A prospective, longitudinal, case-control study to evaluate the neurodevelopment of children from birth to adolescence exposed to COVID-19 in utero.

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has created unprecedented acute global health challenges. However, it also presents a set of unquantified and poorly understood risks in the medium to long term, specifically, risks to children whose mothers were infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during pregnancy. Infections during pregnancy can increase the risk of atypical neurodevelopment in the offspring, but the long-term neurodevelopmental impact of in utero COVID-19 exposure is unknown. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate children exposed in utero to SARS-CoV2 to define this risk. METHODS: We have designed a prospective, case-controlled study to investigate the long-term impacts of SARS-CoV2 exposure on children exposed in utero. Women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy will be recruited from Monash Health, the Royal Women's Hospital and Western Health (Melbourne, Australia) and Londrina Municipal Maternity Hospital Lucilla Ballalai and PUCPR Medical Clinical (Londrina, Brazil). A control group in a 2:1 ratio (2 non-exposed: 1 exposed mother infant dyad) comprising women who gave birth in the same month of delivery, are of similar age but did not contract SARS-CoV-2 during their pregnancy will also be recruited. We aim to recruit 170 exposed and 340 non-exposed mother-infant dyads. Clinical and socio-demographic data will be collected directly from the mother and medical records. Biospecimens and clinical and epidemiological data will be collected from the mothers and offspring at multiple time points from birth through to 15 years of age using standardised sample collection, and neurological and behavioural measures. DISCUSSION: The mapped neurodevelopmental trajectories and comparisons between SARS-CoV-2 exposed and control children will indicate the potential for an increase in atypical neurodevelopment. This has significant implications for strategic planning in the mental health and paediatrics sectors and long-term monitoring of children globally.

Differences in clerkship development between public and private Brazilian medical schools: an overview.

BACKGROUND: Around the world, it is very expensive to become a physician. Although public medical schools are less expensive than private medical schools, tuition fees are charged at public medical schools in the majority of countries. In Brazil, public medical schools, with the exception of municipal schools, are free. There has been little investigation of any differences in conditions offered by paid or free medical schools or what occurs in public and private clerkships in Brazil. We investigated the clerkship conditions offered to the students in both public and private Brazilian medical schools by gathering the opinions of clerkship coordinators and others responsible for clerkships. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study using an electronic questionnaire was answered by clerkship coordinators to compare the clerkships of 30 public and 38 private Brazilian medical schools from all regions of the country. The questionnaires covered various aspects of the clinical environments, student supervision, faculty development, student assessments, rotation evaluations and extracurricular activities developed by students. RESULTS: We observed significant differences between public and private medical schools in several aspects investigated. Based on the opinions of the clerkship coordinators, with the exception of access to university hospitals, which was predominantly offered by public medical schools, private medical schools offer better clerkship conditions. The main differences were related to the number of positions, infrastructure, clinical learning environments, faculty development, student assessments, rotation evaluations and students' extracurricular activities. CONCLUSION: This is the first study comparing Brazilian medical clerkships in private and public medical schools and provides a general vision of these programmes. It is necessary to further investigate clerkship development in the Brazilian medical school system and to study the differences between private and public medical schools globally.

Consenso Abem para o ensino de comunicação nas escolas médicas brasileiras / ABEM consensus for the brazilian medical schools' communication curriculum

Resumo: Introdução: A comunicação é uma competência essencial para o(a) médico(a) e outras categorias profissionais, e deve ser desenvolvida durante sua formação profissional. A elaboração de um projeto de comunicação, incluindo um consenso brasileiro, visou subsidiar as escolas médicas a preparar os estudantes de Medicina para se comunicarem efetivamente com os(as) cidadãos/cidadãs brasileiros(as), de características plurais intra e inter-regionais, pautando-se no profissionalismo e nos princípios do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Objetivo: Este manuscrito apresenta o consenso para o ensino de comunicação nas escolas médicas brasileiras. Método: O consenso foi construído colaborativamente com 276 participantes, experts em comunicação, docentes, profissionais de saúde e discentes, de 126 escolas médicas e cinco instituições de saúde, ao longo de nove encontros presenciais em congressos e de encontros virtuais quinzenais ou mensais. Nos encontros, compartilharam-se as experiências dos participantes e o material bibliográfico, incluindo os consensos internacionais, e apresentou-se o consenso em construção, com discussão em grupos para elencar novos componentes para o consenso brasileiro, seguida por debate com todos para pactuá-los. A versão final foi aprovada em reunião virtual, com convite a todos(as) os(as) participantes em julho de 2021. Após submissão, diversas alterações foram requeridas, o que demandou novos encontros para revisão da versão final do consenso. Resultado: O consenso tem como pressupostos que a comunicação deve ser centrada nas relações, pautada nos princípios do SUS, na participação social e no profissionalismo, e embasada nas Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do curso de graduação em Medicina, em referenciais teóricos e nas evidências científicas. São descritos objetivos específicos para desenvolver a competência em comunicação nos estudantes, abrangendo: fundamentos teóricos; busca e avaliação crítica da literatura; elaboração e redação de documentos; comunicação intrapessoal e interpessoal no ambiente acadêmico-científico, na atenção à saúde em diversos contextos clínicos e na gestão em saúde. Recomenda-se a inserção curricular da comunicação do início ao final do curso, integrada a outros conteúdos e áreas de saber. Conclusão: Espera-se que esse consenso contribua para a revisão ou implementação da comunicação nos currículos das escolas médicas brasileiras.

Abstract: Introduction: Communication is an essential competence for the physician and other professional categories, and must be developed their professional training. The creation of a communication project including a Brazilian consensus aimed to subsidize medical schools in preparing medical students to communicate effectively with Brazilian citizens, with plural intra and inter-regional characteristics, based on the professionalism and the Brazilian Unified System (SUS) principles. Objective: The objective of this manuscript is to present the consensus for the teaching of communication in Brazilian medical schools. Method: The consensus was built collaboratively with 276 participants, experts in communication, faculty, health professionals and students from 126 medical schools and five health institutions in face-to-face conference meetings and biweekly or monthly virtual meetings. In the meetings, the participants' experiences and bibliographic material were shared, including international consensuses, and the consensus under construction was presented, with group discussion to list new components for the Brazilian consensus, followed by debate with everyone, to agree on them. The final version was approved in a virtual meeting with invitation to all participants in July 2021. After the submission, several changes were required, which demanded new meetings to review the consensus final version. Result: The consensus is based on assumptions that communication should be relationship-centered, embedded on professionalism, grounded on the SUS principles and social participation, and based on the National Guidelines for the undergraduate medical course, theoretical references and scientific evidence. Specific objectives to develop communication competence in the students are described, covering: theoretical foundations; literature search and its critical evaluation; documents drafting and editing; intrapersonal and interpersonal communication in the academicscientific environment, in health care and in health management; and, communication in diverse clinical contexts. The inclusion of communication in the curriculum is recommended from the beginning to the end of the course, integrated with other contents and areas of knowledge. Conclusion: It is expected that this consensus contributes the review or implementation of communication in Brazilian medical schools' curricula.

O ensino de habilidades e atitudes: um relato de experiências / Teaching of attitudes and skills: an experience report

Este artigo relata a experiência do ensino de Habilidades e Atitudes, na graduação em Medicina da Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL) com a metodologia de ensino da Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas, ancorada no modelo biopsicossocial. O ensino de Habilidades e Atitudes implica a formulação diagnóstica mutiaxial, descrição contextual e padronizada da condição clínica. Utiliza como instrumento a avaliação sistemática de eixos e domínios altamente informativos e relevantes para o tratamento. Eixo I: transtornos clínicos (mentais e condições médicas gerais); Eixo II: incapacidades nos cuidados pessoais, funcionamento ocupacional e com a família, e funcionamento social mais amplo; Eixo III: fatores contextuais (problemas interpessoais e outros psicossociais e ambientais); Eixo IV: qualidade de vida (refletindo primariamente as percepções do próprio paciente). A competência clínica foi avaliada por meio da discussão de casos clínicos, portfólios reflexivos e pelo Exame Clínico Estruturado por Objetivo (Osce), método que avalia as habilidades clínicas, as habilidades de atitudes e a comunicação dos estudantes de Medicina.

This article describes an experience of teaching Attitudes and Skills in a medical course at the Londrina State University using the methodology of Problem-Based Learning grounded in a biopsychosocial model. The teaching of Attitudes and Skills requires from teachers a multi-axial diagnostic formulation in a contextual and standardized description of the clinical condition through a number of highly informative, therapeutically significant and systematically assessed axes or domains. The assessment of a patient should lead to multi-axial diagnostic formulation in a systematically assessed axes or domains. Axis I: clinical disorders (mental and general medical conditions); Axis II: disabilities (in personal care, occupational functioning, functioning with family, and broader social functioning); Axis III: contextual factors (interpersonal and other psychosocial and environmental problems); Axis IV: quality of life (primarily reflecting patient's self-perceptions).The assessment of clinical competence was performed through the discussion of clinical cases, the use of reflexive portfolios, and Objective Structured Clinical Exams (Osce), a method to evaluate the medical students' clinical skills, attitudes and communications skills.

Ulcera péptica duodenal e gástrica e neoplasia gástrica: estudo comparativo dos sintomas / Peptic duodenal and gastric ulcer and gastric neoplasm: comparative study of symptons

Os autores estudaram a correlaçao dos sinais e sintomas clínicos na úlcera gástrica, úlcera duodenal e carcinoma gástrico, com a finalidade de estabelecer o real valor da anamnese no diagnóstico diferencial dessas patologias. Na populaçao estudada nao foi possível estabelecer uma diferença diagnóstica exata baseada no quadro clínico, embora os pacientes com câncer gástrico apresentassem, mais frequentemente, sinais e sintomas como: emagrecimento, plenitude epigástrica pós-prandial, fagofobia, anorexia e vômitos. Diante deste grupo impoem-se uma investigaçao precoce e minuciosa

Hemorragia digestiva por fístula aorto-entérica: relato de dois casos e revisäo da literatura / Gastrointestinal bleeding by aortoenteric fistula: report of two cases and review of the literature

Os autores apresentam relato de dois casos de sangramento digestivo determinados pela presença de fístula aorto-entérica. Considerando-se dificuldade diagnóstica e a necessidade de instituir medidas cirúrgicas em breve espaço de tempo nessa entidade, säo revistos os mecanismos da sua patogênese e os métodos disponíveis para o seu diagnóstico e tratamento