Search Results for
"human"

AREER THEORISTS EMPHASIZE the importance of the development of career maturity in adolescents if they are to successfully negotiate the school-to-work transition. Transitions of deaf and hard of hearing adolescents may be especially problematic. The authors examine the implications of current labor market trends for young people, in particular those with hearing loss, and review data on employment outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing people. They discuss the environmental and attitudinal barriers that can influence the career outcomes of this population, consider the impact of hearing loss on adolescents' career maturity, and review the studies on this topic in the literature. The article focuses on the experiences of students with significant hearing loss who are educated in regular classes with the support of itinerant teachers, who communicate orally, and who may be defined as hard of hearing. Recommendations for research and practice are provided.

This study addressed how practice educators define occupational therapy student competence. A qualitative approach was used to gain the beliefs and viewpoints of five occupational therapy practice educators working in neurological rehabilitation through semi-structured interviews and group discussion. Verified thematic analysis was used to structure and describe the information collected. The complexity of the concept of competence was highlighted by the participants, who felt that it was part of their professional responsibility to ascertain whether a student had achieved a sufficiently high level of competence to pass into the professional status. However, the participants found it difficult to articulate explicitly what it was that they searched for. Four main areas were highlighted - observable behaviour, clinical reasoning, continuing development and professional and personal attributes - but the importance of student self-awareness, risk assessment and reasoning skills over theoretical knowledge was identified as a major influencing factor on competence.

[No abstract available]

Since June 1, 2002, only those dental practitioners holding a specific professional title are entitled to independent practice. Those practitioners are the General Dentists, the Orthodontists and the Periodontists who have had additional vocational training of one, four, or three years respectively, after completion of their study programme leading to a Licentiate in Dental Sciences (Transition measures allowed practising dentists and students who were enrolled in a training program prior to June 1, 2002 to obtain one of these titles). This regulation includes provisions to limit access to the profession for graduates holding a degree delivered by a university in the Flemish community (84 per year) or the French Community (56 per year). In the French Community, the implementation of a Numerus Clausus (limitation of numbers admitted) at the end of the first study cycle allowed for a limitation of the number of students admitted to the second cycle, and as a consequence it limited the number of candidates enrolling in vocational training in order to obtain a specific professional title. The non-compliance with - and later the cancellation of - this limitation resulted in the number of candidates seeking a specific professional title to be larger than the numbers in the quotas imposed by the Federal State.

In January 2004, the National Collaboration for Youth approved a list of core competencies needed by entry-level youth development workers for effective youth development practice. This chapter provides an overview of these competencies, explaining why and how the list was created, outcomes, and recommendations for next steps.

This chapter reviews key issues in professional development in the youth development field, describing important work done over the past two decades and lessons learned from major philanthropic investments in capacity building both nationally and locally.

Advances in medical treatment combined with changes in the demographics of persons who are becoming infected with autoimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) have transformed this illness from a rapidly progressing to a chronically disabling condition in a short period of time. This paper describes the development, implementation, and outcomes of a program of vocational services for persons with AIDS. This program was studied using a single group design, in which participatory action research strategies were used to investigate and improve the program as it unfolded. In addition to examining the overall outcomes of services, the study aimed to discover which components were most helpful to participants and which participants were most likely to benefit from the program. Of 129 participants of who initially enrolled, 39 dropped out before finishing the program. Sixty of the 90 participants who completed the program achieved employment, returned to school, or began a volunteer position or internship. Consequently, the overall success rate was 46.5% and the success rate for program completers was 66.7%. The occupational narrative, which participants told in their initial assessment interview, was closely associated with both program completion and successful outcomes. This association adds support to the importance of narrative for understanding participants and predicting future behavior, as well as for the therapy process.

OBJECTIVE: To compare evaluations of teaching effectiveness among hospitalist, general medicine, and subspecialist attendings on general medicine wards. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: A large, inner-city, public teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 423 medical students and house staff evaluating 63 attending physicians. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We measured teaching effectiveness with the McGill Clinical Tutor Evaluation (CTE), a validated 25-item survey, and reviewed additional written comments. The response rate was 81%. On a 150-point composite measure, hospitalists' mean score (134.5 [95% confidence interval (CI), 130.2 to 138.8]) exceeded that of subspecialists (126.3 [95% CI, 120.4 to 132.1]), P = .03. General medicine attendings (135.0 [95% CI, 131.2 to 138.8]) were also rated higher than subspecialists, P = .01. Physicians who graduated from medical school in the 1990s received higher scores (136.0 [95% CI, 133.0 to 139.1]) than did more distant graduates (129.1 [95% CI, 125.1 to 133.1]), P = .006. These trends persisted after adjusting for covariates, but only year of graduation remained statistically significant, P = .05. Qualitative analysis of written remarks revealed that trainees valued faculty who were enthusiastic teachers, practiced evidence-based medicine, were involved in patient care, and developed a good rapport with patients and other team members. These characteristics were most often noted for hospitalist and general medicine attendings. CONCLUSIONS: On general medicine wards, medical students and residents considered hospitalists and general medicine attendings to be more effective teachers than subspecialists. This effect may be related to the preferred faculty members exhibiting specific characteristics and behaviors highly valued by trainees, such as enthusiasm for teaching and use of evidence-based medicine.

The second edition of The First Five Years - A framework for Dental Undergraduate Education was published by the General Dental Council (GDC) in August 2002. As with the first edition the overall intention has been to define the scope and content of the undergraduate curriculum. However the second edition includes, for the first time, a list of specific learning outcomes and an appendix with the learning outcomes in a format described by Harden et al., which has been widely adopted in medical education.

Occupational skin diseases constitute about 30% of all occupational diseases worldwide and also in Germany. Thereby, occupational skin diseases take the leading position of all occupational diseases. About 90% of occupational skin diseases are eczemas which are usually located on the hands. According to estimates of the registers for occupational skin diseases in Northern Bavaria and the Saarland, Germany, which have been effective since 1990 and 1999, the incidence of occupational skin diseases is 6.7 and 6.8 per 10,000 full-time workers and year. Other incidence estimates from Western industrialized countries range between 5 and 19 cases per 10.000 full-time workers and year. Population-based estimates for a 1-year prevalence of hand dermatitis, which rely on an assessment by questionnaire, range between 6.7% in Germany and 8.9% in Norway. Studies, which included a skin examination for outcome assessment, e.g. revealed a point prevalence of 0.5% for cases which should be seen by a physician in a sample of 20,749 US citizens or a 1-year prevalence of 10.6% for a sample of 16,587 subjects from Sweden. According to a cross-sectional study from Denmark, school children in the age of 12 - 16 years exhibited hand eczema in 3.2% at the time of investigation and reported a 1-year prevalence of 7.3%. For the latter, the predominance of female gender was confirmed (10.1% vs. 4.6%). Epidemiological studies on occupational hand dermatitis are for several methodological reasons hardly comparable. This is due to different sample sizes and selection criteria, the use of different measures of frequency and outcome assessment including the fact that no generally accepted and validated diagnostic criteria exist. Population-based as well as studies in different occupational groups revealed a higher prevalence in women. Larger studies in food- and metal-processing industries as well as in hairdressing apprentices showed a marked increase in eczema prevalence during the 3-year period of apprenticeship. For example, prevalence of hand dermatitis increased in apprentices of food industry from East-Thuringia from 17.5% to 27.5%, in hairdressing apprentices from Northwest Germany from 12.9% to 23.9% and in apprentices of metal industry from 0 to 23%, i.e. from 8.6% to 14.1%. The latter study was performed in apprentices of the car industry and allowed to distinguish the increase in hand eczema between metalworkers (9,2% to 15.3%), blue-collar workers (8.8% to 14.1%), and white-collar workers (4.6% to 6.9%). The Prevention of Occupational Skin Disease in Hairdressers Study (POSH) clearly demonstrated that the prevalence estimates largly depend on the chosen outcome definition. For various definitions of hand eczema the prevalence at the end of apprenticeship varied between 2.7% and 23.9%. A high 3-year prevalence of 20.7% was also observed in German office workers and an expected high 1-year prevalence of 46% was reported for female cleaners from Denmark. The overall high and during apprenticeship further increasing prevalence of occupational hand dermatitis calls for intense and specific measures of prevention.