Acerca de las categorías docentes en el recién graduado y en el período de residencia / About the teaching categories in the recent graduate and in the period of residence

RESUMEN El Reglamento para la Aplicación de las Categorías Docentes de la Educación Superior puesto en vigor mediante la resolución No. 128 fue derogada por la No. 85 con fecha 17 de octubre de 2016, sin embargo en ambas no se reflejan algunas situaciones que requieren un análisis. El primer aspecto se refiere al seguimiento de los instructores no graduados una vez que culmina su carrera de cara a la categorización docente y en conformidad con el propósito de su formación como alumno ayudante. El segundo aspecto se refiere a los casos de especialistas de Medicina General Integral que obtienen su categoría docente de instructor u otra principal y cuando comienzan una segunda especialidad pasan al estado de "pasivo" hasta tanto concluyan la misma. Los autores abogan por la prioridad en la categorización docente a aquellos médicos que en su etapa estudiantil alcanzaron la distinción de instructor no graduado y no necesariamente esperar a que cumpla su posgraduado o culmine su residencia, pues en esta etapa hay clara evidencia de la vinculación fructífera con la docencia. No debería considerarse en "pasivo" a un médico en su etapa de especialización en Medicina General Integral o por vía directa en otra especialidad que hubiese alcanzado la condición de instructor no graduado y tampoco a un residente de segunda especialidad con categoría docente transitoria de instructor o principal. Nada más diferente a la pasividad en la docencia que la etapa de la residencia, los seis aspectos incluidos en la evaluación profesoral pueden ser cumplidos a cabalidad en esta etapa, en esa dirección se necesitaría vincularlos con el colectivo de la asignatura y de año. Los autores realizan algunas consideraciones acerca de la docencia ejercida por residentes en Cuba y en otros países, así como, algunas particularidades del proceso de categorización en otras latitudes (AU).

ABSTRACT The Rules of Procedure for the Application of the High Education Teaching Categories put into effect by Resolution No. 128 was repealed by the No. 85 on October 17, 2016, however, some situations that require an analysis are not reflected in both of them. The first aspect refers to the follow-up of non-graduated instructors once their studies ends in the face of teaching categorization and in accordance with the purpose of their training as an assistant student. The second aspect refers to the cases of Comprehensive General Medicine specialists who obtain their teaching status as instructor or other main status and when they start a second specialty they pass to the status of "passive" until they finish the last. The authors advocate for giving priority in the teaching categorization to those doctors who in their student stage achieved the distinction of non-graduated instructor and not necessarily wait for them to complete their postgraduate or end their residency, because in this stage there is clear evidence of the fruitful link with teaching. A doctor who was given the condition of non-graduated instructor should not be considered "passive" during the specialization in Comprehensive General Medicine nor in another specialization by direct way, neither a resident of a second specialty with a transient teaching category of instructor or principal. Nothing more different to passivity in teaching than the stage of residency; the six items included in the teacher evaluation can be adequately fulfilled in this stage; in that direction would be necessary to link the residents with the staff of the subject and year. The authors make some considerations on residents´ teaching in Cuba and in other countries, and also on some characteristic of the teaching categorization process in other places (AU).

Acerca de las categorías docentes en el recién graduado y en el período de residencia / About the teaching categories in the recent graduate and in the period of residence

RESUMEN El Reglamento para la Aplicación de las Categorías Docentes de la Educación Superior puesto en vigor mediante la resolución No. 128 fue derogada por la No. 85 con fecha 17 de octubre de 2016, sin embargo en ambas no se reflejan algunas situaciones que requieren un análisis. El primer aspecto se refiere al seguimiento de los instructores no graduados una vez que culmina su carrera de cara a la categorización docente y en conformidad con el propósito de su formación como alumno ayudante. El segundo aspecto se refiere a los casos de especialistas de Medicina General Integral que obtienen su categoría docente de instructor u otra principal y cuando comienzan una segunda especialidad pasan al estado de "pasivo" hasta tanto concluyan la misma. Los autores abogan por la prioridad en la categorización docente a aquellos médicos que en su etapa estudiantil alcanzaron la distinción de instructor no graduado y no necesariamente esperar a que cumpla su posgraduado o culmine su residencia, pues en esta etapa hay clara evidencia de la vinculación fructífera con la docencia. No debería considerarse en "pasivo" a un médico en su etapa de especialización en Medicina General Integral o por vía directa en otra especialidad que hubiese alcanzado la condición de instructor no graduado y tampoco a un residente de segunda especialidad con categoría docente transitoria de instructor o principal. Nada más diferente a la pasividad en la docencia que la etapa de la residencia, los seis aspectos incluidos en la evaluación profesoral pueden ser cumplidos a cabalidad en esta etapa, en esa dirección se necesitaría vincularlos con el colectivo de la asignatura y de año. Los autores realizan algunas consideraciones acerca de la docencia ejercida por residentes en Cuba y en otros países, así como, algunas particularidades del proceso de categorización en otras latitudes (AU).

ABSTRACT The Rules of Procedure for the Application of the High Education Teaching Categories put into effect by Resolution No. 128 was repealed by the No. 85 on October 17, 2016, however, some situations that require an analysis are not reflected in both of them. The first aspect refers to the follow-up of non-graduated instructors once their studies ends in the face of teaching categorization and in accordance with the purpose of their training as an assistant student. The second aspect refers to the cases of Comprehensive General Medicine specialists who obtain their teaching status as instructor or other main status and when they start a second specialty they pass to the status of "passive" until they finish the last. The authors advocate for giving priority in the teaching categorization to those doctors who in their student stage achieved the distinction of non-graduated instructor and not necessarily wait for them to complete their postgraduate or end their residency, because in this stage there is clear evidence of the fruitful link with teaching. A doctor who was given the condition of non-graduated instructor should not be considered "passive" during the specialization in Comprehensive General Medicine nor in another specialization by direct way, neither a resident of a second specialty with a transient teaching category of instructor or principal. Nothing more different to passivity in teaching than the stage of residency; the six items included in the teacher evaluation can be adequately fulfilled in this stage; in that direction would be necessary to link the residents with the staff of the subject and year. The authors make some considerations on residents´ teaching in Cuba and in other countries, and also on some characteristic of the teaching categorization process in other places (AU).

Validity of the Prescriber Information in the Danish National Prescription Registry.

The aim of this study was to measure the validity of the prescriber information recorded in the Danish National Prescription Registry (DNPR). The prescriber information recorded in the pharmacies' electronic dispensing system was considered to represent the prescriber information recorded in the DNPR. Further, the problem of validity of the prescriber information pertains only to non-electronic prescriptions, as these are manually entered into the dispensing system. The recorded prescriber information was thus validated against information from a total of 2000 non-electronic prescriptions at five Danish community pharmacies. The validity of the recorded prescriber information was measured at the level of the individual prescriber and the prescriber type, respectively. The proportion of non-electronic prescriptions with incorrect registrations was 22.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 20.6-24.3) when considering individual prescriber identifiers and 17.8% (95% CI: 16.1-19.5) when considering prescriber type. When excluding prescriptions specifically registered as 'missing prescriber identifier', the proportions decreased to 9.5% (95% CI: 8.2-11.0) and 4.1% (95% CI: 3.2-5.1), respectively. The positive predictive values for the classification of prescriber types were in the range of 94.0-99.2%, while the sensitivity ranged between 64.6% and 91.8%. With a maximum of 14% non-electronic prescriptions of all prescriptions in the DNPR in 2015, this corresponds to correct classification of prescriber types in the DNPR of at least 97.5%. In conclusion, the prescriber information in the DNPR was found to be valid, especially in recent years. Researchers should be aware of the low sensitivity towards prescriptions from private practicing specialists.

Burnout en médicos residentes / Burnout in medical residents

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A Quality Improvement Project to Improve Family Recognition of Medical Team Member Roles.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that inpatients and families in academic settings have a limited ability to recall either their medical team members or the roles of those members. This is an important issue for patient and family satisfaction as well as patient safety. The objective of this study was to increase families' recognition of medical team members' roles. METHODS: We established a multidisciplinary quality improvement leadership team, measured family recognition of medical team members and their roles, and conducted 2 PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles. The first intervention was standardization of the content and delivery of our verbal team introductions to ensure inclusion of essential elements and family engagement. The second intervention was addition of an informational white board in each patient room. The prospective study included 105 families in the preintervention phase, 103 post-PDSA cycle 1, and 92 post-PDSA cycle 2. RESULTS: After conduction of 2 PDSA cycles, the recognition of the attending role increased from 49% to 87% (P = .000), the resident role from 39% to 73% (P = .000), and the medical student from 75% to 89% (P = .038). CONCLUSIONS: The multidisciplinary quality improvement model was effective in improving family recognition of the roles of attending physicians, resident physicians, and medical students. Consistent attention to engaging the families and explaining our roles as well as providing informational white boards are effective interventions to facilitate this process.

Comparing mortality among adult, general intensive care units in England with varying intensivist cover patterns: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Research has demonstrated that intensivist-led care of the critically ill is associated with reduced intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a relation exists between intensivist cover pattern (for example, number of days of continuous cover) and patient outcomes among adult general ICUs in England. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by using data from a pooled case mix and outcome database of adult general critical care units participating in the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre (ICNARC) Case Mix Programme. Consecutive admissions to participating units for the years 2010 to 2011 were linked to a survey of intensivist cover practices. Our primary outcome of interest was mortality at ultimate discharge from acute-care hospital. RESULTS: The analysis included 80,122 patients admitted to 130 ICUs in 128 hospitals. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relation between intensivist cover patterns (days of continuous cover, grade of physician staffing at nighttime, and frequency of daily handovers) and acute hospital mortality, adjusting for patient case mix. No relation was seen between days of continuous cover by a single intensivist or grade of physician staffing at nighttime and acute hospital mortality. Acute hospital mortality and ICU length of stay were not associated with intensivist characteristics, intensivist full-time equivalents per bed, or years of clinical experience. Intensivist participation in handover was associated with increased mortality (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 1.55); however, only nine units reported no intensivist participation. CONCLUSIONS: We found no relation between days of continuous cover by a single intensivist or grade of physician staffing at nighttime and patient outcomes in adult, general ICUs in England. Intensivist participation in handover was associated with increased mortality; further research to confirm or refute this finding is required.

[Funktionsoberarzt. Pseudo-title or meaningful position?]. / Funktionsoberarzt. Pseudotitel oder sinnvolle Position?

The position of the Funktionsoberarzt ("functioning senior physician") is to date not specified. Nevertheless, in the majority of hospitals the position exists, although the function and responsibilities are not clearly defined. Frequently, it is thought that the position represents a consultant who works independently, but who is still supported by experienced colleagues to achieve the full qualification for a senior physician. In contrast, others indicate that the position represents a consultant who works as a senior physician with all responsibilities, but without an established post and without the corresponding reimbursement. A critical disadvantage of the position is that frequently the duties of both a resident and senior physician must be managed. Rotation between the two functions results in a higher workload, and the lack of identity and acceptance may lead to frustration. Therefore, we feel that the position is only meaningful if the Funktionsoberarzt works exclusively as a senior physician who is supported for complex surgeries and decisions by more experienced colleagues. In addition, the position should only be temporary and the time period for the position should be defined in advance.

[Short-term prognostication of recently admitted patients to internal medicine wards by the staff].

BACKGROUND: The "dying patient" law in Israel deals with end- of-life decisions. AIM: This prospective study evaluates the ability of internal medicine staff to assess the short-term prognosis of recently admitted patients. METHODS: During the period November 1st 2008 until January 6th 2009, the staff of the internal medicine wards received questionnaires regarding their recently admitted patients (up to 72 hours from the time of admission). The questionnaires included thestaff member's role assessment of each patient's prognosis for the next two weeks. Later, charts of the patients were examined for demographic data and outcome. RESULTS: Questionnaires regarding 599 patients were completed. The outcome was validated in 466 of these patients. Nurse's filled in 259 questionnaires, residents at early stage (before the first residency exam) completed 437, senior residents (after this exam] filled in 75 and senior/attending physicians filled in 329 patients' questionnaires. Overall, 69, patients died within 14 days. The sensitivity of assessment of short-term prognosis was low (0.38) but the specificity was very high (0.95). The positive predictive value was 0.61. Among physicians, the positive predictive value increased with seniority, but nurses had the highest positive predictive value scores (0.73). The negative predictive value was 0.89 without significant differences among the 4 studied groups. CONCLUSIONS: Internal medicine staff has limited capacity to accurately assess short-term prognosis of recently admitted patients.

Smoking habits among Israeli hospital doctors: a survey and historical review.

BACKGROUND: Smoking is a serious health issue worldwide. Smoking trends among physicians predict similar trends in the general population. Little is known about current smoking rates among physicians. OBJECTIVES: To investigate current smoking trends a Israeli physicians. METHODS: All practicing physicians at a tertiary university-affiliated medical center in central Israel were invited to complete a Web-based questionnaire on smoking habits and smoking-related issues via the institutional email. Findings were compared to those in the general population and between subgroups. RESULTS: Of the 90 responders (53 male, 88 Jewish), 54 (60%) had never smoked, 21 (23.3%) were past smokers, and 15 (16.7%) were current smokers. The rate of current smokers was lower than in the general population. The proportion of current smokers was higher among residents than attending physicians and among physicians in surgical compared to medical specialties. Past smokers accounted for 17.9% of the residents (average age at quitting 26.2 years) and 28.1% of the attending hysicians (average age at quitting 33.0 years). Non-smokers more frequently supported harsh anti-smoking legislation. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of smoking is lower in physicians than in the general population but has not changed over the last 15 years. Anti-smoking programs should particularly target physicians in surgical specialties.

Sick leave in the emergency department: staff attitudes and the impact of job designation and psychosocial work conditions.

AIM: To examine patterns of, and attitudes to, sick leave taken by ED and other hospital staff and to compare ED doctor and nurse psychosocial work conditions. METHODS: This was an observational study in a tertiary referral ED. An audit of sick leave taken over a 2-year period (2007-2008) by all ED, general medicine (GM) and pharmacy pay groups was undertaken. This was followed by a cross-sectional survey of ED staff. It evaluated attitudes towards sick leave and used the Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire to assess psychosocial work conditions. RESULTS: Overall, sick leave taken by the various staff groups differed significantly (P < 0.01). The ED and GM nurse rates (6.0% and 5.9%, respectively) were approximately twice that of pharmacists (3.3%) and ED allied health staff (3.1%) and more than three times that of all doctor groups (range 1.3-1.9%). ED registrars and nurses tended to take more leave on Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, respectively. These groups also tended to take more leave in winter/early summer and autumn/spring, respectively. In total, 147 (93.0%, 95% CI 87.6-96.0) ED staff rarely/never took sick leave without being sick. However, 15 (9.5%, 95% CI 5.6-15.5) often/very often took sick leave because of work stress. Compared with ED nurses, ED doctors had significantly more job insecurity and supervisor support but less psychological job demand (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Emergency department staff generally report healthy psychosocial work conditions. However, the high rate of ED nurse sick leave might be related to their considerable psychological job demand and perceived lack of supervisor support.

Perceptions and attitudes of clinicians in Spain toward clinical practice guidelines and grading systems: a protocol for a qualitative study and a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have become a very popular tool for decision making in healthcare. While there is some evidence that CPGs improve outcomes, there are numerous factors that influence their acceptability and use by healthcare providers. While evidence of clinicians' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes toward CPGs is extensive, results are still disperse and not conclusive. Our study will evaluate these issues in a large and representative sample of clinicians in Spain. METHODS/DESIGN: A mixed-method design combining qualitative and quantitative research techniques will evaluate general practitioners (GPs) and hospital-based specialists in Spain with the objective of exploring attitudes and perceptions about CPGs and evidence grading systems. The project will consist of two phases: during the first phase, group discussions will be carried out to gain insight into perceptions and attitudes of the participants, and during the second phase, this information will be completed by means of a survey, reaching a greater number of clinicians. We will explore these issues in GPs and hospital-based practitioners, with or without previous experience in guideline development. DISCUSSION: Our study will identify and gain insight into the perceived problems and barriers of Spanish practitioners in relation to guideline knowledge and use. The study will also explore beliefs and attitudes of clinicians towards CPGs and evidence grading systems used to rate the quality of the evidence and the strength of recommendations. Our results will provide guidance to healthcare researchers and healthcare decision makers to improve the use of guidelines in Spain and elsewhere.

Workplace bullying of junior doctors: cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

AIM: Workplace bullying is a growing concern amongst health professionals. Our aim was to explore the frequency, nature, and extent of workplace bullying in an Auckland Hospital (Auckland, New Zealand). METHOD: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of house officers and registrars at a tertiary hospital was conducted. RESULTS: There was an overall response rate of 33% (123/373). 50% of responders reported experiencing at least one episode of bullying behaviour. The largest source of workplace bullying was consultants and nurses in equal frequency. The most common bullying behaviour was unjustified criticism. Only 18% of respondents had made a formal complaint. CONCLUSION: Workplace bullying is a significant issue with junior doctors. We recommend education about unacceptable behaviours and the development of improved complaint processes.