scholarly journals Dispatches from the front: emergency medicine teachers' perceptions of competency-based education

CJEM ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 155-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen Bandiera ◽  
David Lendrum

ABSTRACTObjectives:Controversy exists regarding the applicability of competency-based education during clinical rotations in emergencymedicine (EM). Little has been written about the perceptions of front-line teachers regarding one such competencybased education paradigm, the CanMEDS framework. We undertook to determine 1) what perceptions exist among frontline teachers at two academic health science emergency departments (EDs) regarding the use of the CanMEDS roles to frame what residents should learn on ED rotations and 2) how those same teachers envision practically incorporating the CanMEDS roles into feedback provided to residents.Methods:Teachers at two sites volunteered for a semistructured focus group study. Focus groups were moderated by an experienced qualitative researcher, and verbatim transcriptions were coded by two independent reviewers. The codes were merged into final themes. The final focus group was used to further explore issues raised and test assumptions made in the preceding groups.Results:In five focus groups involving 21 participants, the Medical Expert and Professional roles were seen as most relevant to an EM rotation, whereas the Health Advocate, Manager, Scholar, and Collaborator roles were least relevant. On further exploration, however, faculty identified highly relevant components of each role that they could envision teaching in an ED. Participants also felt that the framework helped highlight the breadth of physician competencies and provided structure for teaching and feedback.Conclusions:EM faculty find the CanMEDS framework helpful for structuring teaching and learning and that many elements of the roles, when defined, are feasible to integrate into a clinical rotation.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e049829
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Tyler ◽  
Fiona Lobban ◽  
Rita Long ◽  
Steven H Jones

ObjectivesAs awareness of bipolar disorder (BD) increases and the world experiences a rapid ageing of the population, the number of people living with BD in later life is expected to rise substantially. There is no current evidence base for the effectiveness of psychological interventions for older adults with BD. This focus group study explored a number of topics to inform the development and delivery of a recovery-focused therapy (RfT) for older adults with BD.DesignA qualitative focus group study.SettingThree focus groups were conducted at a university in the North West of England.ParticipantsEight people took part in the focus groups; six older adults with BD, one carer and one friend.ResultsParticipant’s responses clustered into six themes: (1) health-related and age-related changes in later life, (2) the experience of BD in later life, (3) managing and coping with BD in later life, (4) recovery in later life, (5) seeking helping in the future and (6) adapting RfT for older people.ConclusionsParticipants reported a range of health-related and age-related changes and strategies to manage their BD. Participants held mixed views about using the term ‘recovery’ in later life. Participants were in agreement that certain adaptations were needed for delivering RfT for older adults, based on their experience of living with BD in later life. The data collected as part of the focus groups have led to a number of recommendations for delivering RfT for older adults with BD in a randomised controlled trial (Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN13875321).


Author(s):  
Lilik Zuhriyah ◽  
Dearikha Karina Mayashinta ◽  
Nia Kurnianingsih ◽  
Holipah Holipah ◽  
Aulia Rahmi Pawestri

Understanding teachers’ perceptions towards dengue prevention in schools is an important factor for an optimal implementation of dengue prevention and control measures. This qualitative study aimed to explore teachers’ perceptions of dengue and its prevention in an environmentally friendly manner. 31 informants were chosen from 6 elementary schools. Data were obtained by Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and then analyzed by using Systematic Text Condensation and an editing analysis style. The results showed that the teachers confirmed the presence of patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever from students and residents living around the school. Most teachers agree and want to know about ovitrap applications in school, which is environmentally friendly. However, most teachers refuse to manage inorganic waste because of the bad experience. Engaging teachers in dengue prevention in schools has a high potential for success as long as it is efficient in terms of time and effort.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-696
Author(s):  
Ilse Johanna Sistermans

AbstractIn the current competitive and globalized economy, employers and professional organizations call for higher education institutions to deliver graduates with relevant competencies and skills. In response, a growing number of higher educational institutions is introducing competency-based education. This is particularly true for health science programs, which have a tradition of applying a case-based or problem-based learning approach. The effort to merge a problem- or case-based online learning approach with competency-based education offers various opportunities, while facing numerous challenges. To support these efforts, this paper aims at identifying suitable practices, as well as challenges for online course design and online learning activities for higher education health science programs, when integrating competency-based education with an online problem-based and/or case-based learning approach. It found various opportunities for online learning activities that support competency-based education, problem-based learning and case-based learning, whereas challenges relate to logistics, administration, and the affordances of an LMS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crawford Moodie

IntroductionTobacco companies have a long tradition of including promotional material within cigarette packs, such as cigarette cards and coupons. Only in Canada are they required, by the government, to include educational material within cigarette packs, in the form of inserts highlighting the benefits of quitting or providing tips on how to do so.MethodsTwenty focus groups were conducted in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2015, with smokers (n=120) segmented by age (16–17, 18–24, 25–35, 36–50, >50), gender and social grade, to explore perceptions of the inserts used in Canada.ResultsThe consensus was that these inserts would capture attention and be read due to their novelty and visibility before reaching the cigarettes, and as they can be removed from the pack. While they may be ignored or discarded, and rotation was considered necessary, they were generally thought to prolong the health message. The positive style of messaging was described as refreshing, educational, encouraging, reassuring and inspirational and thought to increase message engagement. It was regarded as more sympathetic than command-style messaging, offering smokers ‘a bit of hope’. The inserts were often considered preferable to the on-pack warnings, although it was felt that both were needed. Some participants suggested that inserts could encourage them to stop smoking, and they were generally viewed as having the potential to alter the behaviour of others, particularly younger people, would-be smokers and those wanting to quit.ConclusionsInserts are an inexpensive means of communication and offer regulators a simple way of supplementing on-pack warnings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonam Zamir ◽  
Felicity Allman ◽  
Catherine Hagan Hennessy ◽  
Adrian Haffner Taylor ◽  
Ray Brian Jones

BackgroundVideo-calls have proven to be useful for older care home residents in improving socialization and reducing loneliness. Nonetheless, to facilitate the acceptability and usability of a new technological intervention, especially among people with dementia, there is a need for user-led design improvements. The current study conducted focus groups with an embedded activity with older people to allow for a person-centered design of a video-call intervention.MethodsTwenty-eight residents across four care homes in the South West of England participated in focus groups to aesthetically personalize and ‘dress-up’ the equipment used in a video-call intervention. Each care home was provided with a ‘Skype on Wheels’ (SoW) device, a wheelable ‘chassis’ comprising an iPad or tablet for access to Skype, and a telephone handset. During the focus group, residents were encouraged to participate in an activity using colorful materials to ‘dress-up’ SoW. Comments before, during and after the ‘dress up’ activity were audio recorded. Framework analysis was used to analyze the focus group data.ResultsOlder people, including seven with dementia were able to interact with and implement design changes to SoW through aesthetic personalization. Themes arising from the data included estrangement, anthropomorphism, reminiscence, personalization, need for socialization versus fear of socialization and attitudes toward technology. After this brief exposure to SoW, residents expressed the likelihood of using video-calls for socialization in the future.ConclusionCare home residents enjoy engaging with new technologies when given the opportunity to interact with it, to personalize it and to understand its purpose. Low cost aesthetic personalization of technologies can improve their acceptability, usability, and implementation within complex care environments.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Philippon ◽  
Jennifer Truchot ◽  
Nathalie De Suremain ◽  
Marie-Christine Renaud ◽  
Arnaud Petit ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Simulation-based assessment is scarcely used for undergraduate medical students. We created a simulation-based assessment to validate medical students’ technical and psychometrics’ skills, during their emergency medicine and pediatric curriculum. The aim of our study was to collect medical students’ perception on this novel assessment.Methods This is a qualitative study that includes 9 focus groups among the 215 students who participated in either a pediatric or an emergency medicine simulation-based-course. These sessions ended by an assessment on a manikin. Among the 40 students who were randomly selected to participate in the focus groups, 30 agreed to participate. Data were analyzed using grounded theory and, data were coded the by two independent investigators.Results Seven major and two minor themes emerged from the focus groups. The importance of being certified by simulation to be more self-confident in hospital clerkships, the perception of simulation-based assessment as a high quality assessment, the contribution of the simulation-based assessment to change students’ practices and enhance their engagement in their curriculum and a disappointment because simulation-based assessment didn’t help student for the faculty high stakes assessments. Some students also found that simulation-based assessment was a stressful and unfair exercise. The last discussion was about practical issues of the assessment such as this normative way, and about the importance of the feedback.Conclusion The students reported positive aspects of the simulation-based assessment method such as helpful for their hospital clerkship, change of their practices and way of learning. However they also reported that it might be a biased and a stressful assessment method.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peterson Kato Kikomeko ◽  
Sophie Ochola ◽  
Archileo N. Kaaya ◽  
Irene Ogada ◽  
Tracy Lukiya Birungi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Competency-based education (CBE) equips health professionals with the requisite competencies for health systems performance. This study aimed to develop and validate a CBE model suitable for teaching Human Nutrition/Human Nutrition and Dietetics (HN/HND) at the undergraduate level in Uganda. Methods: The study was undertaken in two main phases, (1) competency needs assessment and (2) model development and content validation. The later had three iterative stages: a needs assessment results validation workshop; an expert focus group discussion to develop a draft CBE model framework; and consensus development-itself undertaken in two modified Delphi rounds to ascertain participant consensus on the relevance and suitability of the competency domains, subdomains, and statements comprised in the developed draft CBE framework for undergraduate HN/HND training in Uganda. In the modified Delphi process, participants indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with each of the given statements on five-point Likert-type items of strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, and strongly agree as well as the level of training they recommended the given competency statement to be learned. The workshop had 31 participants, the focus group eight, while the first and second Delphi rounds had 70 and 55 participants respectively. Results: In total, seven competency domains, 24 subdomains, and 190 competency statements were developed. Content analysis and analysis of percentage responses for each competency statement were done with participant consensus set at ≥80%. All the seven domains (100%); 22 (91.7%) of the 24 subdomains; and 153 (87.9%) of the 174 analysed competency statements were evaluated as both relevant and suitable for undergraduate HN/HND training and hence included in the validated CBE model. Conclusion: This study evaluated the relevancy and suitability of seven competency domains prevention and management of malnutrition; nutrition in the lifecycle; food security, food safety, agriculture, and livelihoods promotion; ethics and professionalism in nutrition and dietetics; research and data analysis; policy, advocacy, and social and behaviour change communication; and nutrition leadership and management for undergraduate HN/HND training in Uganda. The study recommends translating the developed CBE model into a standard curriculum that can be taught and evaluated.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 3467
Author(s):  
Cillian P. McDowell ◽  
Luisa Andrade ◽  
Viviana Re ◽  
Jean O’Dwyer ◽  
Paul D. Hynds ◽  
...  

Flooding events can inflict major disruption on society and cause significant infrastructural and environmental damage. However, the adverse health impacts of flooding, particularly as they pertain to private groundwater resources used for consumption, are frequently overlooked. Whilst the literature has previously found a lack of well stewardship among private well owners under ‘normal’ conditions, our understanding of private well owners’ perceptions of and preparedness for the risks posed by flooding to their domestic well-water supply is limited. This study advances the qualitative literature on this subject. It is amongst the first qualitative studies employing focus groups to examine private well owners, and the first in an Irish context. Six focus groups were conducted in four counties in Ireland, with the themes emerging from the focus groups refined, organised, and interpreted in the context of the Health Belief Model. Most focus group participants expressed awareness of the potential severity of well contamination following flooding, but many did not consider their local area “at risk” of it, notwithstanding the occurrence of previous local flooding events. All focus group participants shared the view that owners were primarily responsible for their own wells. However, their capacity to undertake appropriate actions was reduced by reliance on visual and olfactory evidence to assess water quality, and concerns regarding the financial cost and accessibility of water testing facilities. The phenomenon of misperception was also evident among participants. In light of the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events including flooding, these findings provide direction for future socio-hydrogeological interventions. Targeted communication strategies highlighting the risks posed by flooding, mitigation measures that promote well stewardship, and protective behaviours are required. The provision of access to free well water testing would also promote protective actions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishma Labib ◽  
Natalie Evans ◽  
Rea Scepanovic ◽  
Panagiotis Kavouras ◽  
Andrea Reyez Elizondo ◽  
...  

Education is important for fostering research integrity (RI). Although RI training (a formal element of RI education) is increasingly provided, there is little knowledge on how research stakeholders view institutional RI education and training policies. Here, we present insights about research stakeholders’ views on what research institutions should take into account when developing and implementing RI education and training policies. We conducted 30 focus groups, engaging 147 participants in 8 European countries. Using a mixed deductive-inductive thematic analysis, we identified five themes: 1) RI education should be available to all; 2) education and training approaches and goals should be tailored; 3) motivating trainees is essential; 4) both formal and informal educational formats are necessary; and 5) institutions should take into account various individual, institutional, and system-of-science factors when implementing RI education. Our findings suggest that institutions should make RI education attractive for all, and tailor training to disciplinary-specific contexts.


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