scholarly journals From COVID-19 adversity comes opportunity: teaching an online integrative medicine course

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2020-002713
Author(s):  
Eran Ben-Arye ◽  
Yael Keshet ◽  
Ariel Schiff ◽  
Catherine Zollman ◽  
Emanuela Portalupi ◽  
...  

BackgroundWe examine the impact of a 5-day online elective course in integrative medicine (IM) taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, attended by 18 medical students from two faculties of medicine in Israel.MethodsThe course curriculum addressed effectiveness and safety of IM practices highlighting supportive and palliative care, demonstrated the work of integrative physicians (IPs) in designing patient-tailored treatments and taught practical skills in communication regarding IM. Group discussions were conducted via Zoom with 32 physicians, healthcare practitioners and IM practitioners working in integrative academic, community and hospital-based settings, in Israel, Italy, UK and Germany. An 18-item questionnaire examined student attitudes and perceived acquisition of skills for implementing what was learned in clinical practice. Student narratives were analysed using ATLAS.Ti software for systematic coding, identifying barriers and advantages of the online learning methodology.ResultsStudents reported a better understanding of the benefits of IM for specific outcomes (p=0.012) and of potential risks associated with these therapies (p=0.048). They also perceived the acquisition of skills related to the IM-focused history (p=0.006), learnt to identify effectiveness and safety of IM treatments (p=0.001), and internalised the referral to IPs for consultation (p=0.001). Student narratives included reflections on the tools provided during the course for assessing effectiveness and safety, enhancing communication with patients, enriching their patient-centred perspective, raising awareness of available therapeutic options, and personal and professional growth.ConclusionsOnline clinical electives in IM are feasible and can significantly increase students’ awareness and modify attitudes towards acquirement of patient-centred perspectives.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 548-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Washburn ◽  
James Herman ◽  
Randolph Stewart

In the veterinary professional curriculum, methods of examination in many courses are transitioning from the traditional paper-based exams to electronic-based exams. Therefore, a controlled trial to evaluate the impact of testing methodology on examination performance in a veterinary physiology course was designed and implemented. Formalized surveys and focus group discussions were also used to determine student attitudes toward the examination formats. In total, 134 first-year veterinary students and 11 PhD/MS students were administered a total of 4 exams throughout 1 semester (2 on paper and 2 electronically) using a split-halves design. The paper (P) and electronic (E) exams contained 25 identical multiple-choice questions. Students were randomly assigned to two groups and were given exams in one of two sequences (E-P-E-P or P-E-P-E). Participants consented to and completed two anonymous surveys vis à vis their experience. Out of a maximum raw score of 25, the mean score for electronic examinations (20.8; 95% confidence interval, 20.3–21.2) was significantly ( P = 0.01) greater than that for paper examinations (20.3; 95% confidence interval, 20.0–20.7). However, students expressed numerous concerns with the electronic examination format, and, at the completion of the study, 87% preferred to take their examination on paper rather than the electronic format. These data show that student attitudes concerning the examination format are not primarily determined by examination results, and that the additional anxiety related to the electronic examination format plays a large role in student attitudes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
Bogdan-Viorel Vîlceleanu ◽  
Ana Maria Bălan ◽  
Elena Jugănaru ◽  
Elena Merlușcă ◽  
Agripina Rașcu ◽  
...  

Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic created one of the most stressful situations all around the world and affected almost all activity sectors, including medical education. Sudden restrictions on social interactions forced an abrupt transition from amphitheatres and physical examinations to online lectures and, despite difficulties, the academic community rallied to continue teaching. The swift transition left academia with no time to design custom platforms and confined the university to choose among a set of readily available tools: Google Classroom and Google Meet, Zoom and Moodle, which offer a basic framework for substituting the students’ needs. In some countries, ours included, most of the summer term took place online. Although pandemics are, hopefully, rare events, the experience with online classes should be used to improve and expand current teaching models, since this improvement could be a means to a general improvement of the medical teaching system. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic is not finished yet and many restrictions continue, affecting at least 20% of the total undergraduate training of several generations of doctors. The study aims to identify – within the medical students’ community - transferable aspects of online classes to the post-pandemic teaching in the perspective of blended learning. We deliberately chose to omit the examination part of the educational process in order to set the focus on the delivery of teaching. In this first analysis of the results, the degree of progress in reaching a high professionalism level was analyzed starting from the self-assessment of professional growth, that was previously found to be in good agreement with the actual achievements as derived from the traditional formative examination. [1]


GeroPsych ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M. Solberg ◽  
Lauren B. Solberg ◽  
Emily N. Peterson

Stress in caregivers may affect the healthcare recipients receive. We examined the impact of stress experienced by 45 adult caregivers of their elderly demented parents. The participants completed a 32-item questionnaire about the impact of experienced stress. The questionnaire also asked about interventions that might help to reduce the impact of stress. After exploratory factor analysis, we reduced the 32-item questionnaire to 13 items. Results indicated that caregivers experienced stress, anxiety, and sadness. Also, emotional, but not financial or professional, well-being was significantly impacted. There was no significant difference between the impact of caregiver stress on members from the sandwich generation and those from the nonsandwich generation. Meeting with a social worker for resource availability was identified most frequently as a potentially helpful intervention for coping with the impact of stress.


Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Martin Wurst ◽  
Isabella Kunz ◽  
Gregory Skipper ◽  
Manfred Wolfersdorf ◽  
Karl H. Beine ◽  
...  

Background: A substantial proportion of therapists experience the loss of a patient to suicide at some point during their professional life. Aims: To assess (1) the impact of a patient’s suicide on therapists distress and well-being over time, (2) which factors contribute to the reaction, and (3) which subgroup might need special interventions in the aftermath of suicide. Methods: A 63-item questionnaire was sent to all 185 Psychiatric Clinics at General Hospitals in Germany. The emotional reaction of therapists to patient’s suicide was measured immediately, after 2 weeks, and after 6 months. Results: Three out of ten therapists suffer from severe distress after a patients’ suicide. The item “overall distress” immediately after the suicide predicts emotional reactions and changes in behavior. The emotional responses immediately after the suicide explained 43.5% of the variance of total distress in a regression analysis. Limitations: The retrospective nature of the study is its primary limitation. Conclusions: Our data suggest that identifying the severely distressed subgroup could be done using a visual analog scale for overall distress. As a consequence, more specific and intensified help could be provided to these professionals.


Author(s):  
Maria Giulia Ballatore ◽  
Ettore Felisatti ◽  
Laura Montanaro ◽  
Anita Tabacco

This paper is aimed to describe and critically analyze the so-called "TEACHPOT" experience (POT: Provide Opportunities in Teaching) performed during the last few years at Politecnico di Torino. Due to career criteria, the effort and the time lecturers spend in teaching have currently undergone a significant reduction in quantity. In order to support and meet each lecturers' expectations towards an improvement in their ability to teach, a mix of training opportunities has been provided. This consists of an extremely wide variety of experiences, tools, relationships, from which everyone can feel inspired to increase the effectiveness of their teaching and the participation of their students. The provided activities are designed around three main components: methodological training, teaching technologies, methodological experiences. A discussion on the findings is included and presented basing on the data collected through a survey. The impact of the overall experience can be evaluated on two different levels: the real effect on redesigning lessons, and the discussion on the matter within the entire academic community.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1183-1199
Author(s):  
Mohammed Alrouili ◽  

This study attempted to identify the impact of internal work environment on the retention of healthcare providers at Turaif General Hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In particular, the study aimed to identify the dimensions of work circumstances, compensation, and relationship with colleagues, professional growth, and the level of healthcare providers’ retention. In order to achieve the study goals, the researcher used the descriptive analytical approach. The researcher used the questionnaire as the study tool. The study population comprised all the healthcare providers at Turaif General Hospital. Questionnaires were distributed to the entire study sample that consisted of 220 individuals. The number of questionnaires valid for study was 183 questionnaires. The research findings were as follows: the participants’ estimate of the work circumstances dimension was high (3.64), the participants’ estimate of the compensation dimension was moderate (3.32), the participants’ estimate of the relationship with colleagues dimension was high (3.62), the participants’ estimate of the professional growth dimension was weak (2.39), and the participants’ estimate of healthcare providers’ retention level was intermediate (2.75). Accordingly, the researcher’s major recommendations are: the need to create the right atmosphere for personnel in hospitals, the interest of the hospital to provide the appropriate conditions for the staff in terms of the physical and moral aspects for building the work adjustment in the staff, and conducting training courses and educational lectures for personnel in hospitals on how to cope with the work pressures.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tafadzwa Rugoho ◽  
France Maphosa

This article is based on a study of gender-based violence against women with disabilities. The study sought to examine the factors that make such women vulnerable, to investigate the community’s responses to gender-based violence against women with disabilities, and to determine the impact of gender-based violence on the wellbeing and health of women with disabilities. The study adopted a qualitative research design so as to arrive at an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under study. The study sample consisted of 48 disabled women living in marital or common law unions, selected using purposive sampling. Of the 48 women in the sample, 16 were visually impaired while the remaining 32 had other physical disabilities. Focus group discussions were used for data collection. The data were analysed using the thematic approach. The finding was that women with disabilities also experience gender-based violence. The study makes recommendations whose thrust is to change community perceptions on disability as the only guarantee towards eradicating gender-based violence against women with disabilities.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 122-129
Author(s):  
Monika Bansal ◽  
Sh. Lbs Arya Mahila

Youth Mentoring is the process of matching mentors with young people who need or want a caring responsible adult in their lives. It is defined as an on-going relationship between a caring adult and a young person which is required for self-development, professional growth and carrier development of the mentee and mentors both and all this must be placed within a specific institution context. The purpose of this article is to quantitatively review the three major areas of mentoring research (youth, academic, and workplace) to determine the overall effect size associated with mentoring outcomes for students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jie Hu ◽  
Kezheng Chen ◽  
Dongfang Liu

We empirically investigated Chinese university faculty members' visiting experience and professional growth in American universities. The major data source was qualitative semistructured interviews with 30 Chinese faculty members in the arts, engineering, natural sciences, and social sciences disciplines. The results showed that, despite challenges in preparation, language, and different academic cultures, Chinese visiting scholars were capable of navigating their host programs and achieving professional growth as they moved from peripheral to central participation in their academic community. We also critically discussed how Chinese visiting scholars' academic experience in the United States can be improved, and cast light on the globalization of higher education.


2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hessel J. Zondag

Expectancy theory has been utilized by organizational psychology to explore the expectations and valuations of individuals in various professions. This study employs expectancy theory to clergy, investigating pastors' personal motivations, or values, for assuming pastoral ministry and the subsequent expectation that these values will be honored by their activities within the pastorate. The responses of 235 pastors from Catholic and Protestant denominations on a 24-item questionnaire devised to gauge pastoral motivation and adapted to assess pastoral expectations were factor analyzed and correlated in this exploratory study. The analysis yielded four robust factors. The first two motives found to be dominant were the pursuit of a Christian Way of Life and Anthropocentric Altruism. Anthropocentric Egoism and Theocentric Egoism, although secondary motivations, were theoretically meaningful in the understanding of pastoral motivations and expectations. The impact of expectations upon pastoral well-being and resilience against burnout is discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document