Transformative learning as pedagogy for the health professions: a scoping review.

CONTEXT: Transformative learning (TL) has been described as learning that challenges established perspectives, leading to new ways of being in the world. As a learning theory it has resonated with educators globally, including those in the health professions. Described as a complex metatheory, TL has evolved over time, eliciting divergent interpretations of the construct. This scoping review provides a comprehensive synthesis of how TL is currently represented in the health professions education literature, including how it influences curricular activities, to inform its future application in the field. METHODS: Arksey and O'Malley's six-step framework was adopted to review the period from 2006 to May 2018. A total of 10 bibliographic databases were searched, generating 1532 potential studies. After several rounds of review, first of abstracts and then of full texts, 99 studies were mapped by two independent reviewers onto the internally developed data extraction sheet. Descriptive information about included studies was aggregated. Discursive data were subjected to content analysis. RESULTS: A mix of conceptual and empirical research papers, which used a range of qualitative methodologies, were included. Studies from the USA, the UK and Australia were most prevalent. Insights relating to how opportunities for TL were created, how it manifests and influences behaviour, as well as how it is experienced, demonstrated much congruency. Conceptions of TL were seen to be clustered around the work of key theorists. CONCLUSIONS: The training of health professionals often takes place in unfamiliar settings where students are encouraged to be active participants in providing care. This increases the opportunity for exposure to learning experiences that are potentially transformative, allowing for a pedagogy of uncertainty that acknowledges the complexity of the world we live in and questions what we believe we know about it. TL provides educators in the health professions with a theoretical lens through which they can view such student learning.

Student Reflection Papers on a Global Clinical Experience: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Many of the 70,000 graduating US medical students [per year] have reported participating in a global health activity at some stage of medical school. This case study design provided a method for understanding the student's experience that included student's learning about culture, health disparities, exposure and reaction to a range of diseases actually encountered. The broad diversity of themes among students indicated that the GCE provided a flexible, personalized experience. We need to understand the student's experience in order to help design appropriate curricular experiences [and valid student assessment]. OBJECTIVE: Our research aim was to analyze medical student reflection papers to understand how they viewed their Global Clinical Experience (GCE). METHODS: A qualitative case study design was used to analyze student reflection papers. All 28 students who participated in a GCE from 2008-2010 and in 2014-2015 and submitted a reflection paper on completion of the GCE were eligible to participate in the study. One student did not submit a reflection paper and was not included in the study. FINDINGS: All 27 papers were coded by paragraph for reflection and for themes. System of Care/Range of Care was mentioned most often, Aids to Adjustment Process was mentioned least. The theme, "Diseases," referred to any mention of a disease in the reflection papers, and 44 diseases were mentioned in the papers. The analysis for depth of reflection yielded the following data: Observation, 81/248 paragraphs; Observation and Interpretation, 130/248 paragraphs; and Observation, Interpretation, and Suggestions for change, 36/248 paragraphs; 9 reflection papers contained 27 separate accounts of a transformational experience. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a method for understanding the student's experience that included student's learning about culture, health disparities, and exposure and reaction to a range of diseases actually encountered. The broad diversity of themes among students indicated that the GCE provided a flexible, personalized experience. How we might design a curriculum to facilitate transformational learning experiences needs further research.

Reframing undergraduate medical education in global health: Rationale and key principles from the Bellagio Global Health Education Initiative.

Global health education (GHE) continues to be a growing initiative in many medical schools across the world. This focus is no longer limited to participants from high-income countries and has expanded to institutions and students from low- and middle-income settings. With this shift has come a need to develop meaningful curricula through engagement between educators and learners who represent the sending institutions and the diverse settings in which GHE takes place. The Bellagio Global Health Education Initiative (BGHEI) was founded to create a space for such debate and discussion and to generate guidelines towards a universal curriculum for global health. In this article, we describe the development and process of our work and outline six overarching principles that ought to be considered when adopting an inclusive approach to GHE curriculum development.

Foreign students' experience during a time of war.

BACKGROUND: Due to the war in Gaza in 2009, Ben-Gurion University's Medical School for International Health with a student body of 165 international multicultural students canceled a week of classes. Third-year students continued clerkships voluntarily and fourth-year students returned to Israel before departing for electives in a developing country. A debriefing session was held for the entire school. OBJECTIVES: To assess the academic and psychological effects of political conflict on students. METHODS: We asked all students to fill out an anonymous Google electronic survey describing their experience during the war and evaluating the debriefing. A team of students and administrators reviewed the responses. RESULTS: Sixty-six students (40% of the school) responded (first year 26%, second year 39%, third year 24%, fourth year 8%, taking time off 3%, age 23-40 years old). Eighty-three percent were in Israel for some portion of the war and 34% attended the debriefing. Factors that influenced individuals' decision to return/stay in the war zone were primarily of an academic and financial nature. Other factors included family pressure, information from peers and information from the administration. Many reported psychological difficulties during the war rather than physical danger, describing it as "draining" and that it was difficult to concentrate while studying. As foreigners, many felt their role was undefined. Although there is wide variation in the war's effect on daily activities and emotional well-being during that time, the majority (73%) reported minimal residual effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study lends insight to the way students cope during conflict and highlights academic issues during a war. Open and frequent communication and emphasis on the school as a community were most important to students.

Guiding principles for the development of global health education curricula in undergraduate medical education.

BACKGROUND: Global health education (GHE) at undergraduate medical institutions has expanded significantly over the last 30 years, but many questions remain regarding the best practices for the development and implementation of global health programs. AIM: To identify key themes essential to the development of GHE programs. METHOD: We discuss five themes relevant to GHE in the context of existing literature and practice. RESULTS: The following themes are essential to the development of GHE programs: the definition and scope of GHE, student competencies in global health, the challenges and opportunities associated with inter-institutional relationships, principles for GHE student placements, and the evaluation of GHE programs. We place these themes in the context of current literature and practice, and provide practical guidance on how these themes might be successfully implemented by institutions seeking to develop or refine GHE programs. CONCLUSIONS: Institutions developing or evaluating GHE programs should focus on these themes as they build their global health curricula.

A practical assessment of physician biopsychosocial performance.

BACKGROUND: A biopsychosocial approach to care seems to improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Nevertheless, this approach is not widely practiced, possibly because its precepts have not been translated into observable skills. AIM: To identify the skill components of a biopsychosocial consultation and develop an tool for their evaluation. METHODS: We approached three e-mail discussion groups of family physicians and pooled their responses to the question "what types of observed physician behavior would characterize a biopsychosocial consultation?" We received 35 responses describing 37 types of behavior, all of which seemed to cluster around one of three aspects: patient-centered interview; system-centered and family-centered approach to care; or problem-solving orientation. Using these categories, we developed a nine-item evaluation tool. We used the evaluation tool to score videotaped encounters of patients with two types of doctors: family physicians who were identified by peer ratings to have a highly biopsychosocial orientation (n = 9) or a highly biomedical approach (n = 4); and 44 general practitioners, before and after they had participated in a program that taught a biopsychosocial approach to care. RESULTS: The evaluation tool was found to demonstrate high reliability (alpha = 0.90) and acceptable interobserver variability. The average scores of the physicians with a highly biopsychosocial orientation were significantly higher than those of physicians with a highly biomedical approach. There were significant differences between the scores of the teaching-program participants before and after the program. CONCLUSIONS: A biopsychosocial approach to patient care can be characterized using a valid and easy-to-apply evaluation tool.

Development and validation of a new measure of student attitudes and knowledge of international health and medicine.

There is increasing awareness of the importance of international health and medicine (IHM) but there is a paucity of data regarding medical students' attitudes towards and knowledge of the subject. To the best of our knowledge there is currently no validated measure to assess this. The aim of the present study was to develop a validated measure of medical students' attitudes and knowledge of IHM and examine its correlates. A panel experienced in IHM formulated attitude and general knowledge items and clinical cases based on personal experience, literature review and texts. The survey was piloted and then administered to 82 students of the Ben Gurion University-Columbia University MD program in IHM, and 59 students from programs without specific IHM focus. Cronbach's a was 0.87. Test-retest reliability of attitudes was r=0.87. Correlation of openness to experience with attitudes was r=0.376, showing construct validity. Third-year IHM students scored higher than incoming students on IHM knowledge and clinical cases, demonstrating sensitivity. General IHM knowledge was positively correlated to clinical IHM knowledge r=0.36, but not attitude or openness to experience. Those with previous IHM work experience showed greater openness and positive attitude. Women showed more positive attitudes towards IHM than men. Attitude was negatively correlated with number of languages spoken r=-0.198. The survey may be a reliable and valid tool to assess and compare medical students' knowledge and attitude toward international health. This survey can be used to evaluate curricular innovations in the field.

A medical school for international health run by international partners.

In early 1996, the Ben Gurion University Faculty of Health Sciences (BGU), Beer-Sheva, Israel, in collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), New York City, United States, decided to found a second medical school within BGU, the Medical School for International Health (MSIH), to prepare students to work both in medicine and in cross-cultural and international health and medicine (IHM). Methods used to establish and jointly run MSIH include (1) defining clearly the tasks of each university according to how it can best contribute to the new school; (2) establishing an organizational structure in each university for accomplishing these tasks; (3) establishing clear communication between the two organizational structures; (4) defining outcomes to measure success; and (5) developing methods for addressing management problems. CUMC's functions were admission, public relations, and the fourth-year elective program. BGU's functions were developing and running an innovative curriculum, including a four-year required track in IHM, evaluating students, taking the lead in helping students' with their personal problems, and managing financial aid. The first students were admitted in 1998. Variables reflecting MSIH's success include scores on the United States Medical Licensing Examination, residency placement, the attrition rate, and success in preparing students in IHM (e.g., success in learning cross-cultural medicine and the percentage of students who work in IHM). MSIH is running well and has solved its inter-university management problems. Its 85 graduates matched at very good to excellent U.S. hospitals and have learned and maintained enthusiasm for the IHM curriculum.

A new approach to developing cross-cultural communication skills.

The need for cross-cultural training (CCT) increases as physicians encounter more culturally diverse patients. However, most medical schools relegate this topic to non-clinical years, hindering skills development. Some residency programs have successfully addressed this deficit by teaching cross-cultural communication skills in a teaching objective structured clinical examination (tOSCE) context. The authors developed and evaluated a CCT workshop designed to teach cross-cultural communication skills to third-year medical students using a tOSCE approach. A 1 and 1/2-day workshop incorporating didactic, group discussion and tOSCE components taught medical students cross-cultural awareness, interviewing skills, working with an interpreter, attention to complementary treatments, and consideration of culture in treatment and prevention. Six standardized patient cases introduced various clinical scenarios and the practical and ethical aspects of cross-cultural care. Student evaluation of the workshop was positive concerning educational value, skills advancement and pertinence to their clinical activities. Survey of students before and after the workshop demonstrated improvement in students' abilities to assess the culture and health beliefs of patients and negotiate issues regarding treatment. CCT in the context of medical student clinical training can be carried out effectively and efficiently using a dedicated multi-modal workshop including standardized patients.

Evaluation of student attitudes and knowledge in a new program in international health and medicine.

Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in collaboration with Columbia University inaugurated a medical school in 1998, with the expressed purpose of training physicians in International Health and Medicine (IHM). The Beer-Sheva Survey of Attitudes and Knowledge in International Health and Medicine was given to the first graduating class and three control groups. The graduates of the new program retained their positive attitudes toward IHM and increased their knowledge of the subject. Further studies are necessary to document the effect of the program on the clinical practice of its graduates.