The comparative importance of books: clinical psychology in the health sciences library. (1/318)

Clinical psychology has received little attention as a subject in health sciences library collections. This study seeks to demonstrate the relative importance of the monographic literature to clinical psychology through the examination of citations in graduate student theses and dissertations at the Fordham Health Sciences Library, Wright State University. Dissertations and theses were sampled randomly; citations were classified by format, counted, and subjected to statistical analysis. Books and book chapters together account for 35% of the citations in clinical psychology dissertations, 25% in nursing theses, and 8% in biomedical sciences theses and dissertations. Analysis of variance indicates that the citations in dissertations and theses in the three areas differ significantly (F = 162.2 with 2 and 253 degrees of freedom, P = 0.0001). Dissertations and theses in biomedical sciences and nursing theses both cite significantly more journals per book than the dissertations in clinical psychology. These results support the hypothesis that users of clinical psychology literature rely more heavily on books than many other users of a health sciences library. Problems with using citation analyses in a single subject to determine a serials to monographs ratio for a health sciences library are pointed out.  (+info)

The clinical doctorate: a framework for analysis in physical therapist education. (2/318)

This article explores major considerations for analysis and discussion of the role of the clinical doctorate as the first professional degree in physical therapist education (DPT). A process for this analysis is posed based on a conceptual framework developed by Stark, Lowther, Hagerty, and Orczyk through grounded theory research on professional education. External influences from society and the profession, institutional and programmatic influences, and articulation of critical dimensions of professional competence and professional attitudes as major categories are discussed in relation to the DPT. A series of questions generated from the application of the model are put forth for continued discussion and deliberation concerning the DPT. We conclude that the DPT provides the best pathway to serve society, the patient, and the profession.  (+info)

Teaching community diagnosis: integrating community experience with meeting graduate standards for health educators. (3/318)

In 1996, the American Association for Health Education and the Society for Public Health Education developed new Standards for the Preparation of Graduate Level Health Educators. Learning to work effectively with communities is an essential part of graduate level health education. This article provides an overview of the community diagnosis (CD) class, a component of the Master's in Public Health program in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina. CD is a required two-semester class in which student teams work with preceptors to define a client community, assess its needs and strengths, and establish a foundation of quantitative and qualitative data for future community action. This experience provides a strong foundation for development of graduate level competencies and fosters an appreciation for the complexity of partnerships with communities.  (+info)

Training graduate students to be teachers. (4/318)

Pedagogic education of graduate students, when and where it exists, is restricted to theoretical courses or to the participation of the students as teachers' assistants. This model is essentially reproductive and offers few opportunities for any significant curriculum innovation. To open an opportunity for novelty we have introduced a new approach in "Biochemistry Teaching", a course included in the Biochemistry Graduate Program of the Biochemistry Department (Universidade Estadual de Campinas and Universidade de Sao Paulo). The content of the course consists of a) choosing the theme, b) selecting and organizing the topics, c) preparing written material, d) establishing the methodological strategies, e) planning the evaluation tools and, finally, f) as teachers, conducting the course as an optional summer course for undergraduate students. During the first semester the graduate students establish general and specific educational objectives, select and organize contents, decide on the instructional strategies and plan evaluation tools. The contents are explored using a wide range of strategies, which include computer-aided instruction, laboratory classes, small group teaching, a few lectures and round table discussions. The graduate students also organize printed class notes to be used by the undergraduate students. Finally, as a group, they teach the summer course. In the three versions already developed, the themes chosen were Biochemistry of Exercise (UNICAMP), Biochemistry of Nutrition (UNICAMP) and Molecular Biology of Plants (USP). In all cases the number of registrations greatly exceeded the number of places and a selection had to be made. The evaluation of the experience by both graduate and undergraduate students was very positive. Graduate students considered this experience to be unique and recommended it to their schoolmates; the undergraduate students benefited from a more flexible curriculum (more options) and gave very high scores to both the courses and the teachers.  (+info)

Teaching experimental design to biologists. (5/318)

The teaching of research design and data analysis to our graduate students has been a persistent problem. A course is described in which students, early in their graduate training, obtain extensive practice in designing experiments and interpreting data. Lecture-discussions on the essentials of biostatistics are given, and then these essentials are repeatedly reviewed by illustrating their applications and misapplications in numerous research design problems. Students critique these designs and prepare similar problems for peer evaluation. In most problems the treatments are confounded by extraneous variables, proper controls may be absent, or data analysis may be incorrect. For each problem, students must decide whether the researchers' conclusions are valid and, if not, must identify a fatal experimental flaw. Students learn that an experiment is a well-conceived plan for data collection, analysis, and interpretation. They enjoy the interactive evaluations of research designs and appreciate the repetitive review of common flaws in different experiments. They also benefit from their practice in scientific writing and in critically evaluating their peers' designs.  (+info)

Occupational health and safety curricula: the factors that decide -an Australian experience. (6/318)

Societal, economic and other changes in recent years have resulted in both an increased level and diversity of education and training in occupational health and safety in Australia. Consideration has been given to the key skills and knowledge required by those who take tertiary level courses and who practise as specialists and generalists in the field of occupational health and safety. The curricula and mode of implementation of these courses are determined by the needs of employers, increased emphasis on quality management systems, the prevailing work climate including information technology, communication and legislative requirements all in the context of a rapidly changing tertiary education system.  (+info)

Mastering the new public health. (7/318)

The dramatic changes in the field of public health are reverberating in schools of public health in a number of ways, not the least of which is action by the deans of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) to ensure that graduates with master's of public health degrees are competent to meet the current challenges of practice. The conceptual framework at the center of this activity describes 3 domains--skills, perspectives, and applications--in which alumni of schools of public health may be required to demonstrate competency. ASPH work in this area is grounded in previous national and professional competency definitions and school- and department-specific competency development; it is distinct from earlier work, however, because its focus is on competency at the master's level across the graduate schools of public health.  (+info)

Integrating Healthy Communities concepts into health professions training. (8/318)

To meet the demands of the evolving health care system, health professionals need skills that will allow them to anticipate and respond to the broader social determinants of health. To ensure that these skills are learned during their professional education and training, health professions institutions must look beyond the medical model of caring for communities. Models in Seattle and Roanoke demonstrate the curricular changes necessary to ensure that students in the health professions are adequately prepared to contribute to building Healthy Communities in the 21st century. In addition to these models, a number of resources are available to help promote the needed institutional changes.  (+info)