS 524 (71.97%) of 728 assistant who are in 40 (100%) of 40 provinces where assistant training given in Turkey were reached. 474 (90.45%) participants were satisfied to do orthopedic specialization. When considering working hours, it was observed that 337 (64.31%) participants had over 90 hours weekly including night shift and 521 (99.42%) participants had to work after night shift. The majority of participants (361 persons 68.89%) were receiving salaries between TL 4000-6000. When looking at the entire working group, the rate of participants who said that scientific training is weak or there is no scientific training was 427 (81.48%). CONCLUSIONS Our survey study is one of the first statistical study which investigating professional and social problems of orthopedic assistants. Some of important problems as training satisfaction, abuse by patients and/or manager, the average monthly income and psychological status assessment is emphasized. Orthopedics and Traumatology assistantship is a challenging process to cause physical and psychological problems with the hard working conditions in our Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, the medical curriculum has been changed to accommodate a variety of evolving disciplines and an exploding scientific knowledge of the basic sciences to prepare "a competent physician" of the 21st century. Therefore, we must be innovative in our approach of curricular development if we wish to continue to incorporate new basic sciences knowledge in the face of decreasing contact hours to satisfy the buzz word, "integration". Certainly, the challenges are phenomenal. The question how to best integrate basic sciences, is not easy to answer as the objectives of the courses and outcome vary from one medical school to another and the fact is, one size does not fit all. However, if we believe that basic sciences are the language of medicine and foundation of clinical knowledge, then we must resolve this ongoing dilemma by introducing basic sciences through a better alignment in a given curriculum. The purpose of this review is to evaluate different curricular models for their basic sciences content and address their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, we will introduce a spiral design to integrate basic sciences for senior students. Finally, we will provide some insight as to how learning and retention of basic science content can be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We set out to summarize the current challenges in academic conflict of interest.Methods: This is a narrative review by a multidisciplinary, multinational panel of academic officers including deans of medical/pharmacy schools.Results and Conclusions: Disclosing conflict of interest has become the appropriate professional behavior since the 1990s in response to the necessity to fix moral and financial fences around medical activities. The nature of the conflict of interest is academic when either the conflict relates to academic duties and/or the nature of the interest is academic. People usually distinguish between real conflict of interest, when private interest overtly influences one's professional obligations; potential conflict of interest, when there is no obvious direct link between a person interests and current duties without ruling out that expected changes in duties cause a situation of conflict; and apparent conflict of interest, when the risk does not really exist, but serious doubts remain. Areas at risk of academic conflict of interest include peer review process for grant evaluation or journals, scientific communications such as elaborating and disseminating clinical guidelines, lecturing at meeting, advising decision-makers, teaching activities, and mentoring. The management of academic conflict of interest should consider actions in four domains, i.e., education, prevention, measures for enforcement and solving, and communication. Academic conflicts of interest are as frequent as financial conflicts but more difficult to identify and assess, and much less addressed in the literature. Generating more evidence from high-quality research is mandated to improve the management of academic and more generally non-financial conflicts of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Charles Edward Goldsborough, assistant surgeon, 5th Maryland Infantry, U.S. Topics include Goldsborough was born at Graceham, Maryland as the son of Leander Worthington and Sarah Ann Dunkin Goldsborough, and he studied medicine in his father's office and attended the University of Maryland at Baltimore and soon after the Battle of Ball's Bluff he entered the U.S. Army.

The titles reviewed in this chapter concern science and medicine studies. They represent work drawn from a variety of contexts and disciplinary perspectives, including science and technology, the history of science, literary studies, critical race theory, medical humanities, cultural anthropology, public health, the philosophy of science, transnationalism, media studies, archive studies, and book history. The chapter opens with 1. Notable Books—extended discussions of three especially significant books. Subsequent sections are dedicated to: 2. Bodies and Embodiment; 3. Epistemology and Dissemination; 4. Institutions and Praxis; and 5. Conversations (Journals). Readers will note certain themes running throughout, which include decolonizing science, embodiment, form, circulation, and praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of the History & Philosophy of Medicine / Archiwum Historii i Filozofii Medycyny is the property of Polskie Towarzystwo Historii Medycyny i Farmacji and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of the History & Philosophy of Medicine / Archiwum Historii i Filozofii Medycyny is the property of Polskie Towarzystwo Historii Medycyny i Farmacji and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: In the spirit of enacting an educational model of guided, collective reflection to support positive professional identity construction in healthcare learners, we implemented a reflection-based course for medical students transitioning to clerkship with three goals: to sensitize learners to the hidden curriculum; to provide a safe and confidential forum to discuss their experiences; and to co-construct strategies to deal with the pressures in the clinical environmentMethods: We used a design-based research protocol. Twelve students participated in ten sessions starting during their transition to clerkship. Faculty debriefed after each session, adjusting the format of the subsequent sessions. Data included student logs, transcripts of the course sessions, faculty debriefings, and the course evaluation. Data were analyzed via an iterative process of independent coding and discussion.Results: The main adjustments to the course were to eliminate didactic content in favour of using prompts prior to course sessions and de-emphasizing written reflection. Participants felt the course achieved its three goals and students reported enhanced resiliency during transition to clerkship, although, despite prompting, students offered no examples of their joining in with the negative behaviours around them.Conclusions: The course was successful in its key objectives. However, a key aspect of reflection, students noticing their own behaviour in the moment as something that needs to be reflected on, was challenging. Future research exploring the value of reflection as an intervention to redress the unwanted aspects of the hidden curriculum might focus on efforts to move the students to explicitly explore the enculturation process in themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1960s, numerous articles, special features, symposia, and conferences have raised perceptive and often troubling questions about the present condition and future directions of the field. In the 1980s, the debates reached a crescendo with issues about specialization, fragmentation, professional versus academic, and what should comprise the academic core. Any profession should periodically evaluate itself; it is now time, however, to marshall our efforts and concentrate on what our collective strengths are—or should be. It is suggested herein that useful lessons might be gleaned from an overview of American medicine at the turn of the century and recent discussions concerning medical education. Medicine combines both clinical and academic/scientific studies and draws upon knowledge ranging from the molecular to the macro levels. American medicine and medical education struggled through uncertainties 100 years ago that are not unlike those that physical education has been involved in for the last 3 decades. To achieve first-class academic and professional respectability, however, more physical education faculty must become producers (rather than consumers) of scholarly and scientific knowledge. Moreover, our professional organization must devote greater attention to fostering research, the foundation upon which the respectability of a profession rests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western civilization has a philosophical tradition based upon dualisms and dichotomies. Among these dichotomies is one that separates the mind and the body. In an area of study and practice such as physical education, this separation of the human into two parts has implications for our teaching, research, curricula, and even the way we work with people. The purpose of this article is to review the philosophic history of the mind and body with reference to the implications this dualism has had in our profession. This is followed by a discussion of a nondualistic, embodied view of humans and how that nondualistic view might call for (a) changes in the way we work with people, and (b) integrative study and analysis in order to lead to a more complete understanding of human movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing focus on factors that influence the variability of rater-based judgments. First impressions are one such factor. First impressions are judgments about people that are made quickly and are based on little information. Under some circumstances, these judgments can be predictive of subsequent decisions. A concern for both examinees and test administrators is whether the relationship remains stable when the performance of the examinee changes. That is, once a first impression is formed, to what degree will an examiner be willing to modify it? The purpose of this study is to determine the degree that first impressions influence final ratings when the performance of examinees changes within the context of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Physician examiners (n = 29) viewed seven videos of examinees (i.e., actors) performing a physical exam on a single OSCE station. They rated the examinees' clinical abilities on a six-point global rating scale after 60 s (first impression or FIGR). They then observed the examinee for the remainder of the station and provided a final global rating (GRS). For three of the videos, the examinees' performance remained consistent throughout the videos. For two videos, examinee performance changed from initially strong to weak and for two videos, performance changed from initially weak to strong. The mean FIGR rating for the Consistent condition (M = 4.80) and the Strong to Weak condition (M = 4.87) were higher compared to their respective GRS ratings (M = 3.93, M = 2.73) with a greater decline for the Strong to Weak condition. The mean FIGR rating for the Weak to Strong condition was lower (3.60) than the corresponding mean GRS (4.81). This pattern of findings suggests that raters were willing to change their judgments based on examinee performance. Future work should explore the impact of making a first impression judgment explicit versus implicit and the role of context on the relationship between a first impression and a subsequent judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consistent mentoring approach is key to unlocking the full benefits of mentoring, ensuring effective oversight of mentoring relationships and preventing abuse of mentoring. Yet consistency in mentoring between senior clinicians and medical students (novice mentoring) which dominate mentoring processes in medical schools is difficult to achieve particularly when mentors practice in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical schools. To facilitate a consistent approach to mentoring this review scrutinizes common aspects of mentoring in undergraduate and postgraduate medical schools to forward a framework for novice mentoring in medical schools. Four authors preformed independent literature searches of novice mentoring guidelines and programmes in undergraduate and postgraduate medical schools using ERIC, PubMed, CINAHL, OVID and Science Direct databases. 25,605 abstracts were retrieved, 162 full-text articles were reviewed and 34 articles were included. The 4 themes were identified-preparation, initiating and supporting the mentoring process and the obstacles to effective mentoring. These themes highlight 2 key elements of an effective mentoring framework-flexibility and structure. Flexibility refers to meeting the individual and changing needs of mentees. Structure concerns ensuring consistency to the mentoring process and compliance with prevailing codes of conduct and standards of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of Canadians depends on effective leadership among health care providers to facilitate the translation of new health discoveries into clinical practice. Clinician-scientists play an important role in bridging the gap between research and clinical practice, and require effective leadership skills to advance clinical practice successfully. To accelerate the leadership development in clinician scientist trainees, with the aim of developing strong leaders in administration and health advocacy, the Leaders in Medicine (LIM) training program at the University of Calgary created an Executive Leadership Coaching Program involving three phases: 1) an evidence-based evaluation tool, the Core Values IndexTM (CVI), that was used to identify the key drivers behind how individuals can be most effective in making their contribution; 2) small group workshops to debrief the results of the CVI assessment; and 3) one-on-one executive coaching sessions to facilitate the discovery, development and deployment of individual leadership capabilities. Coaching in leadership strategies enables clinician-scientist trainees to lead, influence, manage and deliver science-based improvements into the practice of medicine. We strongly recommend that other Canadian scientist-clinician training programs consider opportunities like the ones we offer to our LIM trainees. This training has important implications for the delivery of healthcare in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some have questioned whether successful performance in the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program is meaningful. The association of the ABIM Internal Medicine (IM) MOC examination with state medical board disciplinary actions is unknown.Objective: To assess risk of disciplinary actions among general internists who did and did not pass the MOC examination within 10 years of initial certification.Design: Historical population cohort study.Participants: The population of internists certified in internal medicine, but not a subspecialty, from 1990 through 2003 (n = 47,971).Intervention: ABIM IM MOC examination.Setting: General internal medicine in the USA.Main Measures: The primary outcome measure was time to disciplinary action assessed in association with whether the physician passed the ABIM IM MOC examination within 10 years of initial certification, adjusted for training, certification, demographic, and regulatory variables including state medical board Continuing Medical Education (CME) requirements.Key Results: The risk for discipline among physicians who did not pass the IM MOC examination within the 10 year requirement window was more than double than that of those who did pass the examination (adjusted HR 2.09; 95% CI, 1.83 to 2.39). Disciplinary actions did not vary by state CME requirements (adjusted HR 1.02; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.16), but declined with increasing MOC examination scores (Kendall's tau-b coefficient = - 0.98 for trend, p < 0.001). Among disciplined physicians, actions were less severe among those passing the IM MOC examination within the 10-year requirement window than among those who did not pass the examination.Conclusions: Passing a periodic assessment of medical knowledge is associated with decreased state medical board disciplinary actions, an important quality outcome of relevance to patients and the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The pressures for generating revenue from clinical activities dissuade clinician-educators from teaching; taking the steps to develop an educational value system is a way to recognize and perhaps support education. We compared the perceived educational value of diverse pedagogical activities during clinical training from students, residents, and faculty in medical and surgical specialties.Methods: Between 2016 and 2017, a survey among medical students, residents, and faculty from medical (internal medicine, pediatrics) or surgical (general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology) departments was conducted at an academic medical center that sponsors 88 training programs. Participants ranked teaching activities relative to their perceived teaching importance.Results: In total, 156 subjects participated (48 core teaching faculty, 68 residents, and 40 medical students). Teaching in the wards was the highest-ranked teaching activity for medical (mean 1.6) and surgical specialties (mean 1.9). For medicine and pediatrics, active teaching activities were ranked higher (mean 2.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8-3.0) than passive teaching activities (mean 5.3, 95% CI 5.1-5.5, P < 0.001). Similarly, for surgery and obstetrics and gynecology, active teaching activities were ranked higher (mean 3.6, 95% CI 3.3-3.9) than passive teaching activities (mean 5.2, 95% CI 4.8-5.5, P < 0.001).Conclusions: Medical students, residents, and faculty across specialties have a high degree of agreement regarding the ranking of diverse pedagogical activities; such correlation will facilitate the interpretation of educational value units across specialties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a yearly report for the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, Hawaii for the fiscal year 2018. Information about the accomplishments, activities and performance of the school, is highlighted. An overview on the successful recruitments, rankings and accreditation of the school. is also emphasized.

Medical ethics is a core issue for all specialties and is encompassed in professionalism. It is a presumption that not dealt appropriately in the undergraduate teaching curriculum. There is a paucity of awareness lectures and seminar workshops in teaching setups for medical ethics for undergraduates in developing countries. The current policy of PMDC does not provide a centralized curriculum for teaching of medical ethics in medical colleges, which results in lack of logical ethical reasoning among students. There is a need to develop a medical ethics curriculum taught by medical ethics department in every medical college in collaboration with the clinicians with real life case scenarios. Students should be evaluated through examinations at the end of every year with fixed hours dedicated to the teaching of the curriculum. Only, through these measures patient satisfaction will improve and medicine can achieve its lost glory and nobility in our part of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late eighteenth century, the Ecole vétérinaire d'Alfort was renowned for its innovative veterinary education and for having one of the largest natural history and anatomy collections in France. Yet aside from a recent interest in the works of one particular anatomist, the school's history has been mostly ignored. I examine here the fame of the school in eighteenth-century travel literature, the historic connection between veterinary science and natural history, and the relationship between the school's hospital and its esteemed cabinet. Using the correspondence papers of veterinary administrators, state representatives and competing scientific institutions during the French Revolution, I argue that resource constraints and the management of anatomical and natural history specimens produced new disciplinary boundaries between natural history, veterinary medicine and human medicine, while reinforcing geographic divisions between the local and the foreign in the study of non-human animals. This paper reconstructs the Ancien Régime reasoning that veterinary students would benefit from a global perspective on animality, and the Revolutionary government's rejection of that premise. Under republicanism, veterinary medicine became domestic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TV series such as “House MD”, “Grey´s Anatomy” or “Emergency Room” are well perceived by medical students. Seminars featuring medical TV series such as “House MD” might serve as door-opener to attract medical students to learn more about rare diseases. The TV series “House MD” is troublesome for the main character Dr. House is an excellent diagnostician but at the same time a rather misanthropic person. Therefore, lecturing medicine with the help of “House MD” requires constant evaluation. From 2008 to 2016 we are using the well-known TV series “House MD” continuously to attract medical students and teach them about rare diseases as well as diagnostic strategies. We collected from 213 students a detailed questionnaire assessing their learning experience. 76.6% of our students (n = 157) reported to watching medical dramas on a regular basis. The Dr. House seminar was compared to traditional seminars and our students reported an improved learning effect (69.9%), better concentration (89.7%), higher motivation to participate (88.7%), and more fun (86.7%) (all p<0.001). The students see Dr. House’s behavior quite critically. Likert assessment on a 5-point scale identified strong disagreement with Dr. House´s interpersonal skills in dealing with his colleagues (median = 1) and patients (median = 1). At the same time, the students strongly agreed with his outstanding diagnostic (median = 5) and therapeutic capabilities (median = 4). Medical students visiting a Dr. House teaching seminar are highly motivated to learn more about rare diseases. They were positively influenced by TV series such as Dr. House to improve their diagnostic and clinical skills. At the same time, they are critical enough not to see Dr. House as a role model for their own personality. Well performed medical TV shows such as Dr. House can successfully be used in an educational setting to motivate medical students to come into seminars to learn more about rare diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hematology is a difficult aspect of medicine for students to learn. Students need hematology clerkship training to develop their clinical skills. The influence of gender on different teaching methods and performance in foreign medical students is still unknown, especially in hematology clerkship. To address this issue, we tested performance differences between foreign male and female students in clinical practice. Twenty-two foreign medical students attended a two-week hematology clerkship in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. The lecture-based learning (LBL) method and mixed team-based learning (MTBL) method were used in hematology clerkship. Eight foreign students were assigned to LBL group, and fourteen foreign medical students were assigned to MTBL group. Our previous work found that MTBL methods benefit both foreign medical students and Chinese postgraduates. In this study, practice scores and case-writing scores were analyzed between boys and girls. The results showed that the mean of scores in practice test scores and case writing scores was not significantly different between genders (P>0.05), as well as subgroup analysis in LBL and MTBL groups (P>0.05). This study indicated that practice test scores and case-writing scores in hematology clerkship were the same between boys and girls, which were not related to teaching methods. This study also indicated that both genders can benefit from the new MTBL teaching methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central piece in Cairo medical school’s museum is a painting portraying the school’s first dissection lesson. Dissection was central to the agenda of the school’s founder, Antoine Barthelemy Clot (d. 1868). In Clot’s narrative, dissection was key to modern scientific education. In his writings, he chronicled what he believed to be his students’ resistance and disgust with the practice. This article investigates the emotional underwriting of colonial science, and explores the role played by disgust in constructing colonial narratives of progress and scientific authority, and in the postcolonial narratives of colonial and precolonial history. It argues that disgust, along with similar emotions, functions on a moral economy that underwrites and authorizes the production of colonial scientific authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Awareness of the motives of the students for choosing to study medicine demonstrates their understanding of the nature of this major and their expectations from their future profession. The evaluation of the volume of students who choose this major with wrong motives is necessary for educational planning of professional commitment. This study was conducted to evaluate the motives of choosing to study medicine in the firstyear medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted on the first-semester of medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in the 2014-15 academic year who were selected through census sampling. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire, which included questions on 17 different motives in a Likert scale in addition to demographic characteristics. Results: Of 131 distributed questionnaires, 124 (93%) were completed and returned. Eighty-six participants (65.61%) mentioned helping others as their main motive for choosing medicine followed by interest in the human body (44.3%), interaction with people (32.8%), professional prestige (26.7%), and starting a good profession after graduation (21.4%). On the other hand, unfamiliarity with other majors (0.8%), competition with others (2.3%), and teamwork (4.6%) were the least important motives. Conclusions: The students’ motives are mostly altruistic and in accordance with medical professionalism. These motives should be reinforced to enhance professional performance. Moreover, the faculty of medicine should recognize and offer counseling services to students with undesirable motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is an increasing demand upon medical school faculty to be effective teachers. Faculty development is an important component in medical education, for the institutes to excel. Pre test/post-test evaluation is one of the assessment tools commonly used in many educational workshops. Aim: To conduct a faculty development workshop for two days, and to test the improvement in knowledge of the participants by using pre test and post-test evaluation. Materials and Methods: A two day teacher training workshop was conducted in January 2017. A total of 29 faculty participated in the workshop. The sessions were interactive with several group activities. A pre test with 15 questions was given before the sessions, and the same questions were repeated after the sessions, to test the participants improvement in knowledge. The mean test scores for both pre test and post-test were compared using a Paired t-test. Results: The mean post-test scores (12.552±2.080) showed significant improvement (p<0.001) compared to the mean pre test score (3.655±1.798), using a Paired t-test. The number of incorrect responses per question showed considerable drop: 6.138±2.199 in the pre test and 1.448±1.270 in the post-test. The number of not attempted questions also showed a decrease in the post-test (1±1.414) compared to pre test (5.207±2.896). Conclusion: There was an improvement in the faculty knowledge, as seen on comparison of the pre-test (3.655±1.798) scores with that of the post-test (12.552±2.080) scores. Regular faculty development programs should be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the importance of anthropology which is the study of human beings. Topics include medical professor Daniel Sennert's belief that medical students must study anthropology, the 17th century textbook "Institutiones anatomicae" by Caspar Bartholin, and literature on anthropology. Also discussed are anthropology in intellectual culture, the inclusion of anthropology-related topics in encyclopedias and textbooks, and the history and development of anthropology.

Background In New Zealand little nursing or medical curricula time, if any, is specifically devoted to the enhancement of empathy. If being empathic is important in the context of patient care, it is a quality that is already present in students or is learned by students during their practicum in the company of experienced clinicians. This study aimed to compare self-reported empathy ratings between different groups of medical students and one cohort of nursing students who were either exposed or not exposed to explicit empathy training or learning in clinical settings in the presence of patients. Methods The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy ( JSPE) was completed before and after groups of medical and nursing students had been exposed to various extended periods of practicum. Some medical student cohorts undertook brief empathy training, whereas others had no exposure. The nursing student cohort had no formal, explicit empathy training. Results Irrespective of profession, length of practicum or exposure to specific empathy training, there were no significant differences in the self-reported JSPE scores across the seven different cohorts of students. Discussion If empathy is caught rather than taught, then brief efforts to enhance empathy may be futile. To optimise the inherent empathic qualities of aspirant health professionals, explicit consideration should be given to how empathy is influenced by the practicum experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Across Nepal, anesthesia at a district level is provided mostly by non-doctor anesthesia providers (anesthesia assistants-AAs). Nepal's Government recognized the need to sustain competence with continuous professional development and to upgrade 6-month trained working AAs to professional equivalence with the new national standard of 12-month training. As they are essential district health workers and AA clinical training sites are full, an innovative distance blended learning, competency-based, upgrade 1-year course was developed and conducted in 2014-2017 for two batches. Methods: The course content was developed over 18 months by a team of Nepali and overseas AA training experts. The 1-year course started with a refresher course, continued with tablet-based 12-month self-learning modules and clinical case logs, regular educational mentor communication, midcourse 2-week contact time in an AA training site, regular text messaging and ended with clinical examination and multiple-choice questions. Tablet content included 168 new case studies, pre- and posttests, video lectures, matching exercises and a resource library. All module work and logged clinical cases were uploaded centrally, where clinical mentors were able to review work. Clinical skills were upgraded, as needed, through direct clinical contact midway through the course. Quantitative and qualitative course assessments were included. Results: Fourteen working AAs in first batch and eight working AAs in second batch from district, zonal and mission hospitals across Nepal were enrolled. All remained working at their hospitals throughout the course, and there were no significant tablet problems inhibiting course completion. Twenty-one AAs completed all modules successfully with time required for module completion averaging 19.2 h (range 11.2-32). One AA left the course after 3 months with a personal problem. Subjectively, AAs felt that the obstetric and pediatric modules were more difficult; lowest marks were objectively seen in the airway module. Clinical mentors averaged 8.2 h mentoring review work per module with direct student communication of 2.9 h per module per month. Participants logged a total of 5473 clinical cases, ranging between 50 and 788 cases each. Complications were recorded; outcomes were good. Challenges were the national IT infrastructure making data synchronization difficult and the lack of clinical exposure at some AA's hospitals. Nineteen AAs attended the final examination, and all passed. Two AAs withdrew before the final examination period due to personal and logistic reasons. Conclusion: This is the first use of distance blended learning to upgrade district health workers in Nepal and perhaps for non-doctor anesthesia providers globally. Key success factors were motivated students, cultural and contextualized clinical content, good educational mentoring relationships with regular communication, central IT and motivational support, and face-to-face midcourse clinical contact time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that cognitive integration of basic and clinical sciences supports diagnostic reasoning in novices; however, there has been limited exploration of the ways in which educators can translate this model of mental activity into sound instructional strategies. The use of self-explanation during learning has the potential to promote and support the development of integrated knowledge by encouraging novices to elaborate on the causal relationship between clinical features and basic science mechanisms. To explore the effect of this strategy, we compared diagnostic efficacy of teaching students (n = 71) the clinical features of four musculoskeletal pathologies using either (1) integrated causal basic science descriptions (BaSci group); (2) integrated causal basic science descriptions combined with self-explanation prompts (SE group); (3) basic science mechanisms segregated from the clinical features (SG group). All participants completed a diagnostic accuracy test immediately after learning and 1-week later. The results showed that the BaSci group performed significantly better compared to the SE (p = 0.019) and SG groups (p = 0.004); however, no difference was observed between the SE and SG groups (p = 0.91). We hypothesize that the structure of the self-explanation task may not have supported the development of a holistic conceptual understanding of each disease. These findings suggest that integration strategies need to be carefully structured and applied in ways that support the holistic story created by integrated basic science instruction in order to foster conceptual coherence and to capitalize on the benefits of cognition integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes towards a better understanding of learning dynamics in doctoral supervision by analysing how learning opportunities are created in the interaction between supervisors and PhD students, using the notion of experiencing variation as a key to learning. Empirically, we have based the study on four video-recorded sessions, with four different PhD students and their supervisors, all from life sciences. Our analysis revealed that learning opportunities in the supervision sessions concerned either the content matter of research (for instance, understanding soil structure), or the research methods-more specifically how to produce valid results. Our results illustrate how supervisors and PhD students create a space of learning together in their particular discipline by varying critical aspects of their research in their discussions. Situations where more open-ended research issues were discussed, created more complex patterns of variation. Both PhD students and supervisors can learn from this. Understanding of this mechanism that creates learning opportunities can help supervisors develop their competences in supervisory pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an absence of broad-based and binding curricular requirements for structured competency-based post-graduate medical training in Germany and thus no basis for comparing the competencies of physi- cians undergoing training in a medical specialty (Ärzte im Weiterbildung). In response, the German Society of Primary Care Pediatric's working group on post-graduate education (DGAAP) has identified realistic entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in primary care, defined their number, scope and content, selected competency domains, specified required knowledge and skills and described appropriate assessment methods. These guidelines are referred to as PaedCompenda and can be accessed electronically by educators in pediatric medicine; the use and effectiveness of these guidelines are monitored by the German Association for Medical Education's committee on post-graduate education (GMA). Teaching and training in pediatric medicine should take EPAs into consideration. To accomplish this, phases dedicated to primary care should be integrated into formal medical specialty training. Primary care pediatricsmust enhance the sites where such training takes place into learning environments that prepare physicians trainees and turn the practicing specialists into mentoring educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical reasoning, comprising the processes of clinical thinking, which form the basis of medical decisions, constitutes a central competence in the clinical routine on which diagnostic and therapeutic steps are based. In medical curricula in Germany, clinical reasoning is currently taught explicitly only to a small extend. Therefore, the aim of this project was to develop and implement a clinical reasoning course in the final year of undergraduate medical training. Project description: A clinical reasoning course with six learning units and 18 learning objectives was developed, which was taught by two to four instructors on the basis of 32 paper cases fromthe clinical practice of the instructors. In the years 2011 to 2013, the course of eight weeks with two hours per week was taught seven times. Before the first and after the last seminar, the participating students filled out a self-assess-ment questionnaire with a 6-point Likert scale regarding eight different clinical reasoning skills. At the same times, they received a patient case with the assignment to prepare a case presentation and differential diagnoses. Results: From 128 participating students altogether, 42 complete data sets were available. After the course, participants assessed themselves significantly better than before the course in all eight clinical reasoning skills, for example in "Summarizing and presentation of a paper case" or in the "Skill to enumerate differential diagnoses" (p<0.05). The greatest increase occurred in the skill to recognize typical cognitive er-rors in medicine and to identify risk situations for their occurrence (pre: 2.98±0.92 and retro-pre: 2.64±1.01, respectively, versus post: 4.38±0.88). Based on the ratio of number of words used per keywords used the problem presentation of the paper case was significantly more focused after the course (p=0.011). A significant increase in the number of gathered differential diagnoses was not detected after the course. Conclusion: The newly developed and established Clinical Reasoning Course leads to a gain in the desired skills from the student's self-assessment perspective and to a more structured case presentation. To establish better options to exercise clinical reasoning, a longitudinal implementation in the medical curriculum seems to be desirable. Faculty training would be useful to implement the concept as standardized as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An at first sight seemingly coherent, global medical workforce, with clearly recognizable specialities, subspecialties and primary care doctors, appears at a closer look quite variable. Even within the most progressive countries as to the development of medical education, with educators who regularly meet at conferences and share major journals about medical education, the differences in structures and regulations are big. This contribution focuses on the preparation, admission policy, duration, examinations and national competency frameworks in postgraduate speciality training in Germany, the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and the Netherlands. While general objectives for postgraduate training programs have not been very clear, only recently competency-frameworks, created in a limited number of countries, serve harmonize objectives. This process appears to be a challenge and the recent creation of milestones for the reporting on progress of individual trainees (in the US and in Canada in different ways) and the adoption of en-trustable professional activities, a most recent concept that is quickly spreading internationally as a framework for teaching and assessing in the clinical workplace is an interesting and hopeful development, but time will tell whether true harmonization across countries will happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awareness of one's own strengths and weaknesses is a key qualification for the specialist physician. We examined how physicians undergoing specialist training in general medicine rate themselves in different areas.For this purpose, 139 participants receiving post-graduate training in general practice offered by the Medical Association of Westfalen-Lippe assessed themselves regarding their subjective confidence in 20 core competencies and 47 situations involving patient counseling in general practice. Their self-assessments were recorded on a five-point Likert scale. The study questions addressed acceptance and practicability of self-assessment, mean values, reliability, stratification and plausibility of the results in group comparison.On average participants rated their subjective confidence with 3.4 out of 5 points. The results are self-consistent (Cronbach's alpha >0.8), although there are considerable differences among competencies and among participants. The latter can be explained partly by biographical data, which supports the plausibility of the data. Participants stated that regularly gathering data on subjective learning needs and the discussion of these needs with mentors and trainers contributes to improving their specialist training. Elements for self-assessment are suitable for integration into a postgraduate training portfolio. These should be supplemented by formative assessment procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study adds to the ongoing discussion on how to ease the transition from undergraduate medical training to postgraduate training. In the Netherlands there is no central matching system for admission to residency. Medical school graduates just apply for a posi-tion in an open job market. Many choose to acquire general or specialtyspecific clinical experiences after the medical degree before residency, to further explore career opportunities and to increase their chances to get into their preferred specialty. To shorten this gap between under-graduate and the start of postgraduate training, the sixth and final year of most Dutch medical schools is designed as a "transitional year". Students work with more clinical responsibilities than in the earlier clerkships and this year includes many elective options. Our study fo-cuses on these elective options and explores howmedical students use these transitional year electives to prepare for transition to postgraduate Methods: In 2012-2013 we asked all 274 graduating students at one Dutch medical school to complete an open-answer questionnaire with the following topics: 1. their preferred specialty at the start of the transitional year, 2. electives they chose during this year and reasons for these choices, and 3. whether the transitional year electives changed their career considerations. Questionnaire results were coded by two researchers and were discussed with all members of the research team. Results: A total of 235 students responded (86%). Answers about motivation for choices revealed that most electives where chosen for career orientation and to optimize chances to get into a residency program. Students also focused on additional experiences in specialties related to their preferred specialty. Many students chose electives logically related to each other, e.g. combinations of surgery and radiology. About two-thirds of the respondents stated that their elective experiences did confirm their specialty preferences or resulted in a more clear insight. Conclusion: We conclude that students use the transitional year electives to focus on their future postgraduate training program, i.e. for orientation and to align their curriculum vitae with their preferred specialty, resulting in spontaneous early specialty streaming. To take advantages of this streaming and to make sure students can transfer their experiences to other specialties if their career preferences change, individual elective Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), next to the core EPAs for all medical students, may serve to prepare a smooth transition to a specialty of choice and should be fully documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In different German regions, seminar programs have been conducted for General practice residents. In each region, selection and teaching of learning content is conducted in a different manner. So far, no structured, standardized curriculum has been implemented nationwide We have investigated, if the development of a common 5-year program of learning topics is conceivable between the different university departments of General practice in Germany. Method: The seminar program working group of the DEGAM (German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians) has conducted an online survey based on information gathered via preliminary telephone conference (n=7; physicians with postgraduate teaching experience) among all German university departments of General Practice and two non-university teaching institutions, identified via the internet. 884 topics were extracted from 14 Seminar programs. The topics were entered in a database, discussed and categorized: Practice management/practice work flow/standardized documentation forms/quality management (n=33 topics), common acute and chronic diseases, including diseasemanagement programs (n=29 topics), communication, neurological, psychological and psychiatric consultations (n=24 topics), common medical problems, including eye, ear, nose, throat, skin and pediatric problems (n=99 Topics) family physicians general approach, including epidemiology, shared decision making, test of time (n=42 Topics). These topics have been rated for priority and desirable number of teaching-units Results: A catalogue of 111 topics was designed, encompassing 160 teaching units. There is a suggestion of wide topics collections plus an add-on catalogue. Conclusion: A proposal for a 5-year-thematic catalogue for postgraduate training of general practice residents in Germany has been developed. This newly developed curriculumhas the potential to improve knowledge and skills that have not been covered during in-house and ambulatory general practice residencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both histology and pathology as a scientific fields and as an educational subjects have always relied on technology. In the 19th century a major breakthrough happened in certain areas related to histotechnology, so histology and pathology were rapidly developing. Technological revolution has lead to modernization of histology and pathology teaching, resulting in virtual microscopy. Advantage of virtual microscopy is an improved way of teaching and better cost-effectiveness. As a method of histology and pathology teaching, it was implemented at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Novi Sad in 2016, in a specially equipped classroom at the Institute of Histology and Embryology. Virtual Local Area Network segregation is enabled in this classroom, which allows network traffic from different groups of users to be securely segregated, creating an independent environment for each student's computer. Students can simultaneously view audio-visual contents on their monitors, on projector screen and on 6 large 55-inch screens. Preexisting microscope glass slides with most representative tissue or organ sections and optimal staining quality were selected and scanned with NanoZoomer S210 Digital slide scanner - Hamamatsu that can rapidly scan glass slides and convert them to digital data. For viewing digital slides we use NDP.view2 program. It allows moving, rotating, zooming and focusing of digital slides via the mouse or keyboard. Program enables morphometric measurements, colorful special pointers, annotations on slides and “bird's-eye-view”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postgraduate specialty training has traditionally been based on a time- and rotation-based model, but competency-based models are emerging. Because anaesthesia training evolves differently across Europe, variations in assessment and certification processes are expected, but the extent of similarities and differences is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare anaesthesia training programmes in Europe, focusing on assessment and certification processes.Methods: We performed an online survey among national representatives of the Union of European Medical Specialists/European Board of Anaesthesiology.Results: All 36 countries participated. Duration of training had a median of 5 yr (range 2.75-7). Mean number of different assessment tools was 7.45 (range 4-13), with more tools being used in competency-based programmes [mean 9.1 (sd 2.97) vs 7.0 (sd 1.97); P=0.03]. Most countries had a nationally uniform certification process. Based on a qualitative analysis of the survey findings, a categorization of countries emerged, reflecting the approach to assessment and certification. We observed two main streams of countries with an underlying knowledge or procedural focus within a time- and rotation-based apprenticeship model. These main streams are evolving, to different extents, towards a third orientation, competency-based training.Conclusions: Assessment and certification processes in European anaesthesia training are diverse. In many countries, a time-based apprenticeship model is evolving towards a competency-based certification process. This diversity precludes comparison of competence of graduating anaesthetists across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]