scholarly journals “Keepers of the Meaning”

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Farquhar MD SM

Albert Schweitzer once remarked, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” How true that is in so many spheres, but particularly so in the health professions. Former Queen’s University vice-dean of medicine Dr. Robert Maudsley observed that, of the four fundamental components of medical education – planned and organized curriculum, structured experience, role modelling and the learning environment – role modelling is considered the most important, by far, by medical school deans.1

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Maria Isabel Atienza

Introduction: The prevailing consensus is that medical professionalism must be formally included as a programme in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify institutions that can serve as models for incorporating professionalism in medical education. Differences and similarities were highlighted based on a framework for the comparison which included the following features: definition of professionalism, curricular design, student selection, teaching and learning innovations, role modelling and methods of assessment. Results: Four models for integrating professionalism in medical education were chosen: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM), University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM), University of Queensland (UQ) School of Medicine, and Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School. The task of preparing a programme on medical professionalism requires a well-described definition to set the direction for planning, implementing, and institutionalizing professionalism. The programmes are best woven in all levels of medical education from the pre-clinical to the clinical years. The faculty physicians and the rest of the institution’s staff must also undergo a similar programme for professionalism. Conclusion: The development of all scopes of professionalism requires constant planning, feedback and remediation. The students’ ability to handle professionalism challenges are related to how much learning situations the students encounter during medical school. The learning situations must be adjusted according to the level of responsibilities given to students. The goal of learning is to enable students to grow from a novice to a competent level and afterwards to a proficient and expert level handling professionalism challenges in medicine.


Author(s):  
William F Laughey ◽  
Jane Atkinson ◽  
Alison M Craig ◽  
Laura Douglas ◽  
Megan EL Brown ◽  
...  

Abstract Context Medical education is committed to teaching patient centred communication and empathy. However, quantitative research suggests empathy scores tend to decline as students progress through medical school. In qualitative terms, there is a need to better understand how students and tutors view the practice and teaching of clinical empathy and the phenomenon of empathic erosion. Methods Working within a constructivist paradigm, researchers thematically analysed the individual interview data from a purposive sample of 13 senior students and 9 tutors. Results The four major themes were as follows: (1) ‘the nature of empathy’, including the concept of the innate empathy that students already possess at the beginning of medical school; (2) ‘beyond the formal curriculum’ and the central importance of role modelling; (3) ‘the formal curriculum and the tick-box influence of assessments’; and (4) the ‘durability of empathy’, including ethical erosion and resilience. A garden model of empathy development is proposed — beginning with the innate seeds of empathy that students bring to medical school, the flowering of empathy is a fragile process, subject to both enablers and barriers in the formal, informal, and hidden curricula. Conclusion This study provides insights into empathic erosion in medical school, including the problems of negative role modelling and the limitations of an assessment system that rewards ‘tick-box’ representations of empathy, rather than true acts of compassion. It also identifies factors that should enable the flowering of empathy, such as new pedagogical approaches to resilience and a role for the arts and humanities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-121
Author(s):  
Olufunmilola A. Ogun ◽  
Timothy E. Nottidge ◽  
Sue Roff

Objective: Compare the results of administering the DREEM questionnaire in two Nigerian medical schools offering traditional and student-centred curricular respectively, to identify any differences in the learning environment and appreciate advantages of the more modern curriculum.Methods: A survey design was used. Data was analysed using the DREEM scoring rubric. The independent t-test was used to compare results. Setting: The DREEM questionnaire was administered to final year medical students at two participating centres. Participants: Final year students of a teacher-centred and a student-centred medical school. Results: There were 138 respondents – 50 (96.2% of the final year students) from the teacher centred school and 88 (59.1% of the final year students) from the student-centred school. The mean total DREEM score was 117+22.3 in the former and 119 +23.6 in the latter (p = 0.798). Mean age of students in the teacher centred school was 28 ± 5.28 years, while that of the student-centred school was 23 ± 1.83 years (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The mean total DREEM score proximity between the schools suggests that the younger students using a more student-centred curriculum have less of an appreciation of their improved learning environment than is expected. Thus, the hidden curriculum could be lagging behind the written one. The older students in the teacher centred environment have a more mature appreciation of their learning climate.  Funding: Personal sourcesKeywords: medical education, Nigeria, curriculum, DREEM


Author(s):  
Bonnie M. Granat

Accreditation is a driving force in higher education that faces continually increasing scrutiny resulting from demands of the public. People want to be assured their doctors are well-trained and can care for them, their engineers are well-schooled and can design safe structures, and their lawyers have been well-educated to protect their interests. This chapter explores the history and importance of accreditation in medical education, provides guidelines and a timeline for accreditation, and looks at the effort required for success. The chapter also includes a glimpse at the process and the institutional commitment necessary to demonstrate and document a quality learning environment to the accrediting bodies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp18X697229
Author(s):  
Matthew Webb ◽  
Sarah Thirlwall ◽  
Bob McKinley

BackgroundInformed consent is required for active participation of patients in medical education. At Keele Medical School, we require practices to advertise that they teach undergraduate students and to obtain appropriate patient consent at various stages of the patient journey.AimThe study aimed to explore patients’ experience of consent to involvement in undergraduate medical education in general practice.MethodDuring the final year at Keele University Medical School, students undertake a patient satisfaction survey. A questionnaire was attached to the reverse of this survey during the academic year 2016–2017. The questionnaire explored the stage of the patient journey consent was obtained, whether they were offered an alternative appointment and how comfortable they were with medical students being involved in their care.ResultsA total of 489 questionnaires were completed covering 62 GP practices. 97% of patients reported that consent was obtained at least once during their encounter and the majority reported that this occurred at booking. 98% of patients were comfortable or very comfortable with a medical student leading their consultation. However, 28% of those surveyed stated that they were either not given the option of not seeing the student or there was no other alternative appointment available.ConclusionThe results indicate that in the vast majority of cases patient consent is obtained at least once during their attendance. Patients expressed a high level of satisfaction with medical students’ involvement in their care. Further work is required to evaluate the role of the data as a marker of individual practice teaching quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
G Alsheikh ◽  
F Al Darazi

Abstract The policy paper aims at sharing experience in medical education between Tunisia and Djibouti through technical support from WHO EMRO. Djibouti, a francophone country located in the English-speaking horn of Africa, could not rely on neighboring countries to help in establishing a badly needed medical school. Djibouti a low middle-income country, with around one million population has a low density in medical professionals. Most of them were trained in France or other francophone countries and the rate of return to practice. WHO EMRO was requested to support in establishing a medical school. A feasibility study to develop a problem based and community oriented medical school was carried out by experts from WHO EMRO and from senior medical professors from Lebanon and Tunisia. A plan was designed to establish the medical school with support from WHO EMRO and technical cooperation from Tunisia using the same approach in establishing the medical school of Nouakchott in Mauritania. Initial funding was provided from WHO EMRO to support acquisition of education materials and laboratories and by a 600,000 $ grant from the African Bank to secure travel and accommodation of visiting professors from Tunisia and from other francophone countries from the region. More than 300 physicians were trained locally and efforts are being made to train Djiboutian residents in various specialties and to train future teachers. The objectives of the paper are to: To share a success story in south to south cooperation with technical support from WHOTo harness solidarity mechanisms among countries of the southTo highlight the positive role played by WHO in facilitating technical cooperation and in mobilizing financial resources from development bank to support medical education Key messages need to harness solidarity among countries of the south in human resource development. highlight the facilitating role of WHO In technical cooperation and in fund raising.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kligler ◽  
Genevieve Pinto Zipp ◽  
Carmela Rocchetti ◽  
Michelle Secic ◽  
Erin Speiser Ihde

Abstract Background Inclusion of environmental health (EH) in medical education serves as a catalyst for preparing future physicians to address issues as complex as climate change and health, water pollution and lead contamination. However, previous research has found EH education to be largely lacking in U.S. medical education, putting future physicians at risk of not having the expertise to address patients’ environmental illnesses, nor speak to prevention. Methods Environmental health (EH) knowledge and skills were incorporated into the first-year medical school curriculum at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (Nutley, New Jersey), via a two-hour interactive large group learning module with follow up activities. Students completed the Environmental Health in Med School (EHMS) survey before and after the year 1 EH module. This survey evaluates medical students’ attitudes, awareness and professionalism regarding environmental health. In year 2, students completed the Environmental Health Survey II, which measured students’ perceptions of preparedness to discuss EH with future patients. The research team created both surveys based upon learning objectives that broadly aligned with the Institute of Medicine six competency-based environmental health learning objectives. Results 36 year 1 students completed both the pre and post EHMS surveys. McNemar’s test was used for paired comparisons. Results identified no statistically significant changes from pre to post surveys, identifying a dramatic ceiling. When comparing year 2, EHS II pre-survey (n = 84) and post-survey (n = 79) responses, a statistically significant positive change in students’ self-reported sense of preparedness to discuss environmental health with their patients following the curriculum intervention was noted. Conclusions Our conclusion for the EHMS in Year 1 was that the current generation of medical students at this school is already extremely aware of and concerned about the impact of environmental issues on health. Through the EHS II in Year 2, we found that the six-week environmental health module combining didactic and experiential elements significantly increased medical students’ self-reported sense of preparedness to discuss environmental health issues, including climate change, with their patients.


Author(s):  
Béla Szende ◽  
Attila Zalatnai

SummaryThis article discusses the impact of the ‘second’ Vienna Medical School, hallmarked by Karl Rokitansky, Joseph Skoda and Ferdinand Hebra, on the study and practice of medicine in Hungary. Six medical doctors’ lives and achievements are outlined, who formed a bridge between Vienna and Budapest through their studies and work. Four of them returned to Hungary and promoted the cause of medicine and medical education there. Lajos Arányi (1812–1877) founded in 1844 the Institute of Pathology at the University of Pest. János Balassa (1814–1868) took the Chair of the Surgical Department. Ignaz Philip Semmelweis (1818–1865), the ‘Saviour of Mothers’, received a position at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Vienna in 1846. Gustav Scheuthauer (1832–1894) became Arányi’s successor. Each of them continued to keep contact with their tutors in Vienna, especially with Karl Rokitansky, and followed the clinicopathological conception pioneered by the Vienna Medical School regarding diagnostics, treatment and prevention of diseases. Two physicians remained in Vienna: Mór Kaposi (1837–1902), who became known worldwide posthumously due to the connection between Kaposi’s sarcoma and AIDS, was the director of the Department of Dermatology of the Vienna University in 1878. Salomon Stricker (1837–1898) undertook the leadership of the Department of General and Experimental Pathology in 1872.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110081
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Trilk ◽  
Shannon Worthman ◽  
Paulina Shetty ◽  
Karen R. Studer ◽  
April Wilson ◽  
...  

Lifestyle medicine (LM) is an emerging specialty that is gaining momentum and support from around the world. The American Medical Association passed a resolution to support incorporating LM curricula in medical schools in 2017. Since then, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Undergraduate Medical Education Task Force has created a framework for incorporating LM into medical school curricula. This article provides competencies for medical school LM curriculum implementation and illustrates how they relate to the Association of American Medical College’s Core Entrustable Professional Activities and the LM Certification Competencies from the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Finally, standards are presented for how medical schools may receive certification for integrating LM into their curriculum and how medical students can work toward becoming board certified in LM through an educational pathway.


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