Professionalism and occupational therapy: An exploration of faculty and students’ perspectives

Background. Professionalism is a complex, multifaceted concept embedded within the curricula of occupational therapy programs and professional documents; yet there is no clear explanation in the literature. Purpose. To explore occupational therapy faculty and students’ perspectives of the meaning of professionalism. Methods This interpretivist qualitative study used convenience sampling to recruit eight second-year occupational therapy master's students and five occupational therapy faculty members to participate in two separate focus groups. Open-coding and constant comparative methods were used to identify themes. Findings. Data analysis yielded the following student focus group themes: uncertainty about professional expectations; searching for answers through concrete concepts; and the context-specific nature of professionalism. Faculty focus group themes were professional responsibility; professional awareness; and the context-specific nature of professionalism. Understanding and enacting professionalism may be a developmental process. Implications. Further exploration of the meaning of professionalism from a variety of other occupational therapy stakeholders is needed.

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Context-specific regulation of lysosomal lipolysis through network-level diverting of transcription factor interactions

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2104832118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (41) ◽

pp. e2104832118

Author(s):

Vinod K. Mony ◽

Anna Drangowska-Way ◽

Reka Albert ◽

Emma Harrison ◽

Abbas Ghaddar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Target Gene ◽

Specific Nature ◽

C Elegans ◽

Functional Interactions ◽

Genetic Epistasis ◽

Specific Regulation ◽

Context Specific ◽

Factor Interactions ◽

Multicellular Organisms

Plasticity in multicellular organisms involves signaling pathways converting contexts—either natural environmental challenges or laboratory perturbations—into context-specific changes in gene expression. Congruently, the interactions between the signaling molecules and transcription factors (TF) regulating these responses are also context specific. However, when a target gene responds across contexts, the upstream TF identified in one context is often inferred to regulate it across contexts. Reconciling these stable TF–target gene pair inferences with the context-specific nature of homeostatic responses is therefore needed. The induction of the Caenorhabditis elegans genes lipl-3 and lipl-4 is observed in many genetic contexts and is essential to survival during fasting. We find DAF-16/FOXO mediating lipl-4 induction in all contexts tested; hence, lipl-4 regulation seems context independent and compatible with across-context inferences. In contrast, DAF-16–mediated regulation of lipl-3 is context specific. DAF-16 reduces the induction of lipl-3 during fasting, yet it promotes it during oxidative stress. Through discrete dynamic modeling and genetic epistasis, we define that DAF-16 represses HLH-30/TFEB—the main TF activating lipl-3 during fasting. Contrastingly, DAF-16 activates the stress-responsive TF HSF-1 during oxidative stress, which promotes C. elegans survival through induction of lipl-3. Furthermore, the TF MXL-3 contributes to the dominance of HSF-1 at the expense of HLH-30 during oxidative stress but not during fasting. This study shows how context-specific diverting of functional interactions within a molecular network allows cells to specifically respond to a large number of contexts with a limited number of molecular players, a mode of transcriptional regulation we name “contextualized transcription.”

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Report from the Economics Network’s Student Focus Group Scheme 2010

10.53593/n1127a ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Miriam Best

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Group Scheme ◽

Student Focus ◽

Student Focus Group

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Engaging in Feedback: Students as Recipients and Providers of Feedback in an In-class Activity

The Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning ◽

10.1921/jpts.v18i1-2.1555 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1-2) ◽

pp. 60-68

Author(s):

Sama'a AlMubarak

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Focus Group ◽

Peer Feedback ◽

Feedback Process ◽

Master's Students ◽

Practice Opportunities ◽

Professional Context ◽

Positive Impacts

Despite the positive impacts of providing and receiving peer-feedback, students remain ill-prepared to engage in feedback processes. I report on an action research that was employed to addresses students’ reluctance to providing peer-feedback. The aim was to promote a learning atmosphere that values feedback by having students as active participants in the feedback process. As part of an in-class peer-feedback activity, students provided feedback to their peers’ final assignment by identifying areas of strengths and for improvement. Based on observations and a focus group, students positively experienced the peer-feedback activity. They reported utilizing the feedback in improving their work, extended the feedback application to other contexts and were able to practice and engage actively in the process of feedback. Keen attention and further efforts are necessary to be taken towards actively and strategically integrating peer-feedback within curricula. Recognizing peer feedback as a preparation for practice learning while creating multiple practice opportunities would maximize the transferability of peer-feedback as a skill to the professional context. Keywords: peer-feedback, master’s students, qualitative, students’ experiences, practice learning

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Care Across Campus: Athletic Training, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy Student Experiences in an Interprofessional Simulation

Athletic Training Education Journal ◽

10.4085/1304332 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 332-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Briyana L. M. Morrell ◽

Alison M. Nichols ◽

Craig A. Voll ◽

Kathleen E. Hetzler ◽

Jane Toon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Focus Group ◽

Occupational Therapy ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Athletic Training ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Focus Group Discussions ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Occupational Therapy Students ◽

Positive Attitudes

Context: This study explored health care students' experiences after participation in an interprofessional simulation. Interprofessional education incorporates students from several health care professions in a controlled, collaborative learning environment. Athletic training students are not well represented in interprofessional education literature. Objective: This study sought to explore the attitudes of athletic training, nursing, and occupational therapy students toward other professions after their participation in an interprofessional simulation. Design: This article describes the results of the qualitative portion of a mixed-methods study. Focus group discussions related to elements of the Interprofessional Attitude Scale to explore participants' attitudes toward other professions. Researchers analyzed transcribed focus group discussions for themes. Setting: This study occurred in a private midsized Midwestern university. Patients or Other Participants: Seventy-nine students, representing athletic training, nursing, and occupational therapy, participated in the simulation; a sample of 13 of these participated in the focus groups. Intervention(s): Students in all professions cared for or observed the care of a standardized patient from the time of a spinal cord injury on the football field through an ambulance ride and subsequent emergency and inpatient care. Students collaborated and communicated with one another. Faculty conducted debriefing after the simulation and before the focus groups. Main Outcome Measure(s): Focus groups included relevant questions from the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale, and themes were identified from participants' responses. Results: Researchers identified 4 themes from the focus group discussions: collaboration, respect, knowledge of other professions, and communication. These themes also mirror elements of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative's core competencies of interprofessional collaborative practice. Conclusions: After the simulation, students expressed positive attitudes toward other professions. This study suggests that athletic training, nursing, and occupational therapy students have positive attitudes toward each other's professions after an interprofessional simulation activity.

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Master’s Students’ Rehabilitation Counselor Identity Formation: A Descriptive Study

Rehabilitation Research Policy and Education ◽

10.1891/2168-6653.29.4.302 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 302-319

Author(s):

Julia S. Louw ◽

Bryan S. Austin ◽

Eniko Rak ◽

Erin Barnes

Keyword(s):

Identity Development ◽

Professional Identity ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Counselor Training ◽

Developmental Process ◽

Master's Students ◽

Professional Identity Development ◽

Rehabilitation Counselor ◽

Formed Part ◽

Attitudinal Changes

Purpose: This article aims to advance understanding of professional identity by exploring the process by which development occurs. Drawing on Hall’s model of professional identity development that explores the structural and attitudinal changes that occur in the identity development process, this study describes master’s students’ developmental process in rehabilitation counseling.Method: Data were collected through 5 open-ended questions, which formed part of a survey questionnaire.Results: Using grounded theory analysis, findings indicate that both structural- and attitudinal-level factors impacted master’s students’ professional identity development. Students described their professional identity as not yet defined, connected to their counseling competencies and skills, or reflective of their personal qualities.Discussion: Implications of these findings for counselor training and evolution of the field toward a strong and unified professional identity are discussed.

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Systematic Elucidation and Validation of OncoProtein-Centric Molecular Interaction Maps

10.1101/289538 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Joshua Broyde ◽

David R. Simpson ◽

Diana Murray ◽

Federico M. Giorgi ◽

Alexander Lachmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Interaction ◽

De Novo ◽

Synthetic Lethality ◽

Specific Nature ◽

Cancer Pathways ◽

Binding Partners ◽

Algorithm Validation ◽

Cancer Phenotypes ◽

Interaction Map ◽

Context Specific

ABSTRACTThe largely incomplete and tissue-independent nature of cancer pathways represents a key limitation to the ability to elucidate mechanistic determinants of cancer phenotypes and to predict adaptive response to targeted therapy. To address these challenges, we propose replacing canonical cancer pathways with a more accurate, comprehensive, and context-specific architecture – dubbed a Protein-Centric molecular interaction Map (PC-Map) – representing modulators, effectors, and cognate binding-partners of any oncoprotein of interest. To reconstruct these complex molecular architectures de novo, we introduce a novel OncoSig algorithm. Validation of a lung adenocarcinoma specific (LUAD) KRAS-centric PC-Map recapitulated known KRAS biology and, more critically, identified a novel repertoire of proteins eliciting synthetic lethality in KRASG12D LUAD organoid cultures. Showing the generalizable nature of the algorithm, we elucidated PC-Maps for ten recurrently mutated oncoproteins, including KRAS, in distinct tumor contexts. This revealed a highly context-specific nature of cancer’s regulatory and signaling architectures to an unprecedented degree of resolution.

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Authenticity in Context: Being True to Working Selves

Review of General Psychology ◽

10.1037/gpr0000160 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 60-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Serena Chen

Keyword(s):

Cultural Context ◽

Social Power ◽

Theoretical Background ◽

The Self ◽

Self Concept ◽

Future Research ◽

Specific Nature ◽

The Core ◽

Level I ◽

Context Specific

The core premise of this article is that it is scientifically informative and psychologically meaningful to conceptualize and assess authenticity in context. I begin by providing some theoretical background on the nature of the self-concept, highlighting how the self-concept is composed of a collection of selves, with different selves activated and therefore at play in different contexts. This basic fact, that the self-concept is both multifaceted and malleable, implies that authenticity is a construct that requires study at a contextual level. I illustrate this by reviewing theory and findings from 3 areas of research, incorporating studies from my laboratory throughout. These areas are (a) authenticity in the context of close relationships; (b) authenticity in hierarchical contexts, wherein one occupies a lower versus higher position of social power; and (c) authenticity in relation to the larger cultural context. Finally, I address a number of issues and questions that arise when considering authenticity in context and propose a number of directions for future research on the context-specific nature of authenticity.

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Listening and learning: myths and misperceptions about postgraduate students and library support

Reference Services Review ◽

10.1108/rsr-03-2019-0019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 594-608 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shiobhan Alice Smith ◽

Antje Lubcke ◽

Dean Alexander ◽

Kate Thompson ◽

Christy Ballard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Support Services ◽

Master's Students ◽

Student Preferences ◽

Content Type ◽

Postgraduate Students ◽

Seeking Help ◽

Library Support ◽

The University

Purpose The University of Otago Library conducted a review of its postgraduate support program in 2018. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a questionnaire and follow up focus group undertaken as part of the review. It highlights postgraduate student preferences for learning about support services, their ideas on marketing these services effectively and the kind of engagement that works best for them. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed and deployed in July 2018. It contained 20 questions and was emailed to 2,430 enrolled Otago doctorate and master’s students by the University of Otago (GRS). A total of 564 responded, 391 completing all questions. A follow-up focus group was held in August 2018. Quantitative data were collected and analyzed using Qualtrics software and qualitative data were coded and analyzed using NVivo software. Findings Respondents highlighted the difficulty they have learning what support services are available to them. In some cases, they also feel a stigma when seeking help because of their status as postgraduate students. They suggest practical ways libraries can better reach out to them. The findings confirm previous literature about the need for libraries to improve marketing of their services to postgraduate students, communicate via supervisors and departments where possible and provide a variety of engagement options. Originality/value Before (re)developing postgraduate programs, libraries can gain valuable insights and test assumptions by surveying students.

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