Investigation of clinical medicine undergraduates' recognition of narrative medicine.

BACKGROUND: Narrative Medicine (NM), a contemporary medical concept proposed in the 21st century, emphasizes the use of narrative as a literary form in medicine. This study aims to explore the understanding about NM and willingness to learn NM among medical students in our hospital. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 130 students at Xiangya Medical College of Central South University. RESULTS: The findings revealed that a small percentage of students (3.1%) were familiar with narrative medicine and its training methods. Knowledge about the treatment skills (77.7%) and core content (55.4%) of narrative medicine was limited among the students. Despite this, a majority (63.1%) expressed a lack of interest in further understanding and learning about narrative medicine. Surprisingly, the survey indicated that students possessed a high level of narrative literacy, even without formal training in narrative medicine. Additionally, over half of the surveyed students (61.5%) believed that narrative medicine could benefit their clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: This study serves as a preliminary basis for the future development of narrative medicine education in China. It highlights the need to prioritize medical humanities education and provide medical students with more opportunities to access information on narrative medicine. By doing so, we can strive to enhance the visibility and promote the integration of narrative medicine into medical humanities education in China.

Caminhos profissionais dos egressos em um grande hospital de São Paulo / Professional paths of graduates in a large hospital in São Paulo

Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o perfil dos caminhos profissionais após o programa de residência de uma instituição em São Paulo (Hospital do Servidor Público Municipal de São Paulo). Além disso, de forma mais específica, busca-se traçar o perfil de satisfação do egresso com a residência, bem como levantar a produção científica dos egressos durante o programa e correlacionar o perfil do ex aluno e produção científica durante o programa. O trabalho foi realizado com os egressos do Curso de Residência de Clínica Médica no Hospital do Servidor Público Municipal (HSPM), a partir das turmas com ingresso no ano de 2012. Para o levantamento de dados foi disponibilizado um questionário on-line, identificado, através do site Google no modelo Google Forms, este questionário foi composto de sessões que objetivam compreender dados gerais sobre os alunos, informações a respeito dos caminhos traçados após a residência (residência nova ou pós graduação) e compreender o que levou o médico a escolher estes caminhos. O aluno foi convidado a responder o questionário através de links no seu e-mail institucional ou via aplicativo WhatsApp nos números disponibilizados pelo banco de dados da instituição. Os dados foram analisados descritivamente utilizando frequências absolutas e percentuais para as variáveis categóricas e das medidas: média, desvio padrão e mediana. O projeto foi submetido ao Comité de Ética em Pesquisa do HSPM, seguindo a Resolução 466/2012 do Conselho Nacional de Saúde do Ministério de Saúde (CONEP/MS). Os autores do trabalho se comprometem a manter o sigilo das informações coletadas através dos questionários. Palavras-chave: Residência médica. Egresso de residência. Residência em Saúde. Internato e Residência. Hospitais de Ensino.

Formación Interprofesional en salud mental: un reto posible / Interprofessional training in mental health: a possible challenge

RESUMEN: Introducción: El abordaje de la salud mental requiere acciones interprofesionales, sin embargo, su enseñanza es tradicionalmente uniprofesional y en escenarios especializados, reforzando la creencia que la salud mental es cuestión de especialistas. Es por esto que se diseña la primera rotación interprofesional en salud mental de la que se tenga conocimiento en Colombia, en la cual rotan estudiantes de medicina y psicología. El objetivo del presente artículo es describir este proceso y la rotación. Material y método: Se describe cuáles fueron los pasos para el diseño y la implementación de la rotación interprofesional en salud mental. Resultados: Se describe la rotación, la cual cuenta con elementos clínicos y simulados y diversas metodologías de aprendizaje y evaluación. Conclusiones: La rotación interprofesional es una estrategia útil en el proceso de aprendizaje de competencias en salud mental y habilidades para el trabajo interprofesional.

ABSTRACT Background: Mental health approaches require interprofessional actions. However, education on mental health is traditionally uniprofessional and is performed in specialized scenarios which reinforces the belief that mental health is only a concern for specialists. This is the reason why the first interprofessional mental health rotation in Colombia was designed and launched. The aim of this paper is to describe that process and the rotation itself. Material and method: This work describes the steps for the design and implementation of an interprofessional rotation on mental health. which involve medicine and psychology students. Results: The structure of the rotation is detailed. It contains both a clinical component and a simulated one, and diverse methodologies for learning and assessment. Conclusions: This interprofessional rotation is a useful strategy in the learning process of specific competences in mental health, and it facilitates acquisition of skills for teamwork.

Aproximación a la formación por competencias profesionales desde las asignaturas Propedéutica Clínica y Medicina Interna / An approach to professional competence-based formation from the subjects of Clinical Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine

Introducción: La formación del capital humano en salud y, por tanto, la del médico no están estructuradas sobre la base de competencias profesionales, a pesar de su importancia en la educación del hombre y estar contempladas en el propósito básico de la carrera de Medicina. Objetivo: Exponer mediante análisis crítico las potencialidades del diseño curricular basado en competencias profesionales desde las asignaturas de Propedéutica Clínica y Medicina Interna en la carrera de Medicina. Desarrollo: Se aborda cómo el proceso de formación del pregrado requiere redimensionamiento y perfeccionamiento curricular, con mayor aproximación al objeto de la profesión, a través de la formación por competencias. Además, cómo aprovechar la educación en el trabajo en Propedéutica Clínica y Medicina Interna, esenciales y rectoras, mediante el pase de visita y la discusión diagnóstica, que constituyen ambientes inapreciables para desarrollar la formación por competencias, donde el método clínico tiene su cimiento más sólido. De manera que la formación por competencias se convierta en instrumento esencial para el perfeccionamiento en el campo educacional y represente una propuesta útil avalada por prestigiosos organismos internacionales, que urge generalizar en pos del mejoramiento continuo de la educación. Conclusiones: La estructuración de un plan de estudio basado en competencias profesionales puede respaldar resultados formativos superiores, para lograr un egresado universitario más preparado, trascendente y comprometido con la sociedad, que sea capaz de cumplir mejor el encargo social del sistema de salud cubano(AU)

Introduction: The formation of human resources in health and, subsequently, that of the physician are not structured on the basis of professional competences, despite their importance in the education of human beings and the fact that they are included in the basic purpose of the medical major. Objective: To expose, through critical analysis, the potentialities of the curricular design based on professional competences with respect to the subjects of Clinical Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine in the medical major. Development: This work addresses how the undergraduate training process requires redimensioning and improvement of its curricular design, with greater approximation to the object of the profession, through competence-based training. In addition, it addresses how to take advantage of education at work in the subjects of Clinical Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, as far as they are both essential and guiding, by means of patients' visits and diagnostic discussions as invaluable settings for developing competence-based training, where the clinical method has its most solid foundation. Thus, competence-based training becomes an essential instrument for improvement in the educational field and represents a useful proposal endorsed by prestigious international organizations, which urgently needs to be generalized for the continuous improvement of education. Conclusions: The structuring of a study plan based on professional competences can support superior training outcomes, in view of achieving a more prepared university graduate, with a transcendent performance and committed to society, who is able to fulfill better the social task of the Cuban health system(AU)

Distance-learning collaborations for rapid knowledge sharing to the occupied Palestinian territory during the COVID-19 response: experience from the OxPal partnership.

Distance-learning increasingly forms part of many academic and professional courses. OxPal, a collaboration between University of Oxford medical students and doctors and their counterparts in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), sought to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of interactive online distance-learning through a pre-established international partnership as a method for rapid knowledge sharing during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response. Two interactive online lectures for medical students and clinicians in the oPt on the COVID-19 pandemic were conducted. The first lecture was an 'Introduction to COVID-19' and the second focused on 'Data-sharing during the pandemic'. 212 and 174 attended each lecture, respectively. Feedback was via an online questionnaire. >95% of respondents indicated the lectures covered a gap in their medical education. 87% and 77% of respondents rated lecture quality 'Good' or 'Excellent' for the two lectures respectively. Qualitative feedback elicited requests for more clinically focused lectures, which have since been provided. Online lectures are feasible and effective for rapid education of medical students and clinicians in the oPt in a public health emergency. We hope this encourages other institutions to provide similar support in the oPt and other 'tutor-deplete' regions facing specific geopolitical challenges to local medical education.

Teaching Medical Epistemology within an Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum.

Issue: Epistemology, the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, value, and use of knowledge, receives little or no formal attention in medical education. Yet the understanding of medical epistemology - focused on what kinds of medical knowledge are relevant to clinical decisions, the strengths and limitations of those different kinds of knowledge, and how they relate to one another and to clinical expertise - represents a critical aspect of medical practice. Evidence: Understanding the meaning of the term "evidence" is one of the fundamental tasks of medical epistemology. Other foundations of the evidence-based medicine movement, such as the "hierarchy of evidence" and the concept of "best" evidence, rest upon epistemological assertions, claims regarding the appropriate kinds and relative value of knowledge in medicine. Here we rely upon the work of philosophers of medicine who have been engaged in debates regarding the epistemic tenets of the evidence-based medicine movement. We argue that medical students and physicians-in-training should learn basic terminology and methods of epistemology as they are being introduced to the concepts and techniques of evidence-based medicine. Implications: The skepticism and critical analysis encouraged by EBM can and should be applied to the underlying assumptions and primary tenets of EBM itself. It is not enough for philosophers to partake in this endeavor; students, trainees, and clinicians need to carefully and constantly examine the reasons and reasoning that coalesce into clinical acumen. Our role as medical educators is to give them the tools, including a basic understanding of epistemology, to do that over a lifetime.

Distance learning in clinical medical education amid COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan: current situation, challenges, and perspectives.

BACKGROUND: As COVID-19 has been declared as a pandemic disease by the WHO on March 11th, 2020, the global incidence of COVID-19 disease increased dramatically. In response to the COVID-19 situation, Jordan announced the emergency state on the 19th of March, followed by the curfew on 21 March. All educational institutions have been closed as well as educational activities including clinical medical education have been suspended on the 15th of March. As a result, Distance E-learning emerged as a new method of teaching to maintain the continuity of medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic related closure of educational institutions. Distance E-Learning is defined as using computer technology to deliver training, including technology-supported learning either online, offline, or both. Before this period, distance learning was not considered in Jordanian universities as a modality for education. This study aims to explore the situation of distance E-learning among medical students during their clinical years and to identify possible challenges, limitations, satisfaction as well as perspectives for this approach to learning. METHODS: This cross-sectional study is based on a questionnaire that was designed and delivered to medical students in their clinical years. For this study, the estimated sample size (n = 588) is derived from the online Raosoft sample size calculator. RESULTS: A total of 652 students have completed the questionnaire, among them, 538 students (82.5%) have participated in distance learning in their medical schools amid COVID-19 pandemic. The overall satisfaction rate in medical distance learning was 26.8%, and it was significantly higher in students with previous experience in distance learning in their medical schools as well as when instructors were actively participating in learning sessions, using multimedia and devoting adequate time for their sessions. The delivery of educational material using synchronous live streaming sessions represented the major modality of teaching and Internet streaming quality and coverage was the main challenge that was reported by 69.1% of students. CONCLUSION: With advances in technologies and social media, distance learning is a new and rapidly growing approach for undergraduate, postgraduate, and health care providers. It may represent an optimal solution to maintain learning processes in exceptional and emergency situations such as COVID-19 pandemic. Technical and infrastructural resources reported as a major challenge for implementing distance learning, so understanding technological, financial, institutional, educators, and student barriers are essential for the successful implementation of distance learning in medical education.

A novel structure for online surgical undergraduate teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the delivery of online higher education. Online learning is a novel experience for medical education in Sri Lanka. A novel approach to undergraduate surgical learning was taken up in an attempt to improve the interest amongst the students in clinical practice while maximizing the limited contact time. METHOD: Online learning activity was designed involving medical students from all stages and multi consultant panel discussions. The discussions were designed to cover each topic from basic sciences to high-level clinical management in an attempt to stimulate the student interest in clinical medicine. Online meeting platform with free to use basic plan and a social media platform were used in combination to communicate with the students. The student feedback was periodically assessed for individual topics as well as for general outcome. Lickert scales and numeric scales were used to acquire student agreement on the desired learning outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 1047 student responses for 7 questionnaires were analysed. During a 6-week period, 24 surgical topics were discussed with 51 contact hours. Eighty-seven per cent definitely agreed (highest agreement) with the statement 'students benefitted from the discussions'. Over 95% have either participated for all or most sessions. A majority of the respondents (83.4%) 'definitely agreed' that the discussions helped to improve their clinical sense. Of the total respondents, 79.3% definitely agreed that the discussions helped to build an interest in clinical medicine. Around 90% agreed that both exam-oriented and clinical practice-oriented topics were highly important and relevant. Most widely raised concerns were the poor Internet connectivity and limitation of access to the meeting platform. CONCLUSION: Online teaching with a novel structure is feasible and effective in a resource-limited setting. Students agree that it could improve clinical interest while meeting the expected learning outcomes.

Students' voices: assessment in undergraduate clinical medicine.

INTRODUCTION: the perception exists among students that not all clinical assessments in undergraduate medical programmes are of high quality. 'Student voice' is a term used to describe how students feel about and experience their education in a safe and controlled environment. This study aimed to investigate the opinions and experiences of medical students at the University of the Free State on the quality of assessment in the clinical phase of medicine. METHODS: a cross-sectional study design was used. Quantitative data were collected with space to clarify opinions and make recommendations. The study population consisted of the clinical medical students in 2019 who had completed at least one module and one end-of-year assessment. Self-administered, anonymous questionnaires were distributed to obtain opinions and experiences regarding assessment. Questions in the questionnaire derived from an assessment framework for clinical medicine to ensure construct and content validity. RESULTS: one hundred and ninety-two (192) students completed questionnaires (84.6% response rate). Less than half of the students were of the opinion that the assessments were fair, with lack of blueprinting and incorrect level of assessment major contributors to this opinion. Two thirds believed that the assessment was aligned with outcomes, however training was not aligned with the assessment. More than 90% of students reported on the lack of feedback after assessment. Valuable suggestions from the students included ways of assessing professionalism, timing of assessments and training of assessors. CONCLUSION: majority of students were of the opinion that there is room for improvement in the quality of assessment.

Assessment practices in undergraduate clinical medicine training: What do we do and how we can improve?

BACKGROUND: Assessment should form an integral part of curriculum design in higher education and should be robust enough to ensure clinical competence. AIM: This article reports on current assessment practices and makes recommendations to improve clinical assessment in the undergraduate medical programme at the University of the Free State. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered by means of open- and closed-ended questions in a self-administered questionnaire, which was completed by teaching and learning coordinators in 13 disciplines. RESULTS: All disciplines in the undergraduate medical programme are represented. They used different assessment methods to assess the competencies required of entry-level healthcare professionals. Workplace-based assessment was performed by 30.1% of disciplines, while multiple-choice questions (MCQs) (76.9%) and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) (53.6%) were the main methods used during formative assessment. Not all assessors were well prepared for assessment, with 38.5% never having received any formal training on assessment. Few disciplines (15.4%) made use of post-assessment moderation as a standard practice, and few disciplines always gave feedback after assessments. CONCLUSION: The current assessment practices for clinical students in the undergraduate medical programme at the University of the Free State cover the spectrum that is necessary to assess all the different competencies required. Multiple-choice questions and OSCEs, which are valid and reliable assessment methods, are used frequently. Poor feedback and moderation practices should be addressed. More formative assessments, and less emphasis on summative assessment, should be considered. Workplace-based and continuous assessments may be good ways to assess clinical competence.

The Hidden Curriculum of Utilisation of Imaging and Unregulated Digital Resources within Clinical Education.

Clinical education has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. The increasing use of imaging and visualisation technologies within medical, dental and other healthcare sciences education curricula is taken for granted, with little consideration given to the agenda behind the colonisation of the basic sciences curricula with these technologies or their ultimate utility with regards to patient care. Sufficient critique is rarely given prior to the incorporation of imaging modalities into teaching and learning, and the hidden curriculum remains deeply buried under the impetus to 'move with the times'. Coupled with increasingly easily accessible but unregulated streamed digital teaching resources widely utilised in healthcare professions' curricula, there remains a danger that future generations of clinicians may be exposed to erroneous information that could ultimately impact on the safety of their patients. Educators must develop a reflective approach, and together with institutions develop a collective responsibility to integrate and map evidence-based and clinically-relevant approaches within the respective curricula, rather than bombard undergraduates with the latest technology and never-ending (and sometimes unreliable and unregulated) information without awareness of the potential dangers lurking within their preferred teaching methods and ideologies. Healthcare professionals must subject teaching resources utilised within their curricula to the same scrutiny that textbooks undergo, with content accuracy and endorsement via reputable sources, preferably peer reviewed and traceable, taking precedence.

Institutional Training Opportunities for PhD Students in Laboratory Medicine: An Unmet Career Development Need?

In the United States, the credentialing of PhD-scientists as medical directors of clinical laboratories is driven by formal postdoctoral training programs. Prior to acceptance in one these accredited fellowships, however, a trainee's exposure to the field can be far less standardized, with significant ramifications for their awareness and competitiveness. In the current article, we describe our recent experiences in developing local, institution-based immersion opportunities for PhD experiences in the subdisciplines of laboratory medicine (clinical microbiology, clinical chemistry, and molecular genetics/genomics). It is our hope that this article-and a corresponding online survey-can prompt reflection and discussion on the status of early career training opportunities in these key clinical areas.