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"Humans"

Objective: – This review aimed to map the literature on teaching strategies used to teach professional writing to prelicensure students enrolled in health professional programs. Introduction: – Health education programs must teach students how to practice professional writing as it is a fundamental skill for effective communication in health care. Professional writing is crucial for ensuring continuity of care, promoting patient safety, and meeting regulatory and institutional standards. Understanding the teaching strategies used to develop professional writing skills is important because it helps educators identify the most effective methods for preparing students for practice. Eligibility criteria: – This review considered studies on teaching strategies used by faculty at any academic institution, in any country, to teach professional writing in prelicensure health professional programs. Disciplines such as medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, dentistry, and veterinary medicine were included. Strategies included any intentional activity (in-person or virtual) aimed at developing students’ professional writing. Professional writing included writing for the purpose of recording assessments or interventions, conveying information to a care team, communicating with patients, or demonstrating compliance with professional or institutional policies or practices. Methods: – This review followed the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Published literature was located in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCOhost), ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health (ProQuest), and ERIC (EBSCOhost). A search for unpublished research reports was conducted in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD), and OAIster (WorldCat). The reference lists of all included studies were manually back-searched for additional studies, and Google Scholar and Web of Science Core Collection were used for forward citation tracking to identify further studies. Search results were limited from 2010 to the present, and only reports written in English and French were eligible. Data were extracted from studies that met the eligibility criteria by 2 independent reviewers. Data are presented in tabular format to address findings related to the review objectives. Results: – Thirty-three studies from 7 countries, published between 2010 and 2025, were included. All studies examined at least 1 teaching strategy, and included 5 disciplines: nursing, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. Three additional studies focused on interprofessional education. A variety of strategies was used to teach professional writing, with the most common being didactic methods such as lectures, as well as checklists. These strategies included group and individualized modes of delivery and targeted a range of professional writing types, including assessments, discharge summaries, prescriptions, and patient education materials. Conclusion: – Most of the studies included in this review were published within the last 5 years, highlighting the growing recognition of the need to prepare future health care graduates to write professionally. This review reveals a gap in understanding of the most effective methods for teaching professional writing in prelicensure programs. Future research should identify the best teaching strategies and develop standardized evaluation metrics to ensure that health profession students are fully equipped to meet the writing demands of clinical practice. Review registration: – OSF https://osf.io/nveqr/ © 2025 JBI

The transition from being a medical student to working as a doctor is a pivotal phase, often marked by challenges in balancing learning with the demands of clinical practice. Despite extensive research on the struggles faced by junior doctors, there remains a gap in understanding how other key stakeholders perceive this transition and how it can be viewed as more than just a struggle. In this phenomenographic study, we used the Swedish medical internship as a proxy for the transition and explored internship programme directors’ (PDs) perceptions of the medical internship from a developmental point of view. A phenomenographic approach was chosen to capture the variation in how PDs conceptualise the meaning of the internship, offering a more nuanced understanding of the transition and its implications for educational practice. Interviews with twelve PDs gave rise to three perceptions: the internship as an education, as working as a doctor, and as a space for learning through work. These views highlighted the transition not merely as a preparatory phase but as a dynamic process in which learning and clinical work were intertwined. Our findings suggest that instead of focusing solely on better preparing students for work, empowering junior doctors to learn through work—supported by structured guidance—can turn this challenging period into an opportunity for professional and personal growth. This study offers a novel contribution by shedding light on the role of PDs in shaping the transition to clinical work and emphasising the need to view it as a learning-centred, reflective experience. © The Author(s) 2025.

This study investigates the influence of lecturer behavior on student self-motivation, soft skill development, and the integration of these factors into learning quality and hard skill competency within the context of vocational education. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Social Learning Theory (SLT), the research emphasizes the importance of motivation-driven instruction in preparing students for Industry 4.0. Data were collected from 229 final-year students at four Indonesian aviation polytechnic institutions. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the findings reveal that lecturer behavior significantly enhances student self-motivation (β = 0.911, p = 0.000) and soft skill competency (β = 0.124, p = 0.044). Student self-motivation also positively affects the quality of learning (β = 0.925, p = 0.000), which in turn contributes to hard skill competency (β = 0.449, p = 0.000). However, soft skill competency does not significantly influence learning quality (β = 0.004, p = 0.464), suggesting its greater impact lies in workplace adaptability rather than academic performance. These findings accentuate the need for vocational curricula that integrate motivational teaching practices with industry-relevant skill development to optimize student readiness for professional challenges. © 2025 The Authors

Vocational training can lead to higher employment rates and improved incomes, particularly for young women in low-resource settings like Kampala’s slums. Despite these benefits, further research is needed to understand the full impact and mechanisms of vocational training on youth in low-resource environments. In 2022, a focus group project, part of a larger study, involved 60 women aged 18 to 24, recruited from three Youth Support Centers operated by the Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) in Kampala. Six focus groups (about 10 women in each group) were held to explore urban stress and how vocational training might mitigate social and environmental stressors and improve mental health. Data analysis conducted using NVivo software identified five key themes: economic benefits, skill development, building confidence and self-esteem, improved social and behavioral well-being, and enhanced lifestyle and quality of life. This formative research underscores that vocational training benefits young women, highlighting outcomes such as job acquisition, financial empowerment, and skill development. Additionally, self-esteem and confidence development emphasize the training’s role in fostering mental health and agency and addressing gender inequality. These findings underscore the value of vocational training in enhancing the mental health and overall well-being of young women and suggest areas for future research for how to best optimize and scale these programs in low-resource settings. © 2025 by the authors.

Erroneous and malpractice claim cases reflect knowledge gaps and complex contextual factors. Incorporating such cases into clinical reasoning education (CRE) may enhance learning and diagnostic skills. However, they may also elicit anxiety among learners, potentially impacting learning. As a result, the optimal utilization of such cases in CRE remains uncertain. This study aims to investigate the effect of erroneous and malpractice claim case vignettes on anxiety and future diagnostic performance in CRE and explores possible underlying factors that may influence learning, including self-reported confidence in the final diagnosis, learners’ satisfaction, and retrospective impact of the cases. In this three-phase experiment, GP residents and supervisors were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: neutral (without reference to an error), erroneous (involving a diagnostic error), or malpractice claim (involving a diagnostic error along with a malpractice claim description). During the first session, participants reviewed six cases exclusively in the version of their assigned condition, with anxiety levels measured before and after. In the second session, participants solved six neutral clinical cases featuring the same diagnoses as those in the learning phase but presented in different scenarios, along with four filler cases. Diagnostic performance and self-reported confidence in the diagnosis were assessed. The third session measured learners’ satisfaction and longer-term impact on the participants. Case vignettes featuring diagnostic errors or malpractice claims did not lead to increased anxiety and resulted in similar future diagnostic performance compared to neutral vignettes. Additionally, self-reported confidence, learners’ satisfaction and long-term impact scores did not differ significantly between conditions. This suggests these cases can be integrated into CRE programs, offering a valuable source of diverse, context-rich examples that broaden case libraries without interfering with diagnostic performance or causing anxiety in learners. © The Author(s) 2025.

Objective: This study explores the influence of physical exercise on self-efficacy in adolescents, focusing on the mediating role of psychological resilience. By analyzing direct and indirect pathways, the study provides insights into the psychological mechanisms linking physical activity and self-efficacy. Method: Data were collected from 1,613 adolescent participants across 15 provinces in China using validated questionnaires to measure physical exercise, psychological resilience, and self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test direct and mediated effects, while multi-group invariance testing examined gender differences. Results: Physical exercise significantly predicts both psychological resilience (β = 0.410, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (β = 0.220, p < 0.001). Psychological resilience positively predicts self-efficacy (β = 0.417, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis revealed that psychological resilience partially mediates the relationship between physical exercise and self-efficacy, contributing 43.85% to the total effect. Multi-group analysis confirmed structural invariance across genders. Conclusion: Physical exercise enhances adolescents’ self-efficacy both directly and indirectly through psychological resilience. It strengthens psychological resilience, which in turn boosts self-efficacy. These findings highlight the key role of physical activity in promoting resilience and building adolescents’ confidence in their abilities. © The Author(s) 2025.

University commitment reflects students’ emotional and psychological attachment to their institutions. It is fostered by providing essential resources that empower students to shape their futures. Amidst the increasing demand for universities to bolster students’ soft skills for greater adaptability in the contemporary workforce, this study focuses on examining the connections between skill acquisition and healthcare management students’ commitment levels to their university. Data were gathered by two questionnaires measuring three sets of soft skills acquisition (1) Personal skills (PS) involve a commitment to organizational values, ethical navigation in professional settings, self-awareness, resilience, creativity, self-improvement, and work/life balance; (2) Social skills (SS) encompass clear communication, conflict resolution, networking, multicultural navigation, leadership, and fostering collaborative relationships; and (3) Methodological skills (MS) include adaptability, insightful synthesis of information, continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, proactive decision-making, goal setting, resource management, and results-oriented organizational leadership. The results indicated that students have acquired more methodological soft skills compared to personal or social ones. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results showed that among the categories of soft skills, personal, social, methodological, merely the latter was significantly related to university commitment. Methodological skills, including adaptability, analysis, and decision-making, were directly related to university commitment, aligning with educational and professional goals, offering a stronger connection to academic success than personal or social skills. This study emphasizes the need for higher education institutions to improve their curriculum to better develop soft skills. Prioritizing personal and social abilities alongside technical skills is crucial to preparing students for future career challenges, particularly in healthcare. © The Author(s) 2025.

Background: The foundation for mental health is laid in childhood and adolescence. For young people, adolescence is associated with multiple developmental tasks. In this vulnerable phase of life, they often start a vocational training. Particularly during vocational training in the health and social care sector, adolescents are confronted with highly stressful situations, e.g., serious illness, death, or sexual harassment. In this study we aimed to explore adolescents’ experiences and perceptions affecting their mental health during vocational education and training. Methods: We performed five focus group interviews with a total of 41 vocational education and training students from different fields in the health and social care professions. Data analysis was based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) according to Smith. Results: We identified five superordinate themes and 17 subordinate themes. The personal circumstances and the pronounced shortage of staff throughout the health and social care sector play a major role for the vocational education and training students’ (VETs) mental health during their vocational training. In addition, vocational education and training students are confronted with various challenges that are atypical for their age (e.g. the death of a patient). They try to being able to maintain a balance between the stressful factors and the coping strategies available to them. This can improve as well as worsen mental health and well-being. Vocational education and training students express the need to counteract the stressful factors of their vocational training with positive aspects of their lives. They try to find a bridge to the outside world again. However, they depend on the support from the vocational training school, the vocational training company, and their social environment. Conclusion: Today’s vocational education and training students are tomorrow’s skilled workers. Investing in their mental health can help reduce staff shortages in the long term and prevent mental health impairments in this vulnerable group. To this end, training institutions, companies and politicians should create appropriate framework conditions. © The Author(s) 2025.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is transforming the education sector by automating repetitive, rule-based tasks previously carried out by humans. This paper investigates the applications, benefits, challenges, and implications of RPA in education, focusing on its impact on administrative processes, student support services, and teaching methodologies. By analyzing 54 studies conducted between 2020 and 2024, this research explores how educational institutions have adopted RPA to enhance operational efficiency. Case studies reveal common success factors, including significant time savings, error reduction, and improved satisfaction for both students and staff. RPA has enabled institutions to streamline administrative workflows, optimize resource management, and offer personalized learning experiences. However, challenges such as implementation costs, data security, and the need for effective change management are also addressed. Additionally, this paper examines ethical concerns, particularly those surrounding job displacement and privacy. The findings underscore the transformative potential of RPA while highlighting the complexities of its integration into educational settings. The methodology followed PRISMA guidelines, with a systematic search of academic databases including IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria focused on studies published between 2020 and 2024 that addressed RPA applications in education. Data analysis was conducted using thematic synthesis to identify key trends across the selected studies. © The Author(s) 2025.

The SMART program improves students’ memory, reasoning, and strategic thinking skills, crucial for academic success and career planning. This study explored the effect of Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) for final-year high school students, aiming to enhance their decision-making abilities and prepare them for University. Based on the literature, nine hypotheses were developed with SMART program implementation therapy as an independent variable with four sub-variables: cognitive skills, professional development, social skills, and academic skills, and their impact on the dependent variable, such as career decision-making. Using a smart partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on 284 high school students, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) was implemented to confirm the measurement model. Path analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Results of the study revealed that SMART therapy significantly enhances cognitive abilities, academic performance, personal development, and social skills, collectively contributing to better career decision-making among final-year high school students. However, the direct impact of SMART on career decision-making was not supported, indicating that additional factors, such as social and emotional influences, play a role. These findings suggest that integrating SMART therapy into high school curricula can better prepare students for future challenges and career opportunities, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education). A collaborative approach among stakeholders, policy support, and innovative practices are recommended to overcome potential obstacles and ensure the successful implementation of SMART therapy in educational settings. © The Author(s) 2025.