Using starling murmuration as a model for creating a global health community of practice to advance equity in scholarship.

BACKGROUND: Disparities in scholarship exist between authors in low- or middle-income countries (LMIC) and high-income countries. Recognizing these disparities in our global network providing pediatric, adolescent, and maternal healthcare to vulnerable populations in LMIC, we sought to improve access and provide resources to address educational needs and ultimately impact the broader scholarship disparity. METHODS: We created a virtual community of practice (CoP) program underpinned by principles from starling murmuration to promote interdisciplinary scholarship. We developed guiding principles- autonomy, mastery and purpose- to direct the Global Health Scholarship Community of Practice Program. Program components included a continuing professional development (CPD) program, an online platform and resource center, a symposium for scholarship showcase, and peer coaching. RESULTS: From February 2021 to October 2022, 277 individuals joined. Eighty-seven percent came from LMIC, with 69% from Africa, 6% from South America, and 13% from other LMIC regions. An average of 30 members attended each of the 21 CPD sessions. Thirty-nine authors submitted nine manuscripts for publication. The symposium increased participation of individuals from LMIC and enhanced scholarly skills and capacity. Early outcomes indicate that members learned, shared, and collaborated as scholars using the online platform. CONCLUSION: Sharing of knowledge and collaboration globally are feasible through a virtual CoP and offer a benchmark for future sustainable solutions in healthcare capacity building. We recommend such model and virtual platform to promote healthcare education and mentoring across disciplines.

Creating a medical education enterprise: leveling the playing fields of medical education vs. medical science research within core missions.

BACKGROUND: Unlike publications of medical science research that are more readily rewarded, clinician-educators' scholarly achievements are more nebulous and under-recognized. OBJECTIVE: Create an education enterprise that empowers clinician-educators to engage in a broad range of scholarly activities and produce educational scholarship using strategic approaches to level the playing fields within an organization. DESIGN: The authors analyzed the advantages and disadvantages experienced by medical science researchers vs. clinician educators using Bolman and Deal's (B&D) four frames of organization (structural, human resource, political, symbolic). The authors then identified organizational approaches and activities that align with each B&D frame and proposed practical strategies to empower clinician-educators in their scholarly endeavors. RESULTS: Our medical education enterprise enhanced the structural frame by creating a decentralized medical education unit, incorporated the human resource component with an endowed chair to support faculty development, leveraged the political model by providing grant supports and expanding venues for scholarship, and enhanced the symbolic frame by endorsing the value of education and public recognition from leaderships. In five years, we saw an increased number of faculty interested in becoming clinician-educators, had an increased number of faculty winning Educational Awards for Excellence and delivering conference presentations, and received 12 of the 15 college-wide awards for educational scholarship. These satisfactory trends reflect early success of our educational enterprise. CONCLUSIONS: B&D's organizational frames can be used to identify strategies for addressing the pressing need to promote and recognize clinician-educators' scholarship. We realize that our situation is unique in several respects, but this approach is flexible within an institution and transferable to any other institution and its medical education program. ABBREVIATIONS: B&D: Bolman and Deal; CRIS: Center for Research, Innovation, and Scholarship; OOR: Office of Research.

Highlighting common pitfalls to avoid when writing the medical education manuscript.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Medical educators have an unprecedented opportunity to advance the field through dissemination of their work in academic publications. Also, their advancement may depend heavily on the number of publications. However, writing is, for many medical educators, a daunting task. Fortunately, authors have provided valuable articles and tips on the "how-to" of writing, and faculty development workshops have provided venues during which one can write a basic paper. These all are valuable, but they do not cover some of the unforeseen potential problems associated with publishing. Hence, we offer common pitfalls that the unsuspecting author will want to avoid, grouped into four categories--ethics of publishing, aims of discourse, setting boundaries, and accountability--in a reflective framework that most educators will recognize. These highlights should better equip novice medical educators, provide insights for experienced medical education mentors, and enhance the likelihood that the scholarly work will be published.

Developing a Writing Workshop for Clinician-Educators: A Synergistic Integration of Ethics, Rhetoric and Education Theories, and Social Science.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction: Clinician-educators often need specific direction in writing to publish their scholarly works. Faculty writing workshops and retreats, as well as helpful articles, address the "how-to" of writing but not the "pitfalls" of publishing. We describe an innovative, interactive workshop we crafted for the medical education profession, using our material from didactic presentations on writing given locally and internationally and incorporating education, rhetoric, and social science theories. Methods: Using baseball as a metaphor, we present the material in three sections: "Know the Playing Field" (publication ethics, journal selection/timing, accountability, boundaries), "Learn New Strategies" (publication standards, rhetorical statement, IMRAD), and "Score the Home Run!" (finalizing and submitting the manuscript, responding to reviewers). Results: It has been given in numerous venues, adapted to cover time constraints ranging from 1.5 hours to 3 hours, presented to audiences ranging from Executive Directors to medical trainees, and adjusted in response to feedback, demonstrating its flexibility. In every instance, it has been lauded for its educational value; participants have rated the overall quality of the workshop, as well as individual components, as good or excellent (all above 4 on 1-5 scale) and lessons learned as very useful and most useful. Conclusion: We offer it as a practical and flexible framework for adaptation by other institutions.

Plague: a review of its history and potential as a biological weapon.

The increased threat of terrorism has revealed the importance of various diseases as potential weapons of destruction. Among the diseases that have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being caused by category A organisms is plague. An ancient disease, it has played a role in both natural disasters and war and has been used as a weapon since at least medieval times. This article provides a brief historical overview of the disease in its natural occurrence and in its use as a biological weapon, as well as its potential for future use.

Reemergence of an unusual disease: the chikungunya epidemic.

Since the beginning of 2006, a crippling mosquito-borne disease has shown an explosive emergence in nations in the Indian Ocean area. By March 7, 2006, 157,000 people had been infected in the French island La Réunion, and the disease had spread to the islands of Seychelles, Mauritius, and Mayotte (French). Subsequently, the disease appeared in India, China, and European countries. The World Health Organization is taking measures to assist in fighting the epidemic. This article describes the disease, its recent emergence, and the current epidemic.

Infectious diseases that pose specific challenges after natural disasters: a review.

In a time span of less than one year, December 2004 to October 2005, several natural disasters of extreme proportions struck different areas of the world, causing unparalleled destruction and loss of lives and property. In each of these instances, the potential existed for acquisition of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, mold, and mildew and demonstrated that such disasters represent a public health concern, which is exacerbated by the fact that many factors may work synergistically to increase the risk of morbidity and mortality caused by communicable diseases. This article reviews causes, symptoms, and treatments of various infectious diseases that pose a threat in the event of a natural disaster.

Avian influenza virus H5N1: a review of its history and information regarding its potential to cause the next pandemic.

Avian influenza virus H5N1, which has been limited to poultry, now has spread to migrating birds and has emerged in mammals and among the human population. It presents a distinct threat of a pandemic for which the World Health Organization and other organizations are making preparations. This article reviews information about the virus itself and its spread among poultry, migrating birds, mammals, and humans.

Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser: discoverer of the cause of gonorrhea.

The history of sexually transmitted diseases is thought to date back to earliest times, and many ancient texts describe conditions that may be those of syphilis and gonorrhea, which at one time were thought to be the same disease. A main figure in the research in this area was Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser, who discovered the gonococcus in 1879 and later produced the most comprehensive account of experimental syphilis ever published. This article provides a brief biography of Albert Neisser, focusing on his discoveries in the area of infectious diseases, the so-called Neisser-Hansen controversy, and the situation leading to changes in defining bioethics.

Outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Angola: a review of the history of the disease and its biological aspects.

Transmission of a dangerous infectious disease threatens not merely a local population but the world at large as the result of immigration and increased and faster travel. Any outbreak elicits considerable concern and demands that various precautionary methods be instituted and that the disease be contained as quickly as possible. Recently, an old disease, one that may have been present for centuries and was identified decades ago, reared its ugly head, killing more than 200 people before it was contained. Fortunately, the disease, Marburg hemorrhagic fever, was limited to a small geographic area, but the devastation of lives was much greater than that of many epidemics and was a warning of the numerous factors, including fear, lack of understanding, and deception, that can exacerbate the spread of disease and hinder implementation of restraints. This article reviews the history of the disease caused by Marburg virus and its biological components.

Gnathostomiasis: a review of a previously localized zoonosis now crossing numerous geographical boundaries.

Expansion in international travel and increases in immigration have resulted in an increased number of persons in Europe and other Western countries who have returned from foreign travel with parasitic infections rarely seen previously in the United States. Among the diseases caused by helminthic parasites is gnathostomiasis, a disease caused by Gnathostoma spp. Once confined primarily to Southeast Asia, it now is a public health concern in Mexico and other countries. This article reviews the causes and epidemiology of gnathostomiasis, the life cycle of the helminth, the clinical picture and diagnosis of gnathostomiasis, and the treatments for and means of avoiding the disease.

Monkeypox: a review of the history and emergence in the Western hemisphere.

A mysterious disease was reported on May 24, 2003, when the Wisconsin Division of Public Health (DPH) received notice of a 3-year-old girl who had been hospitalized in central Wisconsin with cellulites and fever after being bitten by a prairie dog on May 13. The laboratory isolated a gram-negative bacillus, raising concerns that it might be tularemia or plague; ultimately, it was identified as an acinetobacter species and was considered to be a contaminant. Because no other such cases were reported at the time, the case was thought to be merely an isolated event. However, within two weeks, on June 2, 2003, evidence of a much wider scenario began to emerge. On that date, the Wisconsin DPH received notice from the Marshfield Laboratory that the mother of the first patient had become ill on May 26 and that electron-microscopic evidence of a poxvirus was found in a skin lesion. On that same day, another report, this time from the Milwaukee Health Department, of a strange illness was received at the DPH and described the case of a meat inspector who resided in southeastern Wisconsin and also was a distributor of exotic animals. By July 30, 2003, 72 confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox had been reported in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana and represented a large outbreak. The peak in the onset of illness occurred between May 29 and June 9, 2003, and no further cases of illness have been reported in humans since June 22, 2003. Traceback investigations from the child and other patients followed the route of introduction of monkeypox into Wisconsin to a distributor in Illinois, who had received a shipment of exotic animals imported into the United States through Texas from Ghana, West Africa.

Penicillin: its discovery and early development.

In August 1928, Alexander Fleming returned from a vacation to his usually messy, disordered laboratory. In one of the Petri dishes that had not been touched by the Lysol, he noticed an unusual phenomenon: separate colonies of staphylococci and, near the dish's edge, a colony of mold approximately 20 mm in diameter. The finding proved to be a watershed in the history of medicine. This discovery lay dormant for some time before other researchers took up the challenge to investigate its clinical possibilities. Two investigators at Oxford, Sir Howard Walter Florey and Ernst Boris Chain, brought penicillin's potential for medical use to fruition and, along with Fleming, shared the 1945 Nobel Prize for Medicine. The discovery and development of penicillin represent one of the most important developments in the annals of medical history. This article presents a brief overview of the events that occurred in the progress from discovery to implementation as a therapeutic agent.

Sir Alexander Fleming: Scottish researcher who discovered penicillin.

The discovery and development of penicillin changed the entire direction of approaches to treating infectious diseases and saved the lives of millions of people. Indeed, the development of penicillin was a watershed event in the battle against infectious diseases, and the individual who discovered it, Sir Alexander Fleming, remains a prominent individual in the annals of medical history. This article focuses primarily on the personal life of Alexander Fleming, an individual who had a remarkable diversity of interests and who made many contributions to science and medicine.