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Introduction: The Emergency Department (ED) has seen increased patient attendance and difficulty meeting demands. New healthcare professions such as Physician Associates (PAs) are being utilised to complement the existing medical workforce. Despite the growth of their professions in the United Kingdom, little evidence is available about the perceptions of their roles. Objective: This study aims to provide evidence of doctors', PAs' and patients' perceptions of the PA role in the UK ED. Methods: A mixed methods approach consisted of the following: 1.An online exploratory survey of ED doctors at one English ED over 1 month (February–March 2022).2.Post consultation semi‐structured patient questionnaires over 2 weeks (April 2022).3.Semi‐structured virtual interviews with ED consultants across the four regions of the United Kingdom (3 months in 2022).4.Semi‐structured virtual interviews with ED PAs across the four regions of the United Kingdom (3 months in 2022). The analysis methods that were used included frequency counts and percentages from closed questions, and hybrid thematic analysis of free text and interview transcripts. Results: Four ED consultants and four ED PAs across the United Kingdom were interviewed. Twenty‐eight ED doctors participated in the online survey. Fifty‐seven patients completed the post consultation questionnaire. Four main themes (PAs being fit for purpose; patient recognition of PAs, PAs providing continuity of care, and future PAs and regulation) were deduced as per the General Medical Council, Good Medical Practice domains (knowledge, skills and development; patients, partnership and communication; colleagues, culture and safety; and trust and professionalism). Other subthemes were induced via hybrid thematic analysis. In this study, doctors and patients had mixed comments about the role of PAs. Most of them were positive as doctor participants perceived PAs to be knowledgeable, highly skilled, with mostly good communication skills, team players, providing continuity of care and overall being fit for purpose. However, some doctor participants commented negatively about PAs for providing little quality healthcare and being inexperienced. There was a desire for career progression among the PA participants and a need to work to their full potential. Although the clinicians of this study displayed a clear understanding of the PA role in the ED, a high frequency of surveyed patients mistook PAs for doctors. It was suggested that future PAs could complete a postqualification programme in emergency medicine, combine roles, be paid on an alternative scale and be formally regulated. Conclusion: In this study, mixed views were expressed by ED consultants, ED junior doctors and patients regarding the role of the PA in the ED. Stakeholders can use the information presented to develop a better understanding of the perceptions of the PA role within the UK ED. Patient or Public Contribution: The Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group, led by Healthwatch, made significant contributions to the study's design by providing valuable feedback on the information sheets and consent forms utilised. The patients' responses helped guide the study's direction and shape its future work. As part of the dissemination activities, the study findings was shared with both the PPIE team and Healthwatch media production team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV have a high risk of anal cancer, which is often detected at late stages, when morbidity and mortality are high. The objective of this study was to describe the feasibility and challenges to incorporating regular digital anorectal examination (DARE) into routine HIV care for MSM living with HIV, from the perspective of patients, physicians and the health service. Methods: In 2014, we recruited 327 MSM living with HIV, aged 35 and above from one major sexual health centre (n = 187), two high HIV caseload general practices (n = 118) and one tertiary hospital (n = 22) in Melbourne, Australia. Men were followed up for two years and DARE was recommended at baseline, year 1 and year 2. Data were collected regarding patient and physician experience, and health service use. An ordered logit model was used to assess the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the number of DAREs performed. Results: Mean age of men was 51 (SD [+ or -] 9) years, 69% were Australian born, 32% current smokers, and mean CD4 was 630 (SD [+ or -] 265) cells per [mm.sup.3], with no significant differences between clinical sites. Overall, 232 (71%) men received all three DAREs, 71 (22%) received two DAREs, and 24 (7%) had one DARE. Adverse outcomes were rarely reported: anal pain (1.2% of total DAREs), bleeding (0.8%) and not feeling in control of their body during the examination (1.6%). Of 862 DAREs performed, 33 (3.8%) examinations resulted in a referral to a colorectal surgeon. One Stage 1 anal cancer was detected. Conclusion: Incorporation of an early anal cancer detection programme into routine HIV clinical care for MSM living with HIV showed high patient acceptability, uncommon adverse outcomes and specialist referral patterns similar to other cancer screening programmes. Keywords: anal cancer; cohort studies; coinfection; HIV; key and vulnerable populations; malignancy; men who have sex with men; public health, 1 | INTRODUCTION Men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV have a disproportionately high incidence of anal cancer (45.9 per 100,000) compared with HIV-negative MSM (5.1 per [...]

Traditionally, mathematics has been taught using a very direct approach which the teacher explains the procedure to solve a problem and the students use pencil and paper to solve the problem. However, a variety of alternative approaches to mathematics have surfaced from a number of different directions. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of three teaching methods on student achievement in undergraduate finite mathematics classes at Alabama State University, a historical African-American university. The three teaching methods stressed traditional teaching methods, the incorporation of graphing calculators, and online learning, respectively. Three hundred sixty-one students formed the control group and were taught by the traditional lecture method, 202 students formed one of the experimental groups which used calculator enhanced instruction, and twenty students formed the online distance learning group. The research project examined each teacher's style and compared achievement outcomes. To investigate the performance of the students, a pretest and posttest was given to each student. The results presented a significant improvement (p less than 0.001) between the pre-tests and post-tests within each group. The students in the calculator-enhanced group scored significantly higher (p less than 0.001) on the post-test than the students in the traditional group. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Algebra has been identified as the foundational course for all other mathematics courses. Yet, research has shown that African-American students are low achievers in all strands of mathematics (NCES, 2001). Computers, on the other hand, have been marketed as an instructional tool to teach and reinforce classroom instructions. This study investigated the effects of using computers to teach African-American developmental intermediate algebra students how to solve linear equations. There were 120 African-American students, one White student, three computer groups, three non-computer groups and one instructor involved in the study. At ? = 0.05, there was no significance in achievement difference between the computer groups and the non-computer groups.