Search Results for
"Article"

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.

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.

Interprofessional education has long been cited in health and social care policy as a remedy to improve many of the problems faced by the National Health Service (NHS) around co-ordination and collaboration of staff. More recently, this form of education has been acknowledged as having a key role in delivering the government's modernisation agenda to produce a more 'flexible' workforce. Given the large number of logistical problems connected to developing interprofessional education before registration, this type of activity more often occurs after registration. It is interesting, therefore, to note that pre-registration interprofessional education has recently been hailed by NHS policy as a primary method for enhancing collaboration. However, these policy documents have both contributed to the conceptual confusion in this area and also overlooked the range of factors (educational, organisational and cultural) connected with implementing and sustaining this type of education in the pre-registration sector. In posing the question, 'pre-registration interprofessional education: mission impossible?' this paper examines the cultural, organisational and educational factors that affect the development of this activity. It also considers attempts to build an evidence-base for interprofessional education. This paper finally outlines how the implementation of interprofessional practice-based placements can be an achievable goat for the pre-registration curricula. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

A significant educational challenge for the future of international management in western nations is satisfying multicultural domestic markets, and overseas visitors, who have profoundly different cultural beliefs and traditions from those of the traditional western populations. With the emerging growth of one global market, limited vigorous research exists concerning the management of these globally diverse perspectives. The present theories and models have arisen, predominantly, from western paradigms and are largely based on rational scientific approaches to analysis, which are not directly relevant to the different perspectives necessary for multicultural management. The breadth and depth of global knowledge and competencies required is beyond any one individual or method of education and hence a new management development framework is required to deal with what are often familiar problems occurring in unfamiliar cultures/contexts. This article reviews the challenges for education to address such new needs, not always previously included in management curricula - including the competencies required for servicing multicultural markets, and provides a proposed 'capability' model appropriate for developing managers in the global context to move beyond basic competence to enhanced flexibility and adaptability. The authors suggest that in order to develop 'globally capable managers', experiential engagement beyond competency-developing sojourner or tourist activity by serious management students is necessary. The suggested student international exchange models with direct overt cultural engagement elements in the curriculum are offered as one answer.

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.

Purpose: To determine the attitudes to research and research training among ophthalmologists and ophthalmology trainees in New Zealand. Methods: A structured, self-administered questionnaire was devised and after preliminary validation a postal survey was sent to all ophthalmologists and ophthalmology registrars and fellows in New Zealand. Results: A total of 82 replies were received from 115 questionnaires sent out; a response rate of 71.3%. An overwhelming majority found research to have benefited their education, clinical practice and careen 67.1 % of the respondents intended to do research in the future. Although a majority (56.4%) felt research to be beneficial to ophthalmology training, 42.3% felt research would be of limited or no benefit when selecting candidates for vocational training. However, 97.5% of respondents felt that ophthalmology trainees should undertake some form of research during training, with most supporting small studies or case reports (44.4%) or a short structured training course in research (42.0%). Interestingly, 86.6% felt that research methodology and data analysis should be taught in a structured fashion with most supporting courses or seminars of a few weeks duration during the vocational training period. Many ophthalmologists felt inadequately equipped or trained to mentor and supervise trainees undertaking research and 41.5% of consultant ophthalmologists felt further training-to fulfil this role would be beneficial. Conclusions: This survey suggests that New Zealand ophthalmologists generally approve of and support a place for research, possibly of a more structured design, during ophthalmology training.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a tutorial, student-centered, problem-driven educational strategy adopted by medical and allied health educators to positively influence self-directed learning, critical thinking, and learning behavior. PBL was examined in dietetics education through random assignment of 32 undergraduate dietetics students for two weeks to either a problem-based or a lecture-based case format for the infant and elderly units of a 16-week lifespan nutrition course. Random assignment followed stratification for gender and earlier course examination performance. Expert validation of PBL curricular components and noted differences in discussion structure and information resources verified curriculum distinctiveness. Main outcome measures were pre- and post-Cognitive Behavior Survey scores for memorization, reflection, and positive learning experience scales, unit and course evaluations and unit examination scores. Students in problem-based modules demonstrated greater gains in reflective thinking with stable memorization, suggesting improved critical thinking skills. Tenets that problem-based learning promotes knowledge retention and provides a more positive learning experience were not upheld. Knowledge acquisition was not hindered by a problem-based approach. We conclude that gains in reflective thinking and evidence of increased self-directed learning argue for inclusion of PBL in dietetics curricula and that a problem-based education will help dietitians successfully respond to professional development needs. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003;103:1020-1025. © 2003 American Dietetic Association.

Occupational irritant contact dermatitis in the food industry will be playing an important role in the next decades and will be challenging people involved in prevention, diagnostics and therapy. To interfere successfully with the natural course of the disease, knowledge about prevalence, causes and risk factors is crucial. Recent studies in the food industry revealed that irritant contact dermatitis was common in the first months of vocational training. After 6 months of training 29.1% of the apprentices had developed hand dermatitis. 50% of the individuals with skin atopy and 30% of individuals without a history of skin atopy were affected. At the end of the training 27.5% had hand dermatitis. The cumulative prevalence of hand dermatitis was 41.3%. Skin protection habits of the apprentices were insufficient. Endogenous and exogenous risk factors were responsible for the development of hand dermatitis. Atopic skin diathesis, previous or present hand dermatitis and flexural dermatitis were the most important endogenous risk factors. Sex, respiratory atopy, metal allergy were of no importance. Occupational wet work in general, the combination of specific wet work tasks as well as house building and refurbishing in leisure time were important exogenous risk factors. Basal TEWL values were of no use for the prediction of occupational hand dermatitis.