Search

Students can prepare themselves for the growing demands in the eHealth sector by using media-supported teaching settings during their training. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learner-centered educational approach based on authentic problems. The 7 Jump Method is an established method for the implementation of PBL and for the theoretical treatment of problems in class. PBL is subject to the danger of „understeering the learning process” (Müller Werder, 2013). E-learning can make process control more eficient and structure it beter through role-specific templates. Using the example of a course of study in nursing at the Höhere Fachschule in Switzerland, the first possibilities for implementation in the health care professions are pointed out and critically discussed. The present case study was intended to answer this question: How can problem-based learning be realised in blended format?

The Careum Summer School (CSS) is a learning setting that enables self-regulated learning in an environment in which trainees and students from the various medical, nursing and therapeutic healthcare professions taught in the Swiss education system (upper secondary and tertiary levels A and B) develop project ideas together with patients and their caregivers. The aim of this learning setting is to promote a positive attitude among trainees and students towards interprofessional collaboration that includes patients as cooperation partners. Objective: The evaluation examines the extent to which trainees' and students' attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration changed. Information was also obtained on the experiences patients and their caregivers had during their participation in the CSS programme. Methodology: A total of 69 trainees and students were given access to an online survey in the form of the German version of the University of the West of England Interprofessional Questionnaire (UWE-IP) one week before the CSS programme began and six weeks after it concluded. Problem-focused interviews were also conducted with 11 patients and their caregivers. Results: The attitudes of the trainees and students in the UWE-IP Interprofessional Learning Scale improved significantly after the CSS programme was conducted (median t1=22.0/t2=16.0). The effect size was r=0.839 (Wilcoxon test for dependent samples). No significant results could be identified for the other three UWE-IP scales. Patients and their caregivers reported that they were able to actively participate in the CSS programme and felt valued and appreciated. Conclusion: The CSS offered a learning environment in which all participants were able to exchange knowledge and information in an interprofessional manner and work collaboratively on the development of a project idea - for example an interprofessional competency passport with a spider diagram., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Wirth et al.)

Different terms (e.g., interprofessional, multiprofessional, interdisciplinary) are used in interprofessional education and collaboration without sufficient differentiation or precision in regard to meaning. In recent years academic publications in English and German have contributed to clarifying this issue. However, there are no definitions internationally or in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) specifically referring to the people engaged in teaching interprofessional education. Teaching in interprofessional education has evolved from the traditional role of expert to one of mentor or facilitator. It is also evident that those who teach play a central role in the success of interprofessional courses. While many different designations are used to refer to interprofessional teachers in the relevant literature and in the language of daily use, a uniform and adequate terminology should be used to refer to such teaching staff. Based on literature reviews, this commentary seeks to propose terms for teaching staff active in the area of interprofessional education and thus provide a basis for discussion in the German-speaking countries. Taking the results of the literature analysis and the roles of teachers in interprofessional settings into consideration, we propose that the English term "IP facilitator" (IP for interprofessional) should also be used in the German-speaking world and "facilitateur IP" in the French-speaking world. A French translation is included in attachment 1 to enable broader discussion in Switzerland., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Ulrich et al.)

In the wake of local initiatives and developmental funding programs, interprofessionality is now included in national curricula in the German-speaking countries. Based on the 3P model (presage, process, product), this position paper presents the development of interprofessional education in recent years in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and places it in an international context. Core aspects as legal frameworks, including amendments to occupational regulations as well as the formation of networks and faculty development are basic requirements for interprofessional education. New topics and educational settings take shape in the process of interprofessional education: patient perspectives and teaching formats, such as online courses, become more important or are newly established. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on interprofessional education is explored as well. Among many new interprofessional courses, particularly the implementation of interprofessional training wards in Germany and Switzerland are positive examples of successful interprofessional education. The objective of interprofessional education continues to be the acquisition of interprofessional competencies. The main focus is now centered on evaluating this educational format and testing for the corresponding competencies. In the future, more capacities will be required for interprofessional continuing education and post-graduate education. Structured research programs are essential to ascertain the effects of interprofessional education in the German-speaking countries. In this position paper the GMA committee on interprofessional education encourages further advancement of this topic and expresses the aim to continue cooperating with other networks to strengthen and intensify interprofessional education and collaboration in healthcare., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Kaap-Fröhlich et al.)

Background: Journal hand searching offers the possibility to complement a literature search as part of systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses. Hand searching is indicated in cases where scientific journals with potentially relevant publications addressing the research question are not indexed in a literature database. However, it is often unclear whether these journals are actually indexed, and when they are, in which literature databases. In many cases, it is also unknown which journals should be searched by hand in addition to systematic literature search after databases to be searched have been specified. Therefore, the project aimed to investigate the indexation of selected scientific health science journals and to provide an overview of indexation in order to facilitate the hand search planning process., Methods: Journals from German-speaking countries covering eight professional fields (medical laboratory assistance, occupational therapy, midwifery, logopedics, nursing, physiotherapy, public health and rehabilitation) were considered that publish original research papers or systematic reviews or other review types in German and/or English. Two researchers per field identified relevant journals and independently analyzed the indexing locations using the journal websites. In case of missing information, we contacted the editors., Results: A total of 70 journals were included: from 1 to 17 journals per field. These journals are indexed in 1 to 29 databases. Twelve journals are not indexed or do not offer information concerning indexation. Indexation is distributed across n=74 different literature databases. Most journals are indexed in LIVIVO (n=55) and bibnet.org (n=33). Other common indexing databases are Scopus (n=18), Web of Science Core Collection (n=16), PSYNDEX (n=13), and Embase (n=10)., Conclusions: The results indicate a heterogeneous indexation of the included journals. Only a small number is indexed in common international literature databases such as MEDLINE or CINAHL. On the other hand, only a few journals are not indexed in any database. The results can be used as a basis to define databases for literature searches as part of systematic reviews. In addition, the findings might guide the selection of journals for hand searching after literature databases have been defined., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Aim: Explicitly addressing clinical reasoning (CR) is seen as a promising opportunity in the teaching of the biomedical sciences to enable students to acquire the skills to meet the challenges posed by ever more complex health care processes. The quality of diagnostic decisions plays an essential role here. Our aim is to examine if biomedical scientists recognize the practical relevance of CR and are able to apply it as a reflective framework for their professional practice. Method: In two different educational settings, biomedical science students were asked to look closely at CR in the context of the degree program and to indentify the different forms of reasoning used in their internships and professional practice. The written descriptions were analyzed for content and discussed in the seminars. Results: In both scenarios, the analyses of the students' descriptions and discussions showed that examining the different forms of CR helped to raise conscious awareness of thought and decision-making processes, encouraging students to think critically about them and to articulate insights about them, as well as recognize the importance of different reasoning strategies when making specific medical decisions. Conclusion: CR for biomedical scientists could help make decision-making processes visible for other occupational groups and thus advantageously integrate specific professional expertise into health care. Over the long term, an interdisciplinary focus on CR could foster and promote the development of a shared discourse and interprofessional collaboration., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2019 Homberg et al.)

Background: Education is a cornerstone strategy to prevent health-associated infections. Trainings benefit from being interactive, simulation-based, team-orientated, and early in professional socialization. We conceived an innovative inter-professional peer-teaching module with operating room technician trainees (ORTT) teaching infection prevention behavior in the operating room (OR) to medical students (MDS)., Methods: ORTT delivered a 2-h teaching module to small groups of MDS in a simulated OR setting with 4 posts : 'entering OR'; 'surgical hand disinfection'; 'dressing up for surgery and preparing a surgical field', 'debriefing'. MDS and ORTT evaluated module features and teaching quality through 2 specific questionnaires. Structured field notes by education specialist observers were analyzed thematically., Results: On Likert scales from - 2 to + 2, mean overall satisfaction was + 1.91 (±0.3) for MDS and + 1.66 (±0.6 SD) for ORTT while teaching quality was rated + 1.89 (±0.3) by MDS and self-rated with + 1.34 (±0.5) by ORTT. Students and observers highlighted that the training fostered mutual understanding and provided insight into the corresponding profession., Conclusions: Undergraduate inter-professional teaching among ORTT and MDS in infection prevention and control proved feasible with high educational quality. Inducing early mutual understanding between professional groups might improve professional collaboration and patient safety., Competing Interests: The ethical committee of the Canton of Zurich stated no objections to the study (BASEC-2017-00598), see p.5, lines 24–26 of the manuscript.All data was collected anonymously with no possibility to identify individual persons. Participants were informed about the aim of the study and confidentiality at the beginning of the questionnaire.All authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Background: More and more institutions worldwide and in German-speaking countries are developing and establishing interprofessional seminars in undergraduate education of health professions. In order to evaluate the different didactic approaches and different outcomes regarding the anticipated interprofessional competencies, it is necessary to apply appropriate instruments. Cross-cultural instruments are particularly helpful for international comparability. The Interprofessional Education working group of the German Medical Association (GMA) aims at identifying existing instruments for the evaluation of interprofessional education in order to make recommendations for German-speaking countries. Methods: Systematic literature research was performed on the websites of international interprofessional organisations (CAIPE, EIPEN, AIPEN), as well as in the PubMed and Cinahl databases. Reviews focusing on quantitative instruments to evaluate competencies according to the modified Kirkpatrick competency levels were searched for. Psychometrics, language/country and setting, in which the instrument was applied, were recorded. Results: Six reviews out of 73 literature research hits were included. A large number of instruments were identified; however, their psychometrics and the applied setting were very heterogeneous. The instruments can mainly be assigned to Kirkpatrick levels 1, 2a & 2b. Most instruments have been developed in English but their psychometrics were not always reported rigorously. Only very few instruments are available in German. Conclusion: It is difficult to find appropriate instruments in German. Internationally, there are different approaches and objectives in the measurement and evaluation of interprofessional competencies. The question arises whether it makes sense to translate existing instruments or to go through the lengthy process of developing new ones. The evaluation of interprofessional seminars with quantitative instruments remains mainly on Kirkpatrick levels 1 and 2. Levels 3 and 4 can probably only be assessed with qualitative or mixed methods. German language instruments are necessary.

In the present study, we outlined the part of the molecule mediating the prominent pro-apoptotic effect of the Michael adduct of ascorbic acid with p-chloro-nitrostyrene, a new synthetic phosphatase inhibitor. The nitrostyrene (NS) moiety was identified as the structure essential for apoptosis induction. NS and its ascorbic acid adducts displayed LC(50) values of 10-25 microM with no significant reduction of potency in okadaic acid resistant cells overexpressing the MDR1 P-glycoprotein. Induction of apoptosis by NS derivatives and the protein phosphatase 2A inhibitor cantharidic acid was proven by the analysis of caspase-3 activation and subsequent fragmentation of DNA. Further structure activity analysis revealed the necessity of the nitro group at the beta-position of the side chain. The pro-apoptotic potential of adducts of NS with pyrimidine- or pyridine-derivatives varied between NS and a progressive reduction in potency up to a nearly complete loss of cytotoxicity. Substitutions at the benzene core of NS suggested a prominent enhancement of toxicity only by substitutions at the 2- or 3-position. Heterocyclic aromatics can substitute for the benzene ring of NS albeit with a 2-3-fold reduced potency. In conclusion, nitrostyrene was identified as the core structure mediating the pro-apoptotic effect of a new synthetic phosphatase inhibitor. Further studies defined a nitrovinyl side chain attached to an aromatic ring as the pharmacophore structure of a new group of pro-apoptotic agents. These observations present the basis for the development of a new group of anticancer drugs.

Michael adducts of ascorbic acid with alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds have been shown to be potent inhibitors of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) without affecting cell viability at the respective concentrations. Here we were able to show that higher concentrations can partially inhibit PP2A activity and concomitantly induce apoptotic cell death. A nitrostyrene adduct of ascorbic acid proved to be a more potent and effective inhibitor of PP2A as well as a stronger inducer of apoptosis. These adducts only slightly lost their cytotoxic potential in multidrug resistant cells that were 10-fold less sensitive to apoptosis induction by okadaic acid and vinblastine.