Continuing medical education in Serbia with particular reference to the Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade

Background/Aim. Continuing Medical Education (CME), conceptualised as lifelong learning (LLL) aims at improving human resources and continuing professional development. Various documents of European institutions underline its key importance. This paper therefore tries to analyse the current status of CME and the main deficits in the delivery of LLL courses at medical faculties in Serbia with special consideration of the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade with detailed financial data available. Methods. Data of 2,265 medical courses submitted in 2011 and 2012 for accreditation were made available, thereof 403 courses submitted by 4 medical faculties in Serbia (Belgrade, Kragujevac, Nis, Novi Sad). A subset of more detailed information on 88 delivered courses with 5,600 participants has been provided by the Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade. All data were transferred into an Excel file and analysed with XLSTAT 2009. To reduce the complexity and possible redundancy we performed a principal component analysis (PCA). Correlated component regression (CCR) models were used to identify determinants of course participation. Results. During the 2-year period 12.9% of all courses were submitted on preclinical and 62.4% on clinical topics, 12.2% on public health, while 61.5% of all took place in Belgrade. The subset of the Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade comprised 3,471 participants registered with 51 courses accredited and delivered in 2011 and 2,129 participants with 37 courses accredited and delivered in 2012. The median number of participants per course for the entire period was 45; the median fee rates for participants were 5,000 dinars in 2011 and 8,000 in 2012, resulting together with donations in a total income for both years together of 16,126,495.00 dinar or almost 144,000.00 euro. This allowed for a median payment of approximately 90 eur per hour lectured in 2011 and 49 euro in 2012. The 2 factors, D1 (performance) and D2 (attractiveness), identified in the PCA for Medical Faculties in Serbia, explain 71.8% of the variance. Most relevant are the duration of the courses, credit points, and hours per credit point gained by lecturers and participants respectively. In the PCA for Belgrade D1 and D2 explain 40.7% of the total variance. The CCR on the number of participants reveals the highest positive impact from the number of lecturers per course and the expenditure on amenities, the highest negative impact from the total income collected per participant. Conclusion. The faculties of medicine in Serbia should reconsider the entire structure of their organisation of CME, especially to improve the quantity and quality of registration limit the course fee rates per hour and reduce administrative and other costs request lecturing in CME programmes as obligatory for academic promotion and organise a focussed marketing.

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Continuing medical education in Serbia 2011-2017: A standstill

Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo ◽

10.2298/sarh210107041n ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 41-41

Author(s):

Ruzica Nikolic-Mandic ◽

Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic ◽

Helmut Wenzel ◽

Nebojsa Lalic ◽

Ulrich Laaser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Continuing Medical Education ◽

Principal Component ◽

Complete Information ◽

Influential Factors ◽

Educational Institutions ◽

Nominal Data ◽

Administrative Organization ◽

Medical Faculties ◽

Credit Points

Introduction/Objective. Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a crucial element to keep the level of professionalism in the three key fields of medical education: pre-clinical, clinical, and public health. The profile of CME in Serbia has been analyzed for the years 2011 to 2017. Methods. Between 2011 and 2017, 11.557 courses of CME have been submitted for accreditation, described by 26 variables. Due to the predominance of nominal data, we employed a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) using a NIPALS Algorithm (PCA/PLS) to arrange the 16 variables with complete information in such a way that most influential factors could be displayed and ranked. The analysis was done with TIPCO Statistical Software. Results. The Medical Faculty of Belgrade takes the top position among the medical faculties in Serbia with 569 or 7.9% (N = 1,187; 2011-2017) whereas non-educational institutions with 86.2% of all courses (N = 11,514) are the most dominant providers. Clinical topics dominate the thematic spectrum with 59.7%. Between 2012 and 2017, the total number of courses offered diminished by 16.9%. A PCA of 16 potential determinants of CME reveals that most relevant are duration, credit points, price and number of lecturers. Conclusions. For the last decade, a standstill or even regression in development can be observed. Especially the Faculties of Medicine in Serbia, as well as other major providers, should reconsider the entire structure of their administrative organization and initiate innovative development.

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The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Poverty Reduction

Asian Journal of Law and Economics ◽

10.1515/ajle-2020-0055 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Huong Thi Thanh Tran ◽

Ha Thi Thu Le

Keyword(s):

Poverty Reduction ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Trade Openness ◽

Principal Component ◽

Financial Inclusion ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Global Issue ◽

Negative Effect ◽

The Impact

Abstract Poverty is a global issue and a lot of attention and efforts of the international community have been made to deal with this problem. Especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a part of the population could fall into poverty due to rising unemployment and income deduction, identifying the factors affecting poverty becomes particularly important. Financial inclusion has been recognized as one important factor affecting poverty reduction. This research is conducted to investigate the impact of financial inclusion and other control variables on poverty reduction. The study employs Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to build a financial inclusion index. Using 2SLS and the GMM regressions for a panel data of 29 European countries during the period from 2011 to 2017, the results show that financial inclusion has a negative impact on poverty at all three poverty lines of USD1.9, 3.2, and 5.5 per day. The proportion of the population aged 15–64 and the ratio of service employment to the total number of employment also have a negative effect on all three levels of POV1.9, POV3.2, and POV5.5. In contrast, GDP per capita, trade openness and the proportion of the population aged from 25 with at least secondary school education have a positive impact on poverty at three levels of poverty. The results confirm that financial inclusion plays an important role in reducing poverty. The study provides a number of recommendations to governments to promote financial inclusion and reduce poverty in the countries.

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Subspecialization in clinical neurophysiology

Neurology ◽

10.1212/wnl.0000000000010706 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 95 (15) ◽

pp. 686-692 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dorthea Juul ◽

Kerry H. Levin ◽

Laurie Gutmann ◽

Larry R. Faulkner

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Graduate Medical Education ◽

Clinical Neurophysiology ◽

Training Programs ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Sleep Medicine ◽

Current Status ◽

Substantial Portion ◽

Practice Time ◽

The Impact

ObjectiveTo describe the development and current status of training and certification in clinical neurophysiology (CNP); to explore the impact of the newer subspecialties in sleep medicine, neuromuscular medicine, and epilepsy; and to obtain information about aspects of practice in the subspecialty.MethodsInformation about training programs and certification was obtained from the records of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and diplomates were surveyed about their CNP practice activities and attitudes toward certification/recertification.ResultsIn the years since the first examination was administered, a robust number of CNP training programs developed, but recently, there has been a decrease in the number of programs and fellows, although the number of programs and fellows in the subspecialties of epilepsy, neuromuscular medicine, and sleep medicine has increased. A diplomate survey indicated that most respondents devoted significant practice time to CNP procedures, especially to EEGs and EMGs. Although more diplomates performed EEGs than EMGs, a substantial portion performed both. Most diplomates were planning to or had maintained certification in CNP.ConclusionOver 3,000 neurologists, child neurologists, and psychiatrists have obtained certification in CNP, and the majority are participating in recertification. Although the newer and overlapping subspecialties of epilepsy, neuromuscular medicine, and sleep medicine may be having a negative impact on CNP, it continues to have a relatively large number of programs and attracts a relatively large number of fellows.

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Continuing medical education during pandemic waves of COVID-19: Consensus from medical faculties in Asia, Australia and Europe

MedEdPublish ◽

10.15694/mep.2021.000064.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Carmen Wong ◽

Walter van den Broek ◽

Gillian Doody ◽

Martin Fischer ◽

Michelle Leech ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Continuing Medical Education ◽

Medical Faculties

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Economic impact of political ties in Vietnam: Evidence from northern rural households

10.21203/rs.3.rs-95126/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nguyen The To ◽

Tuan Nguyen

Keyword(s):

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Evaluation Studies ◽

Rural Households ◽

Agricultural Economics ◽

Political Connection ◽

Total Income ◽

Agricultural Investment ◽

The North ◽

The Difference

Abstract This paper focuses on investigating the impacts of political connections on households’ income and their agricultural investment in mountainous areas of Vietnam by employing several matching methodologies. Propensity score matching (PSM) is an increasingly well-known approach for evaluation studies in agricultural economics. Additionally, this study attempts to verify the significance of political connection in rural economics. To conduct the empirical approach, the article uses surveyed data of 550 households from three provinces in the north of Vietnam. The findings indicate that political connection has a significantly positive impact on households’ total income and farming behaviour, but has a very negative impact on households’ agricultural investment. The difference between the income of the connected and non-connected group of households is estimated at approximately 30 million VND (US$ 1,304) per year. However, the total income of the connected households is not heavily based on agricultural production, their non-agricultural activities account for a larger share of their total income. Another important outcome is to confirm the privileges of politically connected households in terms of receiving extension courses that substantially increase the inequality between rural households in survey areas because the distribution of government subsidy is distorted to target the necessities.

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Eliminating Residents Increases the Cost of Care

Journal of Graduate Medical Education ◽

10.4300/jgme-d-16-00671.1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 514-517 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Deborah M. DeMarco ◽

Richard Forster ◽

Thomas Gakis ◽

Robert W. Finberg

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Training Programs ◽

Financial Analysis ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Medical Center ◽

Cost Of Care ◽

Teaching Hospitals ◽

National Commission ◽

Bottom Line

ABSTRACT Background Academic health centers are facing a potential reduction in Medicare financing for graduate medical education (GME). Both the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Deficit Commission) have suggested cutting approximately half the funding that teaching hospitals receive for indirect medical education. Because of the effort that goes into teaching trainees, who are only transient employees, hospital executives often see teaching programs as a drain on resources. Objective In light of the possibility of a Medicare cut to GME programs, we undertook an analysis to assess the financial risk of training programs to our institution and the possibility of saving money by reducing resident positions. Methods The chief administrative officer, in collaboration with the hospital chief financial officer, performed a financial analysis to examine the possibility of decreasing costs by reducing residency programs at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center. Results Despite the real costs of our training programs, the analysis demonstrated that GME programs have a positive impact on hospital finances. Conclusions Reducing or eliminating GME programs would have a negative impact on our hospital's bottom line.

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Frequency of burn-out among palliative care physicians participating in continuing medical education.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2019.37.31_suppl.77 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (31_suppl) ◽

pp. 77-77

Author(s):

Suresh Reddy ◽

Sriram Yennu ◽

Kimberson Cochien Tanco ◽

Aimee Elizabeth Anderson ◽

Diana Guzman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Medical Education ◽

Continuing Medical Education ◽

Clinical Work ◽

Median Number ◽

Community Practice ◽

Care Providers ◽

Burn Out ◽

Review Course ◽

Board Review

77 Background: There is a growing concern about high frequency of burn out (BO) among physicians, and higher among palliative care providers, reported to be in the range of 62%. There are very limited studies done among Palliative Care (PC) physicians. Objective: The main objective of our study was to determine the frequency of burnout among PC physicians participating in PC Continuing Medical Education (CME). Secondary objectives included determining characteristics of physicians who expressed higher BO and also to determine overall attitudes towards PC practice. Methods: During 2018 Annual Hospice & Palliative Medicine Board Review Course, we conducted a survey of 41 questions to determine the frequency of BO among physicians. This included Maslach Burn Inventory ( MBI )–General. The survey was given to both the in house and webinar participants. Results: Of 110 physicians who were given the surveys, 91/110 (83%) completed surveys. The median age was 48 years with 59 (65%) being females, 74 (81%) married. Majority, 41 (46%) were in community practice. 24 (38%) were in practice for more than 6 years, and 52 (57%) were board certified. 56 (62%) practiced PC for more than 50 % of time. Majority, 69 (76%) were doing clinical work. The median number of physician in the group practice was 3. 35 (38 %) of participants reported at least one symptom burnout based on MBI criteria. Only being single/separated correlated significantly with burn-out (p = 0.056). PC work is appreciated at their place of work by 73 (80%), 58 (64%) reported insurance was a burden, electronic medical record as a burden by 58 (64%), and 82 (90%) of physicians felt optimistic about continuing PC in future. Conclusions: BO among palliative care physicians who attended a board review course tends to be high, but lower than previously reported. Physicians who choose to attend CME may have unique motivating characteristics to cope better with stress and BO. More research is needed to better characterize BO among PC physicians.

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External debt and growth: role of stable macroeconomic policies

Journal of Economics Finance and Administrative Science ◽

10.1108/jefas-05-2019-0069 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (50) ◽

pp. 185-204

Author(s):

Sima Rani Dey ◽

Mohammad Tareque

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

External Debt ◽

Impulse Response Function ◽

Principal Component ◽

Bounds Testing ◽

Content Type ◽

Study Results ◽

The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of external debt on economic growth in Bangladesh within a broader macroeconomic scenario. Design/methodology/approach In the process of doing so, it assesses the empirical cointegration, long-run and short-run dynamics of the concerned variables for the period of 1980–2017 applying the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration. First, debt-gross domestic product linkage explores the impact of external debt impact on economic growth using a set of macro and country risk variables, and then this linkage is also analyzed along with a newly formed macroeconomic policy (MEP) variable using principal component analysis. Findings The study results reveal the negative impact of external debt on GDP growth, but the larger positive impact of MEP index indicates that this adverse effect of debt can be mitigated or even nullified by sound MEP and appropriate human resource policy. Originality/value The dynamic effects of different shocks (external debt and macro policy variable) on economic growth by vector autoregression impulse response function also confirm our ARDL findings.

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