Evaluating the impact of a national geriatric mental health ECHO educational program on healthcare providers' practice.

Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) enables healthcare providers to share knowledge and best practices via telementoring. The ECHO model builds provider capacity and improves care for patients with a variety of health conditions. This study describes a Canada-wide National ECHO pilot project in the area of geriatric mental health and reports on the program's impact on providers' care practices. A mixed-methods approach was used to analyze surveys completed by participating healthcare providers. Program evaluation measured satisfaction, achievement of learning objectives, awareness of issues related to geriatric mental health, and comfort and self-efficacy working with older adults. The program led to a statistically significant increase in participants' awareness of issues related to support for older adults with mental illness and comfort and self-efficacy in managing these patients in their own practice. The National ECHO pilot project was successful in building healthcare providers' capacity to care for older adults with mental health issues and positively impacting their practice. These findings support using the ECHO model to provide ongoing geriatric mental health education for clinicians from across Canada and beyond.

A Social Media Quality Review of Popular Sinusitis Videos on TikTok.

OBJECTIVE: Social media may inform health care decisions among younger patient populations. TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to post short-form videos. This study aimed to assess the quality of sinusitis-related videos on TikTok. STUDY DESIGN: We searched TikTok on January 29, 2023, for sinusitis-related hashtags: #sinusitis, #sinus, #sinusinfection. SETTING: Internet. METHODS: The number of views/shares per day, uploader type (nonmedical influencer, lay individual, and medical professional) content categories (medical advice, marketing, comedy, and lifestyle/acceptability), and content type (educational vs factual) were collected. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Material and Journal of the American Medical Association criteria score was used to measure understandability, actionability, and reliability. The Global Quality Scale (GQS) was used to evaluate the quality of videos; the harm/benefit score was used to evaluate causative effects. Analyses were performed using analysis of variance (α = .05). RESULTS: There were 221 videos identified, which garnered over 300 million views and 1 million shares. Almost half of the videos were published by nonmedical influencers. When controlling for covariates, nonmedical influencers and lay uploaders were more likely to have harmful harm/benefit scores, less understandable videos, and lower GQS scores compared to medical professionals. Less than half of videos posted by nonmedical influencers categorized as educational were factual (46.7%); lay individuals and medical professionals had higher rates of factual educational content (79.9% and 83.7%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Most nonmedical influencer-posted TikTok videos about sinusitis are inaccurate, despite being portrayed as medical advice/educational. Rhinologists must find modern ways to disseminate true disease-related content via social media to combat medical misinformation.

Telehealth Education in Allied Health Care and Nursing: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey of Student's Perceived Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Experience.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the growing relevance of telehealth in health care. Assessing health care and nursing students' telehealth competencies is crucial for its successful integration into education and practice. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess students' perceived telehealth knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences. In addition, we aimed to examine students' preferences for telehealth content and teaching methods within their curricula. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based study in May 2022. A project-specific questionnaire, developed and refined through iterative feedback and face-validity testing, addressed topics such as demographics, personal perceptions, and professional experience with telehealth and solicited input on potential telehealth course content. Statistical analyses were conducted on surveys with at least a 50% completion rate, including descriptive statistics of categorical variables, graphical representation of results, and Kruskal Wallis tests for central tendencies in subgroup analyses. RESULTS: A total of 261 students from 7 bachelor's and 4 master's health care and nursing programs participated in the study. Most students expressed interest in telehealth (180/261, 69% very or rather interested) and recognized its importance in their education (215/261, 82.4% very or rather important). However, most participants reported limited knowledge of telehealth applications concerning their profession (only 7/261, 2.7% stated profound knowledge) and limited active telehealth experience with various telehealth applications (between 18/261, 6.9% and 63/261, 24.1%). Statistically significant differences were found between study programs regarding telehealth interest (P=.005), knowledge (P<.001), perceived importance in education (P<.001), and perceived relevance after the pandemic (P=.004). Practical training with devices, software, and apps and telehealth case examples with various patient groups were perceived as most important for integration in future curricula. Most students preferred both interdisciplinary and program-specific courses. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the need to integrate telehealth into health care education curricula, as students state positive telehealth attitudes but seem to be not adequately prepared for its implementation. To optimally prepare future health professionals for the increasing role of telehealth in practice, the results of this study can be considered when designing telehealth curricula.

The Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality-Assisted Experiential Learning on Enhancing Empathy in Undergraduate Health Care Students Toward Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: Multiple-Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Immersive virtual reality (IVR)-assisted experiential learning has the potential to foster empathy among undergraduate health care students toward older adults with cognitive impairment by facilitating a sense of embodiment. However, the extent of its effectiveness, including enhancing students' learning experiences and achieving intended learning outcomes, remains underexplored. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the impacts of IVR-assisted experiential learning on the empathy of undergraduate health care students toward older people with cognitive impairment as the primary outcome (objective 1) and on their learning experience (objective 2) and their attainment of learning outcomes as the secondary outcomes (objective 3). METHODS: A multiple-methods design was used, which included surveys, focus groups, and a review of the students' group assignments. Survey data were summarized using descriptive statistics, whereas paired 2-tailed t tests were used to evaluate differences in empathy scores before and after the 2-hour IVR tutorial (objective 1). Focus groups were conducted to evaluate the impacts of IVR-assisted experiential learning on the empathy of undergraduate health care students toward older people with cognitive impairment (objective 1). Descriptive statistics obtained from surveys and thematic analyses of focus groups were used to explore the students' learning experiences (objective 2). Thematic analysis of group assignments was conducted to identify learning outcomes (objective 3). RESULTS: A total of 367 undergraduate nursing and occupational therapy students were recruited via convenience sampling. There was a significant increase in the students' empathy scores, measured using the Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale, from 78.06 (SD 7.72) before to 81.17 (SD 8.93) after (P<.001). Students expressed high satisfaction with the IVR learning innovation, with a high satisfaction mean score of 20.68 (SD 2.55) and a high self-confidence mean score of 32.04 (SD 3.52) on the Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence scale. Students exhibited a good sense of presence in the IVR learning environment, as reflected in the scores for adaptation (41.30, SD 6.03), interface quality (11.36, SD 3.70), involvement (62.00, SD 9.47), and sensory fidelity (31.47, SD 5.23) on the Presence Questionnaire version 2.0. In total, 3 major themes were identified from the focus groups, which involved 23 nursing students: enhanced sympathy toward older adults with cognitive impairment, improved engagement in IVR learning, and confidence in understanding the key concepts through the learning process. These themes supplement and align with the survey results. The analysis of the written assignments revealed that students attained the learning outcomes of understanding the challenges faced by older adults with cognitive impairment, the importance of providing person-centered care, and the need for an age-friendly society. CONCLUSIONS: IVR-assisted experiential learning enhances students' knowledge and empathy in caring for older adults with cognitive impairment. These findings suggest that IVR can be a valuable tool in professional health care education.

"Being in the digital box". Academic staff experiences in online practical teaching: A qualitative study from six universities and countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused radical changes in education, as in everything else, bringing many challenges. Despite all the difficulties, the COVID-19 pandemic has enormous opportunities for online teaching and the use of digital technologies. A comprehensive understanding of this period is needed to investigate these opportunities. Thus, this study aims to explore the academic staff's experiences of online teaching and the use of digital technologies in practical skills-based courses in health care education. This study was conducted at six universities from six countries (Türkiye, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania). Data were collected between June 17, 2021 and November 30, 2021 via a focus group with an in-depth interview technique. 22 focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 117 participants. Colaizzi's method was used to evaluate the data to discover, comprehend, and define the experiences of academic staff. The analysis of the interview data resulted in 6 themes, 25 subthemes and 56 categories that captured participants' experiences regarding online teaching of practical skills and using digital technologies in health care education. The findings of the study provide crucial information that will help online teaching and digital technology for practical skills be successfully integrated.

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: Instructional Strategies to Support Student Success.

Over the past several years, the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has contributed to challenging working and life conditions. As a result, the midwifery and health care workforce has faced significant shortages due to burnout. Increased societal awareness of historical trauma and systemic racism embedded within US culture has also led to increased anxiety and signs of trauma among midwifery and health profession students. Now more than ever, innovative teaching strategies are needed to support students, reduce the risks of burnout, and increase diversity in the workforce. One strategy is to adopt a trauma-informed pedagogy within midwifery education. Trauma-informed pedagogy is founded on core assumptions of trauma-informed care and thus supports student success by recognizing that the student cannot be separated from their own life experiences. Faculty and preceptors can develop empathetic, flexible supports that communicate care and concern regarding students' personal and social situations, and emotions. Empathetic behavior from teachers also increases student learning motivation, making it easier for students to actively engage in learning thereby reducing their distress. The purpose of this State of the Science review, therefore, was to describe the literature surrounding trauma-informed pedagogy and to offer concrete educational strategies that faculty members and educational programs can employ to increase the success of a diverse student body. This can be accomplished through flexibility in curriculum design and outcome measurement to ensure attainment of end of program learning outcomes. Institutional and administrative support are essential to develop a faculty who realize the benefit and value of trauma-informed pedagogy underpinning student success.

An Introduction to Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Excellence in Nurse Education: Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: The diversity of the world's population is increasing, along with the health inequities of underrepresented minority populations. To provide high-quality care to all patients, nurses require an understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as how to implement best practices. Nurse educators are the ones to lead the way for DEI education for students. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to describe the findings of a literature review that introduces DEI concepts for excellence in nurse education and their related benefits. Best practices for actions to address DEI in nursing education will be described. METHODS: After institutional review board approval, a literature search yielded 61 articles using 15 distinct keywords in 4 global, peer-reviewed literature databases. Melynk and Fineout-Overholt's (2023) Levels of Evidence guided the process of selecting 26 peer-reviewed articles and resources. RESULTS: Common themes for best practices in DEI were identified. These themes included recruiting underrepresented minority nursing faculty, incorporating DEI into an institution's mission statement, addressing DEI topics in curricula, providing leadership, having a DEI strategic plan, developing education, developing data-based interventions, instilling policy change, partnering in outreach, targeting impact on hiring committees, recognizing DEI work, and providing mentorship. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this literature review provides several strategies to address DEI for nurse educators. Committing to DEI efforts and improving diversity in the nurse educator workforce are integral steps in improving the quality and inclusivity of nursing education and ultimately improving the health of our communities.

July 2021 civil unrest: South African diagnostic radiography students' experiences.

Background: South Africa (SA), in 2021, experienced a wave of civil unrest following political events that led to mass looting and the destruction of property. Civil unrests, among other disruptions, have been seen to cause ripple effects on healthcare education, particularly for radiography students who undergo work integrated learning within hospitals and universities, even during these times of unrest. Aim: This study aimed to explore and describe the undergraduate diagnostic radiography students' experience of the civil unrest that occurred in SA in 2021. Setting: The study was conducted across five universities in South Africa, offering the diagnostic radiography programme. Methods: A qualitative, interpretive phenomenological design was employed as it enabled the researchers to facilitate focus group interviews to gain insight into the lived experiences of the students during this time. Results: Four themes emerged from the study data, namely: (1) Negative effects on students' emotional and psychological well-being, (2) Academic and clinical support mechanisms during disruptions, (3) The influence of disruptions on clinical training, (4) Recommendations to support students for future disruptions. Conclusion: The participants from this study described the negative effects that the civil unrest had on their emotional and mental well-being. There is a need for increased support mechanisms during times of disruptions from universities across South Africa. Contribution: The findings highlight the ripple effects that disruptions, such as civil unrests, have on radiography students. This can assist universities to relook at their institutional support structures, in order to enhance the current support given to students across universities in times of disruptions.

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City.

More than 155,000 New Yorkers were trained in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) between 2016 and 2020. Free citywide trainings were made available to all New Yorkers and were disseminated through city agencies and community-based settings. RAND Corporation researchers conducted a mixed-methods study that included a web-based survey of past trainees and a series of focus groups with leaders of community-based organizations and city agency staff to assess the impact of the MHFA trainings and needs for future training. In this article, the authors describe the evaluation activities that took place; the methods behind them; and the results at the individual, agency, and community levels. They also offer recommendations for ways to improve future mental health education efforts. Respondents applied MHFA skills extensively and broadly across their social networks. Nine in ten respondents had contact with an individual with a mental health problem in the past six months. Among those who had contact, 84 percent indicated using their MHFA skills to help a friend or family member, and nearly half reported applying skills with a co-worker, neighbor, or acquaintance. Because MHFA was offered through city agency workplaces and community-based settings, tens of thousands of New Yorkers were given tools to come to the aid of individuals in their personal and professional lives. MHFA may be a promising approach to building supportive social networks, organizations, and communities that are primed to recognize and assist those experiencing mental health challenges.

Relationship Between Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, and Age.

PURPOSE: To explore the relationship between resilience, emotional intelligence (EI), and age in students enrolled in health care professional programs. METHODS: Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants by posting a survey link in health care courses at a midsized southeastern public university in the United States. The survey included 5 demographic questions, the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test, and the Brief Resilience Scale. A multiple linear regression model was conducted to examine the relationship between age, EI, and resilience. RESULTS: A total of 199 students participated in the study, consisting of 178 females (89.4%) and 21 males (10.6%). The collective study findings indicated a significant predictive relationship among EI, age, and resilience. The multiple linear regression findings were significant (F 2,194 = 58.48, P < .001, and R 2 = 0.376), suggesting a predictive relationship among EI, age, and resilience. The coefficient of determination, R 2, indicated that approximately 37.6% of the variance in resilience was explained by EI and age. DISCUSSION: The shortage in the health care workforce combined with increasing reports of burnout and attrition among workers emphasizes the critical role of education programs in preparing future health care professionals. Understanding the effect of EI and age on levels of resilience might help educators develop collaborative interventions. Educators should consider incorporating EI skills development in the curriculum to influence positive retention and clinical experiences for health care students that translate to their careers in the health care profession. CONCLUSION: The significant predictive relationship of EI and age with resilience offers insight into the possible solution of increasing resilience skills by integrating EI in the curriculum.

Artificial Intelligence Versus Human-Controlled Doctor in Virtual Reality Simulation for Sepsis Team Training: Randomized Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional communication is needed to enhance the early recognition and management of patients with sepsis. Preparing medical and nursing students using virtual reality simulation has been shown to be an effective learning approach for sepsis team training. However, its scalability is constrained by unequal cohort sizes between medical and nursing students. An artificial intelligence (AI) medical team member can be implemented in a virtual reality simulation to engage nursing students in sepsis team training. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an AI-powered doctor versus a human-controlled doctor in training nursing students for sepsis care and interprofessional communication. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial study was conducted with 64 nursing students who were randomly assigned to undertake sepsis team training with an AI-powered doctor (AI-powered group) or with medical students using virtual reality simulation (human-controlled group). Participants from both groups were tested on their sepsis and communication performance through simulation-based assessments (posttest). Participants' sepsis knowledge and self-efficacy in interprofessional communication were also evaluated before and after the study interventions. RESULTS: A total of 32 nursing students from each group completed the simulation-based assessment, sepsis and communication knowledge test, and self-efficacy questionnaire. Compared with the baseline scores, both the AI-powered and human-controlled groups demonstrated significant improvements in communication knowledge (P=.001) and self-efficacy in interprofessional communication (P<.001) in posttest scores. For sepsis care knowledge, a significant improvement in sepsis care knowledge from the baseline was observed in the AI-powered group (P<.001) but not in the human-controlled group (P=.16). Although no significant differences were found in sepsis care performance between the groups (AI-powered group: mean 13.63, SD 4.23, vs human-controlled group: mean 12.75, SD 3.85, P=.39), the AI-powered group (mean 9.06, SD 1.78) had statistically significantly higher sepsis posttest knowledge scores (P=.009) than the human-controlled group (mean 7.75, SD 2.08). No significant differences were found in interprofessional communication performance between the 2 groups (AI-powered group: mean 29.34, SD 8.37, vs human-controlled group: mean 27.06, SD 5.69, P=.21). However, the human-controlled group (mean 69.6, SD 14.4) reported a significantly higher level of self-efficacy in interprofessional communication (P=.008) than the AI-powered group (mean 60.1, SD 13.3). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that AI-powered doctors are not inferior to human-controlled virtual reality simulations with respect to sepsis care and interprofessional communication performance, which supports the viability of implementing AI-powered doctors to achieve scalability in sepsis team training. Our findings also suggested that future innovations should focus on the sociability of AI-powered doctors to enhance users' interprofessional communication training. Perhaps in the nearer term, future studies should examine how to best blend AI-powered training with human-controlled virtual reality simulation to optimize clinical performance in sepsis care and interprofessional communication. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05953441; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05953441.

People's knowledge, attitudes, practice, and healthcare education demand regarding OSA: a cross-sectional study among Chinese general populations.

Background: Population knowledge and attitudes toward obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome are critical to public health initiatives to overcome the disease. Healthcare education is an appropriate approach to expediting the process to build active medical practice models in the public. Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding OSA and healthcare education demand among the Chinese general population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed online via Wenjuanxing in China between 8 February and 8 March 2022, using a 34-item questionnaire designed and reviewed by multidisciplinary experts. Results: This study enrolled 1507 respondents, aged 18 to 68, with a city-to-countryside ratio of approximately 2:1. Four-fifths of respondents reported that they had children (n = 1237), and mothers accounted for 57.7%. If they or their children had symptoms of OSA, nearly nine in 10 respondents would undertake positive medical practices, especially parents. A total of 89.4% of the respondents reported a desire to receive healthcare education through the new multimedia approach, and most were concerned about the etiology of OSA. Conclusion: The current study indicated that even the higher educated and urban populations in China had insufficient knowledge about positive attitudes toward and practices regarding OSA, indicating an urgent demand for healthcare education. A special emphasis should be placed on appropriating population demand for healthcare education and promoting the benefits of active medical practice models in sleep medicine.

Female authorship trends in the field of colorectal surgery: A retrospective bibliometric study.

Background: Gender disparity and hidden discrimination remained in the surgical subspecialties. This study aimed to explore the authorship gender composition in four high-impact colorectal surgery journals over the past two decades. Method: This cross-sectional study queried the Web of Science Core Collection database and PubMed (MEDLINE) for articles published in four high-impact colorectal surgery specialty journals between 2000 and 2021 (Database accessed at July 2022). Extracted data included authors' full names, institutions, year of publication and total citation numbers. Authors' genders were assigned via gendrize.io, a third-party name predictor tool. Results: 100,325 authorship records were included in the final analysis. 21.8% of writers were identified as female, an increase from 11.4% (95% CI, 9.4%-13.3%) in 2000 to 26.5% (95% CI, 25.6%-27.4%) in 2021. Female authorship has risen in all authorship types, but women physicians were less likely to be the last authors than the first (OR, 0.63; 95%CI, 0.6-0.67) or middle authors (OR, 0.57; 95%CI, 0.55-0.60). Female authorship has also increased substantially in different document types, but female authorships were less likely in editorials than original articles (OR, 0.76; 95%CI, 0.7-0.83) and reviews (OR, 0.83; 95%CI, 0.74-0.94). Compared with male physicians, females were more likely to author in publications with reportable funding, either as first authors (OR, 1.46; 95%CI, 1.12-1.78) or last authors (OR, 1.51; 95%CI, 1.22-1.89). Authorship varied geographically, and countries with the highest female authorship percentage were mainly in Europe and North America. Conclusion: Female authorship has grown substantially in colorectal surgery literature. However, female physicians were still underrepresented and less likely to assume senior or leading authorship roles.

Introduction to the Coproduction of Supervision Standards for Digital Peer Support: Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Digital peer support enhances engagement in mental and physical health services despite barriers such as location, transportation, and other accessibility constraints. Digital peer support involves live or automated peer support services delivered through technology media such as peer-to-peer networks, smartphone apps, and asynchronous and synchronous technologies. Supervision standards for digital peer support can determine important administrative, educative, and supportive guidelines for supervisors to maintain the practice of competent digital peer support, develop knowledgeable and skilled digital peer support specialists, clarify the role and responsibility of digital peer support specialists, and support specialists in both an emotional and developmental capacity. OBJECTIVE: Although digital peer support has expanded recently, there are no formal digital supervision standards. The aim of this study is to inform the development of supervision standards for digital peer support and introduce guidelines that supervisors can use to support, guide, and develop competencies in digital peer support specialists. METHODS: Peer support specialists that currently offer digital peer support services were recruited via an international email listserv of 1500 peer support specialists. Four 1-hour focus groups, with a total of 59 participants, took place in October 2020. Researchers used Rapid and Rigorous Qualitative Data Analysis methods. Researchers presented data transcripts to focus group participants for feedback and to determine if the researcher's interpretation of the data match their intended meanings. RESULTS: We identified 51 codes and 11 themes related to the development of supervision standards for digital peer support. Themes included (1) education on technology competency (43/197, 21.8%), (2) education on privacy, security, and confidentiality in digital devices and platforms (33/197, 16.8%), (3) education on peer support competencies and how they relate to digital peer support (25/197, 12.7%), (4) administrative guidelines (21/197, 10.7%), (5) education on the digital delivery of peer support (18/197, 9.1%), (6) education on technology access (17/197, 8.6%), (7) supervisor support of work-life balance (17/197, 8.6%), (8) emotional support (9/197, 4.6%), (9) administrative documentation (6/197, 3%), (10) education on suicide and crisis intervention (5/197, 2.5%), and (11) feedback (3/197, 1.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Currently, supervision standards from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for in-person peer support include administrative, educative, and supportive functions. However, digital peer support has necessitated supervision standard subthemes such as education on technology and privacy, support of work-life balance, and emotional support. Lack of digital supervision standards may lead to a breach in ethics and confidentiality, workforce stress, loss of productivity, loss of boundaries, and ineffectively serving users who participate in digital peer support services. Digital peer support specialists require specific knowledge and skills to communicate with service users and deliver peer support effectively, while supervisors require new knowledge and skills to effectively develop, support, and manage the digital peer support role.

Disability competency training in medical education.

PURPOSE: Lack of health care providers' knowledge about the experience and needs of individuals with disabilities contribute to health care disparities experienced by people with disabilities. Using the Core Competencies on Disability for Health Care Education, this mixed methods study aimed to explore the extent the Core Competencies are addressed in medical education programs and the facilitators and barriers to expanding curricular integration. METHOD: Mixed-methods design with an online survey and individual qualitative interviews was used. An online survey was distributed to U.S. medical schools. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted via Zoom with five key informants. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Fourteen medical schools responded to the survey. Many schools reported addressing most of the Core Competencies. The extent of disability competency training varied across medical programs with the majority showing limited opportunities for in depth understanding of disability. Most schools had some, although limited, engagement with people with disabilities. Having faculty champions was the most frequent facilitator and lack of time in the curriculum was the most significant barrier to integrating more learning activities. Qualitative interviews provided more insight on the influence of the curricular structure and time and the importance of faculty champion and resources. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the need for better integration of disability competency training woven throughout medical school curriculum to encourage in-depth understanding about disability. Formal inclusion of the Core Competencies into the Liaison Committee on Medical Education standards can help ensure that disability competency training does not rely on champions or resources.

Patient-embodied virtual reality as a learning tool for therapeutic communication skills among anaesthesiologists: A phenomenological study.

OBJECTIVE: In medicine, especially in a preoperative setting, training of effective communication skills is challenging, since communication is often implicatively copied from professional environment. This phenomenological study describes the development and experience of two patient-embodied virtual reality experiences designed to be used as an educational tool. METHOD: Two patient-embodied VR experiences from a first person patient perspective deployed negative or positive communication styles. The authors investigated the lived learning experiences of these VR tools through semi-structured interviews with ten anaesthesiologists adapting a thematic analysis framework. RESULTS: Interviews revealed acknowledgement of the importance of good communication skills. Overall, participants learned and adapted their style of communication 'on the job'. Patient-embodied VR was effective for a full immersive experience as participants expressed to have felt as if they had been a patient. They were able to distinguish differences in communication styles and analysis of the reflection showed a shift in perception, implying effective immersive experimental learning. CONCLUSIONS: This study elaborated the potency of experimental learning with VR in communication in a preoperative setting. Patient-embodied VR can influence beliefs and values and demonstrated effective as an educative tool. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The findings of this study can contribute to further research and healthcare education programs avid to use immersive learning with VR.

Narrative-based learning for person-centred healthcare: the Caring Stories learning framework.

This paper describes the learning framework for an innovative narrative-based training platform for healthcare professionals based on older patients' narratives. The aim of Caring Stories is to place patients' desires and needs at the heart of healthcare and by doing so to promote person-centred care (PCC). It is argued that this narrative-based approach to training in healthcare education will provide professionals from different fields with competencies to better understand how to interpret the lifeworlds of older people, as well as facilitate better communication and navigation through increasingly complex care trajectories. The spiral learning framework supports narrative-based training to be accessible to a broad range of healthcare practitioners. We suggest this is a theoretically sophisticated methodology for training diverse healthcare professionals in PCC, alongside core tenets of narrative medicine, with applicability beyond the patient group it was designed for. The learning framework takes into account professionals' mindsets and draws on the epistemic tenets of pragmatism to support interprofessional education. Being informed by narrative pedagogy, narrative inquiry, and expansive learning and transformative learning theories, ensures that a robust pedagogical foundation underpins the learning framework. The paper sets out the conceptual ideas about narrative that we argue should be more widely understood in the broad body of work that draws on patient narratives in healthcare education, alongside the learning theories that best support this framing of narrative. We suggest that this conceptual framework has value with respect to helping to disseminate the ways in which narrative is most usefully conceptualised in healthcare education when we seek to foster routes to bring practitioners closer to the lifeworlds of their patients. This conceptual framework is therefore generic with respect to being a synthesis of the critical orientations to narrative that are important in healthcare education, then adaptable to different contexts with different patient narratives.

How a GI Fellow Found a Following: Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Education and Fun.

Over the past fifteen years, social media has become a central part of nearly all aspects of society, including the broad field of healthcare. Over the past two years, I (the author) have created a social media platform on which I have produced video content that educates and entertains about numerous issues in healthcare and medicine. These videos have gained popularity, enabling me to develop a following of over 1 million people. With this social media platform, I have been able to educate both patients and medical trainees, dispel medical misinformation, and display a more human side of physicians in order to help patients and other healthcare workers gain a new, positive perspective on healthcare. Since users of social media typically have a limited attention span, education using social media can be challenging, though it can also be empowering since its reach can be far more extensive than what physicians typically experience in a clinical setting. Since the growing presence of social media can no longer be ignored by physicians and other healthcare professionals, it is imperative that it is understood as the powerful tool that it is for patient education and wellness.

What makes a 'good doctor'? A critical discourse analysis of perspectives from medical students with lived experience as patients.

What constitutes a 'good doctor' varies widely across groups and contexts. While patients prioritise communication and empathy, physicians emphasise medical expertise, and medical students describe a combination of the two as professional ideals. We explored the conceptions of the 'good doctor' held by medical learners with chronic illnesses or disabilities who self-identify as patients to understand how their learning as both patients and future physicians aligns with existing medical school curricula. We conducted 10 semistructured interviews with medical students with self-reported chronic illness or disability and who self-identified as patients. We used critical discourse analysis to code for dimensions of the 'good doctor'. In turn, using concepts of Bakhtinian intersubjectivity and the hidden curriculum we explored how these discourses related to student experiences with formal and informal curricular content.According to participants, dimensions of the 'good doctor' included empathy, communication, attention to illness impact and boundary-setting to separate self from patients. Students reported that formal teaching on empathy and illness impact were present in the formal curriculum, however ultimately devalued through day-to-day interactions with faculty and peers. Importantly, teaching on boundary-setting was absent from the formal curriculum, however participants independently developed reflective practices to cultivate these skills. Moreover, we identified two operating discourses of the 'good doctor': an institutionalised discourse of the 'able doctor' and a counterdiscourse of the 'doctor with lived experience' which created a space for reframing experiences with illness and disability as a source of expertise rather than a source of stigma. Perspectives on the 'good doctor' carry important implications for how we define professional roles, and hold profound consequences for medical school admissions, curricular teaching and licensure. Medical students with lived experiences of illness and disability offer critical insights about curricular messages of the 'good doctor' based on their experiences as patients, providing important considerations for curriculum and faculty development.