Success stories: exploring perceptions of former fellows of a global faculty development program for health professions educators.

BACKGROUND: Faculty development programs (FDPs) in health professions education (HPE) are instrumental in supporting, promoting, and improving HPE curricula and activities that target individual- and system-level capacity strengthening. FAIMER, a division of Intealth, has been offering FDPs for global health professions educators in HPE and leadership for over two decades through the International FAIMER Institute in the USA and FAIMER Regional Institutes located globally. This paper explores perceptions of former program participants (Fellows) of FAIMER global FDPs by eliciting their success stories. METHODS: The study utilized a modified Success Case Method approach. Study participants recruited were 14 FAIMER Fellows nominated as exemplars of success cases by program directors and faculty members from seven global sites, using extreme case sampling technique. Of the 14 Fellows, two were from Africa, nine from Asia and three from Latin America. In-depth interviews were conducted with each Fellow to understand their self-perceived success, and factors from both their local context and FAIMER's FDPs that have contributed to their success. Theoretical thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The top three areas of success perceived by Fellows were career advancement & recognition, professional development, and advancement of HPE. Fellows identified both institutional-level factors and personal attributes as contributing to their success. They also reported that FAIMER global FDPs have substantially contributed to their success by expanding professional networks, fostering academic achievement, and enhancing interpersonal development and leadership skills. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that Fellows perceive that there are multiple pathways for them to succeed in advancing the field of HPE. The Fellows' stories highlight the continuing value of FAIMER global FDPs for HPE educators worldwide in professional development and leadership. The study also proposes recommendations for enhancing faculty development activities in HPE.

Segmental Limb Length Measurements in Term Neonates From Southern India.

OBJECTIVE: To develop gender and gestational age-specific reference standards for segmental limb lengths in term neonates. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Tamil Nadu from June, 2019 to October, 2020. Term neonates were included through convenient sampling. Segmental length of upper and lower limbs was measured using non-stretchable steel measuring tape and total body length was measured with infantometer. Gestational age-specific mean length of all limb segments and segmental index with reference to total body length were calculated. RESULTS: 950 term neonates were recruited. Their mean (SD) birth weight (kg) was 2.98 (0.34) and 17.5% were small for gestational age. Their mean (SD) total upper limb length (cm) and total lower limb length (cm) were 20.96 (1.22) and 19.6 (1.18), respectively. Gender-based difference was noted in total body and upper limb segment lengths. Segmental limb lengths had negligible positive correlation with gestational age but had a moderate positive correlation with total body length. CONCLUSION: Gender and gestational age-specific segmental limb lengths standards may help to identify abnormal limb lengths in neonates at birth.

Effectiveness of tobacco counseling training module (TCTM) in enhancing the knowledge, attitude, ability to identify oral manifestations, self-confidence, and skills (KAASS) in tobacco counseling among undergraduate dental students - An interventional study.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use has emerged as a major public health issue with increasing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. Despite evidence that even brief tobacco counseling by health care professionals is effective in motivating a tobacco user to quit, there was a lack of customized tobacco counseling training module (TCTM) for students of dentistry in their existing curriculum. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of a customized TCTM in improving KAASS in tobacco counseling among undergraduate dental students. METHODS: TCTM that was previously pilot tested was implemented as a value addition in Public Health Dentistry for two academic years. Changes in knowledge, attitude, ability to identify oral manifestations, self-confidence, and skills (KAASS) in tobacco counseling were assessed before and after implementation of TCTM. Mean pre and post intervention scores were compared. RESULTS: Mean scores for knowledge, attitude, ability to identify oral manifestations, and self-confidence (KAAS) at baseline were 4.4 ± 0.9, 5.1 ± 0.7, 4.5 ± 1.1, and 1.3 ± 0.4, respectively. Mean KAAS scores post intervention were 13.5 ± 1.0, 8.7 ± 0.4, 9.4 ± 0.7, and 3.5 ± 0.5, respectively. There was a significant improvement in the mean KAAS score post intervention compared to baseline. Tobacco counseling skills also significantly improved among the participants following implementation of the training module (68.8%) did well compared to the baseline (0%). CONCLUSION: TCTM was effective in enhancing knowledge, attitude, ability to identify oral manifestations, and self-confidence in tobacco counseling among undergraduate dental students.

Association of Risk Factors among Nasal and Orbital Mucormycosis in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: To study the risk factors of mucormycosis and analyze their association among nasal and orbital mucormycosis in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Methods: All patients diagnosed of rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) with previous COVID-19 infection were included in the study. The details such as age, sex, presence of co-morbidities, and serum ferritin levels were collected. ROCM patients were classified into two groups, nasal mucormycosis (stage 1 and 2 of ROCM) and orbital mucormycosis (stage 3 and 4 of ROCM), and data were collected. Duration of COVID-19 symptoms, the time interval between COVID-19 infection and onset of ROCM symptoms, computed tomography severity score (CTSS) and usage of steroids were collected accordingly. The collected data were compared between nasal group and orbital group. Results: Among 52 patients, 15 patients had nasal and 37 patients had orbital mucormycosis. Forty-one patients were more than 40 years, 43 patients were males. Seven out of ten risk factors were found to be significant on comparing nasal and orbital group. Patients of age more than 40 years (P = 0.034), elderly diabetics (P = 0.014), poor control of diabetes (P = 0.003), high serum ferritin levels (P = 0.043), duration between COVID-19 and mucormycosis of more than 20 days (P = 0.038), CTSS of more than 9/25 (P = 0.020), and steroid usage during COVID-19 infection (P = 0.034) are prone to develop orbital mucormycosis. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, these variables did not emerge as independent risk factors. Conclusions: Patients with severe COVID-19 infection along with other associated risk factors can be prone to develop severe forms of mucormycosis. We did not find them to be statistically significant on multivariate analysis. In the future, large scale studies are needed to know their significance.

A Toolkit for Strengthening Health Care Policies and Infrastructure of Industries in Developing Countries.

BACKGROUND: The health risks faced by textile workers calls for a workplace health system that is comprehensive and accessible. To enhance the capacity of workplaces to strengthen their health system, a toolkit was developed by the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a non-profit global business network and sustainability consultancy. METHODS: The Health System Strengthening (HSS) toolkit was designed to provide a set of tools, resources, and concrete steps for the factory management and health staff to work toward continuous improvement of their on-site health systems. It was then implemented with academic collaboration simultaneously In three factories/ in three manufacturing units/ in three workplaces in South India over 6 months to find out its usefulness as a self-reference tool for HSS. Monitoring and evaluation tools and indicators were developed based on the logic framework. RESULTS: The main outcomes of the HSS pilot program include the formation of a health committee which was able to utilize the modules, perform a self-assessment of the health system, and come out with short- and long-term action plans for HSS under expert supervision and guidance. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the toolkit was found to be an effective solution for HSS in industries which require expert guidance for implementation.

Academia-industry collaboration to provide interdisciplinary experiential learning opportunities in public health professions education and improve health of female factory workers.

Background: The community medicine department of our medical school, in addition to addressing its mandate to prepare undergraduate students for primary care and graduate students for careers in public health, administers several community-based interventions. An international organization involved with improving health of female factory workers globally invited us to partner in their efforts locally. We used the Precede-Proceed model to design an intervention to deliver the desired project outcomes. Activities: : Recognizing that this partnership with industry would provide a learning opportunity to our Master's degree program students, we involved them in a needs assessment survey in order to make an educational diagnosis to identify the influencing and reinforcing factors. Our faculty and students interfaced with a multidisciplinary team including mid-level factory managers, health-care staff, and peer health educators within the textile industry. Outcomes: : Through this industry-academia collaboration, our health professions training institution was able to provide supplementary experiential learning opportunities to students in our Master's degree in Community Medicine program by involving them in all the project stages from planning based on health needs assessment, to module design, implementation, and program evaluation along with interdisciplinary teams from the textile industry. Students then reflected on their learning experience using a modified Kolbe's experiential learning cycle to improve their performance when they replicated the intervention with the next factory under the same project. Conclusion: The use of PRECEDE-PROCEED model in the industry-academia collaboration and Kolb's framework provided supplementary experiential learning opportunities for deliberate practice, receiving feedback, and reflecting on their learning to our Master's in Community Medicine degree students.

Peer Educators as Change Leaders - Effectiveness of Peer Education Process in Creating Awareness on Reproductive Health among Women Workers in Textile Industry.

CONTEXT: India is one of the leading manufacturers of garments with roughly 80% of the workforce dominated by female migrant workers. Lack of education and access to resources in these women contribute to unsafe sexual behaviors, sometimes leading to unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Awareness raising, and peer education in particular, is extremely effective in addressing reproductive health issues. AIMS: This study aims to study the effectiveness of peer health education in improving the awareness on reproductive health among women workers in textile industries. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A health educational interventional study for women in garment and spinning mills using peer education process carried out over a period of 18 months. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The process includes orientation to factory management, health needs' assessment, identifying health topics, peer educators' selection, peer educator trainings followed by outreach sessions, and impact measurement. The impact of peer education on reproductive health has been assessed among 597 participants from 9 factories. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were entered in SPSS version 24 and analyzed. Results were expressed as percentages. Chi square test was used where appropriate to find association between categorical variables. RESULTS: The mean age of the workers in both the groups is 25.4 (±9.6) years and 25.1 (±8.3) years. In both the groups, most of the workers were single and more than half of them reside within the factory premises. Significant change in menstrual hygiene practices, knowledge in family planning methods, STIs, and cervical cancer has been observed following peer health education. CONCLUSIONS: A well-designed health educational interventional program using peer educators could be a successful approach to create awareness on sensitive topics.