'Deep brain stimulation is no ON/OFF-switch': an ethnography of clinical expertise in psychiatric practice.

Despite technological innovations, clinical expertise remains the cornerstone of psychiatry. A clinical expert does not only have general textbook knowledge, but is sensitive to what is demanded for the individual patient in a particular situation. A method that can do justice to the subjective and situation-specific nature of clinical expertise is ethnography. Effective deep brain stimulation (DBS) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves an interpretive, evaluative process of optimizing stimulation parameters, which makes it an interesting case to study clinical expertise. The aim of this study is to explore the role of clinical expertise through an ethnography of the particular case of DBS optimization in OCD. In line with the topic of the special issue this article is a part of, we will also use our findings to reflect on ethnography as a method to study complex phenomena like clinical expertise. This ethnography of DBS optimization is based on 18 months of participant observation and nine in-depth interviews with a team of expert clinicians who have been treating over 80 OCD patients since 2005. By repeatedly observing particular situations for an extended period of time, we found that there are recurrent patterns in the ways clinicians interact with patients. These patterns of clinical practice shape the possibilities clinicians have for making sense of DBS-induced changes in patients' lived experience and behavior. Collective established patterns of clinical practice are dynamic and change under the influence of individual learning experiences in particular situations, opening up new possibilities and challenges. We conclude that patterns of clinical practice and particular situations are mutually constitutive. Ethnography is ideally suited to bring this relation into view thanks to its broad temporal scope and focus on the life-world. Based on our findings, we argue that clinical expertise not only implies skillful engagement with a concrete situation but also with the patterns of clinical practice that shape what is possible in this specific situation. Given this constraining and enabling role of practices, it is important to investigate them in order to find ways to improve diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities.

How to Keep Training-After Residency Training.

Lifelong learning in medicine is an important skill and ethical obligation, but many residents do not feel prepared to be effective self-directed learners when training ends. The learning sciences offer evidence to guide self-directed learning, but these insights have not been integrated into a practical and actionable plan for residents to improve their clinical knowledge and reasoning. We encourage residents to establish a self-directed learning plan, just as an athlete employs a training plan in the pursuit of excellence. We highlight four evidence-based learning principles (spaced practice, mixed practice, retrieval practice, and feedback) and four training strategies comprising a weekly training plan: case tracking, simulated cases, quizzing, and new evidence integration. We provide tips for residents to implement and refine their approach and discuss how residency programs can foster these routines and habits. By optimizing their scarce self-directed learning time with a training plan, residents may enhance patient care and their career satisfaction through their pursuit of clinical mastery.

How competitors become collaborators-Bridging the gap(s) between machine learning algorithms and clinicians.

For some years, we have been witnessing a steady stream of high-profile studies about machine learning (ML) algorithms achieving high diagnostic accuracy in the analysis of medical images. That said, facilitating successful collaboration between ML algorithms and clinicians proves to be a recalcitrant problem that may exacerbate ethical problems in clinical medicine. In this paper, we consider different epistemic and normative factors that may lead to algorithmic overreliance within clinical decision-making. These factors are false expectations, the miscalibration of uncertainties, non-explainability, and the socio-technical context within which the algorithms are utilized. Moreover, we identify different desiderata for bridging the gap between ML algorithms and clinicians. Further, we argue that there is an intriguing dialectic in the collaboration between clinicians and ML algorithms. While it is the algorithm that is supposed to assist the clinician in diagnostic tasks, successful collaboration will also depend on adjustments on the side of the clinician.

Humility in medical practice: a qualitative study of peer-nominated excellent clinicians.

BACKGROUND: Humility has recently been conceptualized as a positive, multifaceted attribute in fields outside of medicine, such as psychology and philosophy. In medicine, there has been limited study into the nature of humility and its role in clinical practice. We sought to develop a deeper understanding of humility in medical practice through the lived-experiences of peer-nominated excellent clinicians. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study with secondary analysis of transcripts from individual open ended, semi-structured interviews of 13 peer nominated physicians [7 (54%) female] at an academic centre. Using constant comparative analysis, the transcripts were analyzed for instances where humility was discussed as it related to clinical practice. RESULTS: Participants perceived humility to be an important driver for excellence in clinical practice. This was further explained using two overarching themes: an inward, intellectual perspective and an outward, social perspective. The physician's inward perspective was their view of their abilities and limits, their self-confidence, and their intellectual openness and adaptability to the limitations and evolving nature of knowledge in medicine. Their outward perspective was an understanding and appreciation for the larger system in which they worked, an openness to others, and valuing patients' experience. Through these perspectives, humility positively influenced clinical care, learning and curiosity, motivation in the care of others, and relationships with team members and patients. CONCLUSIONS: Humility in medicine is a rich, multifaceted construct that was perceived to be a driver for excellence in medical practice by peer-nominated excellent clinicians. Humility was seen as an active force in formulating and calibrating a clinician's perspective of self and of others, and as such, positively influencing clinical practice. These findings will help inform a discourse in medical education and faculty development about the important role of humility in medical practice.

[Nursing expertise in wounds and healing of the elderly in complex care situations]. / L'expertise infirmière en plaies et cicatrisation de la personne âgée en situation de soins complexe.

The appearance of a wound in the elderly has a strong impact on the somatic, functional and psycho-social aspects. It can significantly alter their quality of life. The role of the clinical nurse specialist, in partnership with the multidisciplinary team, is fundamental for a global individualized care. The construction of the therapeutic project is defined from a multidimensional evaluation of the patient and his wound.

[Contribution of the clinical nurse specialist in urodynamics to continence maintenance]. / Contribution de l'infirmière spécialiste clinique en urodynamique au maintien de la continence.

The maintenance of continence is an objective of care that should not be neglected, especially with elderly patients. This care can be carried out through the first line nursing consultation or during the second line consultation. The main interest of it is to prevent, detect or treat a vesico-sphincter disorder that can cause anxiety, shame and isolation. The urodynamics nurse mobilizes her skills in the implementation of care actions, particularly in self-care education.

Genomic expertise in action: molecular tumour boards and decision-making in precision oncology.

The recent development of cancer precision medicine is associated with the emergence of 'molecular tumour boards' (MTBs). Attended by a heterogenous set of practitioners, MTBs link genomic platforms to clinical practices by establishing 'actionable' connections between drugs and molecular alterations. Their activities rely on a number of evidential resources - for example databases, clinical trial results, basic knowledge about mutations and pathways - that need to be associated with the clinical trajectory of individual patients. Experts from various domains are required to master and align diverse kinds of information. However, rather than examining MTBs as an institution interfacing different kinds of expertise embedded in individual experts, we argue that expertise is the emergent outcome of MTBs, which can be conceptualised as networks or 'agencements' of humans and devices. Based on the ethnographic analysis of the activities of four clinical trial MTBs (three in France and an international one) and of two French routine-care MTBs, the paper analyses how MTBs produce therapeutic decisions, centring on the new kind of expertise they engender. The development and activities of MTBs signal a profound transformation of the evidentiary basis and processes upon which biomedical expertise and decision-making in oncology are predicated and, in particular, the emergence of a clinic of variants.

Cognitive systems at the point of care: The CREDO program.

CREDO is a framework for understanding human expertise and for designing and deploying systems that support cognitive tasks like situation and risk assessment, decision-making, therapy planning and workflow management. The framework has evolved through an extensive program of research on human decision-making and clinical practice. It draws on concepts from cognitive science, and has contributed new results to cognitive theory and understanding of human expertise and knowledge-based AI. These results are exploited in a suite of technologies for designing, implementing and deploying clinical services, early versions of which were reported by Das et al. (1997) [9] and Fox and Das (2000) [26]. A practical outcome of the CREDO program is a technology stack, a key element of which is an agent specification language (PROforma: Sutton and Fox (2003) [55]) which has proved to be a versatile tool for designing point of care applications in many clinical specialties and settings. Since software became available for implementing and deploying PROforma applications many kinds of services have been successfully built and trialed, some of which are in large-scale routine use. This retrospective describes the foundations of the CREDO model, summarizes the main theoretical, technical and clinical contributions, and discusses benefits of the cognitive approach.

Development of evidence-based practice in occupational health services in Sweden: a 3-year follow-up of attitudes, barriers and facilitators.

PURPOSE: The Swedish government initiated an investigation of how to secure and develop the competence of the occupational health services. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate whether the development of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the Swedish occupational health services in relation to attitudes, knowledge and use improved during the first 3 years of the government's initiative. METHODS: The study has a mixed methods design combining questionnaires and interviews with data collection at baseline and at 3-year follow-up. RESULTS: The response rate was 66% at baseline and 63% at follow-up. The results show that practitioners' knowledge of EBP was moderate at baseline and improved at follow-up (p = 0.002; 95% CI 0.01; 0.21). Practitioners experienced lower levels of organizational and managerial support for EBP at follow-up (p < 0.001; 95% CI 0.18; 0.38). The results revealed that managers viewed responsibility for implementing EBP as a matter for individual practitioners rather than as an organizational issue. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational health service managers and practitioners are generally positive to EBP. However, the findings emphasize the need to educate managers in how to support EBP at the organizational level by creating an infrastructure for EBP in the OHS.

Evidence-based practice: Embracing integration.

BACKGROUND: The Veterans Health Administration's Office of Nursing Services launched several initiatives to support evidence-based practice (EBP) initiatives throughout its system. From evaluation of these initiatives and reflection on discussions with nurse leaders and direct care nurses, our thinking about and approach to EBP has evolved from a project-focused to a practice-focused interpretation. PURPOSE: (a) Offer an expanded view that moves beyond interpreting EBP as process-driven projects to a "way of practicing" where nurses assume ownership for a practice that integrates best available evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences, and (b) describe and generate discussion on the educational, cultural, and role modeling implications of this expanded view. METHODS: We illustrate EBP integration using a point-of-care interaction scenario. CONCLUSION: Commitment to EBP is reflected at the point-of-care where each nurse demonstrates the ability to integrate evidence-based interventions, patient preferences, and clinical expertise to arrive at patient-centric health care decisions.

Biomechanics of the thorax - research evidence and clinical expertise.

Understanding the biomechanics of the thorax is critical for understanding its role in multiple conditions since the thorax is part of many integrated systems including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiac, digestive and urogynecological. The thorax is also an integrated system within itself and an element of the whole body/person. Therefore, understanding the biomechanics of the thorax is fundamental to all forms of treatment for multiple conditions. The interpretation of movement examination findings depends on one's view of optimal biomechanics and the influential factors. This article will provide a synopsis of the current state of research evidence as well as observations from clinical experience pertaining to the biomechanics of the thorax in order to help clinicians organise this knowledge and facilitate evidence-based and informed management of the, often complex, patient with or without thoracic pain and impairment. The integrated systems model (ISM) will be introduced as a way to determine when the noted biomechanical findings are relevant to a patient's clinical presentation.

The Evidence-Based Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a model of professional decision-making in which practitioners integrate the best available evidence with client values/context and clinical expertise in order to provide services for their clients. This framework provides behavior analysts with a structure for pervasive use of the best available evidence in the complex settings in which they work. This structure recognizes the need for clear and explicit understanding of the strength of evidence supporting intervention options, the important contextual factors including client values that contribute to decision making, and the key role of clinical expertise in the conceptualization, intervention, and evaluation of cases. Opening the discussion of EBP in this journal, Smith (The Behavior Analyst, 36, 7-33, 2013) raised several key issues related to EBP and applied behavior analysis (ABA). The purpose of this paper is to respond to Smith's arguments and extend the discussion of the relevant issues. Although we support many of Smith's (The Behavior Analyst, 36, 7-33, 2013) points, we contend that Smith's definition of EBP is significantly narrower than definitions that are used in professions with long histories of EBP and that this narrowness conflicts with the principles that drive applied behavior analytic practice. We offer a definition and framework for EBP that aligns with the foundations of ABA and is consistent with well-established definitions of EBP in medicine, psychology, and other professions. In addition to supporting the systematic use of research evidence in behavior analytic decision making, this definition can promote clear communication about treatment decisions across disciplines and with important outside institutions such as insurance companies and granting agencies.

What Is a Sarcoma 'Specialist Center'? Multidisciplinary Research Finds an Answer.

The management of sarcomas in specialist centers delivers significant benefits. In much of the world, specialists are not available, and the development of expertise is identified as a major need. However, the terms 'specialist' or 'expert' center are rarely defined. Our objective is to offer a definition for patient advocates and a tool for healthcare providers to underpin improving the care of people with sarcoma. SPAGN developed a discussion paper for a workshop at the SPAGN 2023 Conference, attended by 75 delegates. A presentation to the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) and further discussion led to this paper. Core Principles were identified that underlie specialist sarcoma care. The primary Principle is the multi-disciplinary team discussing every patient, at first diagnosis and during treatment. Principles for optimal sarcoma management include accurate diagnosis followed by safe, high-quality treatment, with curative intent. These Principles are supplemented by Features describing areas of healthcare, professional involvement, and service provision and identifying further research and development needs. These allow for variations because of national or local policies and budgets. We propose the term 'Sarcoma Intelligent Specialist Network' to recognize expertise wherever it is found in the world. This provides a base for further discussion and local refinement.

AI-Assisted Treatment Planning for Dental Implant Placement: Clinical vs AI-Generated Plans.

Background: Dental implant placement is a critical procedure in modern dentistry, requiring precise treatment planning to ensure successful outcomes. Traditionally, treatment planning has relied on the expertise of clinicians, but recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have opened up the possibility of AI-assisted treatment planning. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients requiring dental implant placement were included in this comparative study. For each patient, a clinical treatment plan was created by an experienced dentist, while an AI algorithm, trained on a dataset of implant placement cases, generated an alternative plan. Various parameters, including implant position, angulation, and depth, were compared between the two plans. Surgical templates were fabricated based on both plans to guide implant placement accurately. Results: The results of this study indicate that AI-generated treatment plans closely align with clinical plans in terms of implant positioning, angulation, and depth. Mean discrepancies of less than 1 mm and 2 degrees were observed for implant position and angulation, respectively, between the two planning methods. The AI-generated plans also showed a reduction in planning time, averaging 10 min compared to the clinical planning, which averaged 30 min per case. Additionally, the surgical templates based on AI-generated plans exhibited similar accuracy in implant placement as those based on clinical plans. Conclusion: AI-assisted treatment planning for dental implant placement demonstrates promising results in terms of accuracy and efficiency.

Real-world observations and impacts of Chinese herbal medicine for migraine: results of a registry-based cohort study.

Background: Migraine is a prevalent, recurrent condition with substantial disease burden. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used frequently for migraine in controlled clinical settings. This study is to summarise the characteristics of patients who seek clinical care in a tertiary Chinese medicine hospital in China; to gather their preferences and values of using CHM; to explore the effect of CHM for migraine and its comorbidities in a real-world setting, and to collect first-hand expertise of clinicians' practice pattern in prescribing CHM for migraine. Methods: This registry-based cohort study was prospectively conducted at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine from December 2020 to May 2022. Adult migraine patients seeking their initial anti-migraine clinical care at the hospital were consecutively recruited and followed up for 12 weeks. Practitioners specialised in headache management prescribed individualised treatments without research interference. Standardised case report forms were employed to gather information on patients' preferences and perspective of seeking clinical care, as well as to assess participants' migraine severity, comorbidities, and quality of life, at 4-weeks intervals. Various analytical methods were utilised based on the computed data. Results: In this study, we observed 248 participants. Of these, 73 received CHM treatment for 28 days or longer. Notably, these participants exhibited a greater disease severity, compared to those treated with CHM for less than 28 days. Of the 248 participants, 83.47% of them expected CHM would effectively reduce the severity of their migraine, around 50% expected effects for migraine-associated comorbidities, while 51.61% expressing concerns about potential side effects. CHM appeared to be effective in reducing monthly migraine days and pain intensity, improving patients' quality of life, and potentially reducing comorbid anxiety, with a minimum of 28 days CHM treatment. Herbs such as gan cao, gui zhi, chuan xiong, fu ling, bai zhu, yan hu suo, etc. were frequently prescribed for migraine, based on patients' specific symptoms. Conclusion: CHM appeared to be beneficial for migraine and comorbid anxiety in real-world clinical practice when used continuously for 28 days or more. Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, identifier ChiCTR2000041003.

[IPA's clinical expertise in the identification and assessment of somatic pain in schizophrenic patients]. / Expertise clinique de l'IPA PSM dans le repérage et l'évaluation de la douleur somatique chez les personnes schizophrènes.

Identifying and assessing somatic pain in people with schizophrenia remains a major public health issue for this vulnerable population. In France, Advanced Practice Nursing is developing, based on a practice built around clinical expertise. How can the clinical expertise of psychiatric and mental health APNs improve the identification and assessment of somatic pain in these patients, and thus help to improve their somatic health?

Research Knowledge Translation in Sensory Integration-Based Therapy: Exploring Subjectivity of Clinical Expertise.

Background. Clinical expertise is the mechanism through which practitioners implement other components of evidence-based practice (EBP). Within occupational therapy practice, intervention approaches that are both closely and loosely aligned with Ayres' Theory of Sensory Integration are widespread, offering a unique opportunity to investigate the subjective nature of clinical expertise in EBP. Purpose. This qualitative study explored motivations to offer sensory integration-based interventions, and factors informing occupational therapists' clinical decision making in relation to an arguably contentious evidence base. Method. Six post-graduate sensory integration trained UK occupational therapists participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed, member-checked and analyzed using thematic coding analysis. Findings. Despite sound understanding of theory and continuous efforts to develop clinical knowledge, non-traditional hierarchies of evidence notably inform clinical decisions. The clinical expertise required for integration of patient preferences, clinical state and circumstances, and research evidence is informed by pragmatic responses to facilitators and barriers across contexts, combined with unique profession-specific identity factors. Implications. While empirical healthcare research is ideally undertaken under controlled conditions, realities of clinical practice are rarely so clear cut. Study findings highlight important subjective factors that are central to real-world research knowledge translation and further understanding of the clinical expertise component of EBP.

Multimodal predictions of treatment outcome in major depression: A comparison of data-driven predictors with importance ratings by clinicians.

BACKGROUND: Reliable prediction models of treatment outcome in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are currently lacking in clinical practice. Data-driven outcome definitions, combining data from multiple modalities and incorporating clinician expertise might improve predictions. METHODS: We used unsupervised machine learning to identify treatment outcome classes in 1060 MDD inpatients. Subsequently, classification models were created on clinical and biological baseline information to predict treatment outcome classes and compared to the performance of two widely used classical outcome definitions. We also related the findings to results from an online survey that assessed which information clinicians use for outcome prognosis. RESULTS: Three and four outcome classes were identified by unsupervised learning. However, data-driven outcome classes did not result in more accurate prediction models. The best prediction model was targeting treatment response in its standard definition and reached accuracies of 63.9 % in the test sample, and 59.5 % and 56.9 % in the validation samples. Top predictors included sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, while biological parameters did not improve prediction accuracies. Treatment history, personality factors, prior course of the disorder, and patient attitude towards treatment were ranked as most important indicators by clinicians. LIMITATIONS: Missing data limited the power to identify biological predictors of treatment outcome from certain modalities. CONCLUSIONS: So far, the inclusion of available biological measures in addition to psychometric and clinical information did not improve predictive value of the models, which was overall low. Optimized biomarkers, stratified predictions and the inclusion of clinical expertise may improve future prediction models.

Effect of Clinical Expertise on Efficacy of Vocal Function Exercises in Individuals With Typical Voice.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To determine the effect of clinical expertise on efficacy of Vocal Function Exercises (VFEs) as measured by change in percent of maximum phonation time goal attained. The hypothesis was that clinical expertise would result in greater increases in percent of maximum phonation time goal attained. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. METHODS: A convenience sample of 19 individuals with typical voice was recruited in a university academic clinic setting. All participants completed baseline assessment and 17 completed all study procedures. Participants were randomized to receive VFEs from an expert voice clinician with more than 40 years' experience (expert group (EG)) or from a master's student in Communication Sciences and Disorders trained in VFEs (novice group (NG)). The primary outcome measure was change in percent of maximum phonation time goal attained during VFE tasks 1 and 4. RESULTS: Mean change scores for maximum phonation time were 27.71 (P = 0.001) and 25.31 (P = 0.003) for EG and NG, respectively. Both groups improved significantly on the primary outcome measure, but the difference between groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.759). A Hedges'-g effect size of -0.14 [-1.10, 0.81] was obtained comparing EG and NG groups, indicating a small negative effect of limited clinical expertise on VFE outcomes in individuals with typical voice. CONCLUSIONS: Speech-language pathologists with varied levels of expertise are capable of efficaciously administering VFEs in individuals with typical voice.