Peer instruction improves performance on quizzes. (65/1860)

Peer instruction is a cooperative-learning technique that promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making skills. Benson's think-pair-share and Mazur's peer-instruction techniques are simple cooperative exercises that promote student's participation in class and increase student's interaction with each other and with the instructor in a large classroom. We borrowed concepts from Benson and Mazur and applied these concepts to enhance student involvement during the respiratory component of the medical physiology class. The medical physiology class consisted of 256 first-year medical students. The peer-instruction technique was used for 10 classes. Each class of 50 min was divided into three or four short presentations of 12-20 min. Each presentation was followed by a one-question, multiple-choice quiz on the subject discussed. Questions ranged from simple recall to those testing complex intellectual activities. Students were given 1 min to think and to record their first answer. Subsequently, students were allowed 1 min to discuss their answers with their classmates and possibly correct their first response. The percentage of correct answers increased significantly (P < 0.05) after discussion for both recall and intellectual questions. These data demonstrate that pausing three to four times during a 50-min class to allow discussion of concepts enhanced the students level of understanding and ability to synthesize and integrate material.  (+info)

Combination of didactic lecture with problem-based learning sessions in physiology teaching in a developing medical college in Nepal. (66/1860)

Physiology teaching as an essential part of medical education faces tremendous criticism regarding curriculum design, methods of implementation, and application of knowledge in clinical practice. In the traditional method of medical education, physiology is taught in the first year and involves little interdisciplinary interaction. The Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal (affiliated with the Kathmandu Univ.) started in 1994 and adopted an integrated curriculum drawn along the lines of the student-centered, problem-based, integrated, community-based, elective-oriented, and systematic (SPICES) medical curriculum. Here, physiology is taught for the first 2 yr of the 4.5-yr Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course. Methodology adopted is as follows. For a particular topic, objectives are clearly defined and priority content areas are identified. An overview is given in a didactic lecture class to the entire batch of 100 students. Tutorial classes are conducted thereafter with smaller groups of students (25/batch) divided further into five subgroups of five students each. In these sessions, a problem is presented to the students as a focus for learning or as an example of what has just been taught. Each problem was accompanied with relevant questions to streamline the students' thought processes. A tutor is present throughout the session not as an instructor but as a facilitator of the learning process. A questionnaire sought students' opinion on the usefulness of this approach, relevance of the combination of problem-based learning (PBL) sessions and didactic lectures in understanding a particular topic and relating clinical conditions to basic mechanisms, and improvement of performance on the university final examination. The majority of the students opined that the combination of didactic lectures and PBL sessions was definitely beneficial regarding all the above-mentioned aspects of learning. The university results corroborated their opinion. Thus it may be considered that a judicious mixture of didactic lectures and PBL sessions is beneficial as a teaching module of physiology in medical schools.  (+info)

Training in oral medicine. (67/1860)

88 members of the UK specialty society of oral medicine were asked about career satisfaction and their views on training programmes. 70% responded (79% of consultants and all accredited trainees). Men work longer hours than women, report less control over their work and experience more stress. Although high work satisfaction is reported, nearly one-third regret their choice of specialty. Men more than women do locum work while training. Most respondents would welcome flexible training, job shares, financial support during training and a mentoring scheme.  (+info)

The first decade of the Malawi College of Medicine: a critical appraisal. (68/1860)

The College of Medicine of the University of Malawi was opened in April 1991. Over almost a decade it has flourished in the face of economic and political constraints, as well as a change in the philosophy of donor support. We review the past, assess the present and look to the future.  (+info)

Opinions on alcohol-related issues among professionals in primary, occupational, and specialized health care. (69/1860)

The objective of this study was to analyse differences in health care personnel's knowledge, skills, and attitudes in relation to alcohol-related matters by a postal questionnaire between primary, occupational, and specialized health care. Heavy drinking was considered to be common among patients at all health care levels, and particularly in specialized health care. However, early recognition and treatment of heavy drinkers was considered more appropriate in primary and occupational health care, than in specialized health care. Alcohol consumption was found to be an easy subject to discuss at all health care levels. In addition, 90% (165/183) of the respondents thought that patients had a positive or neutral attitude towards questions on their alcohol consumption. Of the respondents, 32% (58/182) considered discussing alcohol-related matters unacceptable and 81% (121/149) believed that they could not influence patients' drinking using brief intervention; there was no significant difference between different settings. Additionally, motivational skills of doctors and nurses were found to be poor at all health care levels. Our study shows that, although discussing alcohol consumption is easy, better motivational skills and more positive attitudes are needed in primary, occupational, and specialized health care. Professionals need further education at all health care levels, but particularly in specialized health care.  (+info)

Goals and objectives for molecular pathology education in residency programs. The Association for Molecular Pathology Training and Education Committee. (70/1860)

Increasing knowledge of the molecular basis of disease and advances in technology for analyzing nucleic acids and gene products are changing pathology practice. The explosion of information regarding inherited susceptibility to disease is an important aspect of this transformation. Pathology residency programs are incorporating molecular pathology education into their curricula to prepare newly trained pathologists for the future, yet little guidance has been available regarding the important components of molecular pathology training. We present general goals for pathology training programs for molecular pathology education. These include recommendations to pathology residents for the acquisition of both basic knowledge in human genetics and molecular biology and specific skills relevant to microbiology, molecular oncology, genetics, histocompatibility, and identity determination. The importance of residents gaining facility in integrating data gained via nucleic acid based-technology with other laboratory and clinical information available in the care of patients is emphasized.  (+info)

Digital imaging of surgical specimens using a wet scanning technique. (71/1860)

AIM: To develop a simple method of recording digital images of surgical specimens on to a personal computer (PC) for use in presentations for teaching and reporting of their pathology. METHODS: A perspex box was constructed to international A4 size 100 mm deep. This box had a base of 3 mm clear perspex with sides and top of 5 mm white perspex. This box was partially filled with distilled water and a specimen immersed in it. It was then placed on top of a standard A4 scanner. The specimen was then scanned into a PC using image capture software. RESULTS: The images produced showed noticeable improvement over normal photographs, especially with specimens prone to wet highlights. CONCLUSIONS: The method has proved to be a rapid and efficient means of producing macroscopic images of surgical specimens.  (+info)

Quality, quantity and distribution of medical education and care: regulation by the private sector or mandate by government? (72/1860)

The public, the federal government and most state governments have become increasingly concerned with the lack of access to primary care as well as the specialty and geographic maldistribution problems. Currently, there is a race in progress between the private sector and the federal government to devise solutions to these problems. In the federal sector, varying pieces of legislation are under active consideration to mandate the correction of specialty and geographic maldistribution; proposals include: 1) setting up federal machinery to regulate the numbers and types of residencies; 2) make obligatory the creation of Departments of Family Practice in each medical school; 3) withdraw current education support from medical schools causing tuition levels to increase substantially--federal student loans would then provide the necessary leverage to obligate the borrower to two years of service in an under-served area in exchange for loan forgiveness. In the private sector, for the first time in the history of the United States, the five major organizations involved in medical care have organized to form the Coordinating Council on Medical Education (CCME) and the Liaison Committee on Graduate Medical Education (LCGME). One of the initial major endeavors of the CCME has been to address itself to the problem of specialty maldistribution. The LCGME has been tooling up to become the accrediting group for residency training thus providing an overview of the quality and quantity of specialty training. It will be the intent of this presentation to bring the membership of the Southern Surgical Association an up-to-date report on these parallel efforts. The author's personal hope is that the private sector can move sufficiently rapidly to set up its own regulatory mechanisms and avert another federally controlled bureaucracy that will forever change the character of the medical profession in the United States.  (+info)