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This study is based on Jumana Antoun's PhD thesis at Walden University, USA examining the information retrieval behaviour of 72 community family physicians' at the point of care in eight Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. The key findings were that participants looked for digital clinical information at the point of care on average 14.0 times per week with the majority (80.3%) using a mobile phone. Clinical information about medication dosage and side effects was the most sought clinical question, and patient education was the least. Almost half of the participants considered that they often found relevant (55.6%), useful (56.9%) and unbiased (58.3%) information. Whilst none of the factors examined predicted the physicians' self‐reported effectiveness and efficiency at information retrieval, the implication for practice points clearly to the barriers and the need for curricula to focus on search strategies using free resources at the point of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most pressing issues for many land grant institutions is the ever increasing cost to build and operate wet chemistry laboratories. A partial solution is to develop computer-based teaching modules that take advantage of animation, web-based or off-campus learning experiences directed at engaging students' creative experiences. We used the learning objectives of one of the most difficult topics in food chemistry, enzyme kinetics, to test this concept. Students are apprehensive of this subject and often criticize the staid instructional methods typically used in teaching this material. As a result, students do not acquire a useful background in this important subject. To rectify these issues, we developed an interactive augmented reality application to teach the basic concepts of enzyme kinetics in the context of an interactive search that took students to several locations on campus where they were able to gather raw materials and view videos that taught the basics of enzyme kinetics as applied to the production of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The students needed this background to prepare for a mock interview with an HFCS manufacturer. Students and instructors alike found the game to be preferable to sitting in a classroom listening to, or giving, a PowerPoint presentation. We feel that this use of gaming technology to teach difficult, abstract concepts may be a breakthrough in food science education and help alleviate the drain on administrative budgets from multiple wet labs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often difficult to offer food chemistry students traditional, hands-on laboratory experiences due to lack of funds for equipment, insufficient laboratory space, or the nature of distance education. A traditional wet laboratory exercise was developed to demonstrate the effects of the physical properties of ice formation when making high-quality sorbets, varying the amounts of sugar, water, and stabilizer. This wet lab was compared to a simulated, detective-based crime scene investigation (CSI) of why a famous food scientist's sorbet had become a 'stiff.' Forty-six food chemistry students were randomly assigned to groups, completing either the traditional wet lab or the simulated lab 1st before completing the 2nd type of laboratory. While there were preferences for one lab over another, there were no differences in the learning outcomes between the 2 laboratory formats. Students who preferred the simulated lab felt they could move at their own pace and were able to stop and review the simulation to understand the concepts more clearly. Traditional wet lab proponents liked working in groups and having immediate access to instructors. From the initial evaluation it appears that simulations could be used as replacements for hands-on laboratory experiences or could serve as effective introductions to laboratory principles and concepts, resulting in increased student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicating complex scientific and technical information presents a challenge for food science educators. The most efficient learning occurs when all senses are engaged, one reason that many educators believe that scientific principles are best taught with hands-on laboratory experiences. Today there are many challenges to the continuation of these 'wet labs' including the cost of building the labs as well as equipment, materials, and personnel to run them. Many current e-learning technologies are based on 2-dimensional delivery systems, and are often inadequate to provide a substitute for a laboratory exercise. However, recent advances in technology have evolved to more closely reflect the kinds of learning experiences that students typically have in a laboratory class. This review describes the role of these emerging technologies as teaching tools for educators, with the clear understanding that similar concepts can be utilized by management of technical teams in the work place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article presents a consensus document produced by participants in the 2009 Future of Emergency Medicine Summit held in Dallas, Texas. The participants agreed that emergency medical care is an important service to the community that should be accessible to the public. They also agreed that an insufficient emergency physician workforce represents a potential threat to patient safety, and all providers of emergency care should have continuing postgraduate education.