A proposed electronic tool for managing educational procedures, following-up teachers' performance in the classroom, and measuring their attitudes

The educational process depends on many procedures, which lead to positive educational outcomes. The research depends on modern technology in the design and development of an electronic tool that manages the teaching process in the classroom from beginning to end. The purpose of the research is to monitor the teacher's procedures by following up on all teaching procedures using an electronic tool for managing the educational process. The teacher implemented all educational lesson procedures in the classroom through the proposed electronic tool according to its prior preparation. The researcher designed a cognitive achievement test for students of the experimental and control groups to measure the effectiveness of the electronic tool. An attitude scale was applied to teachers to identify their attitude toward using the tool in monitoring procedures in the classroom to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed electronic tool in developing the educational process and enriching the academic situation. The research's results indicated that using the proposed electronic tool improved students' educational achievement by comparing the students' results in the experimental and control groups. The teachers' attitude toward using the tool was also characterized as favorable and desired. The research recommended applying the proposed electronic tool to a more significant number of teachers in different specializations, using the tool reports in overcoming problems in the classroom, and conducting more studies related to performance follow-up and observation in the classroom.

An electronic tool for health systems to assess and communicate discharge medication access

Disclaimer In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe how the discharge medication cost inquiry (DMCI) consult order and workflow were created and used to communicate transition of care needs and medication access barriers before discharge. Summary Health-system pharmacists collaborated with the information technology department to develop the DMCI consult order and workflow. This institutional review board–approved retrospective case study evaluated use of the DMCI consult order throughout the health system. Outcomes that could not be retrieved electronically were collected for every third patient encounter using manual chart review. The DMCI consult order was used at each hospital in the health system. Physicians placed the most DMCI consult orders; however, pharmacists at the large academic tertiary hospital utilized the DMCI consult order the most. The DMCI consult order was sent most frequently for anticoagulants. Although most medications were covered by insurance, the tool and workflow identified barriers to medication access. Almost 90% of the patients with a DMCI consult order had at least one prescription generated on discharge. Conclusion The DMCI consult order is a novel electronic tool to aid in communicating discharge medication needs. When incorporated into care transition planning, the DMCI consult order and workflow provide a model to ensure patients have access to medications. It can also be used to document and evaluate the role of pharmacy in transitions of care in the health system.

Knowledge and Perceptions of Medical Students After Using Kahoot! Towards General Pharmacology Practical Sessions at King Abdulaziz University

Background College students often do not study effectively or devote enough time to study and may experience a lot of stress which negatively affects their learning. Game-based Electronic learning (GbEl) has been shown to greatly motivate students, encourage learning and improve academic performance. Kahoot! is one such electronic tool, but its effectiveness in the medical education sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has never been evaluated. MethodsThis study aimed to determine the effect of the interactive software, Kahoot!, on the participation and academic performance of 274 medical students in their general pharmacology practical sessions at the faculty of medicine at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). The pharmacology sessions were divided into two groups: control and Kahoot! and after each session, students took ‘pre’ and ‘post-tests’ to assess the effect on learning. On the final day of the course, students were given a questionnaire to determine their attitudes and perceptions toward the learning process using Kahoot!. ResultsThe results showed that Kahoot! was an effective, enjoyable, and interactive formative tool that increased student engagement, motivation, and improved academic achievement. Teachers involved in the study agreed on the advantages of using Kahoot! largely out-weighed disadvantages.

Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Vaccination Program against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Based on Lung-Scoring at Slaughter

Porcine pleuropneumonia is of serious concern regarding lung health in pig production. Besides optimizing hygiene and pig management, specific vaccination against the causative agent, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, is an important tool in the fight against this disease. As porcine pleuropneumonia may present with different clinical courses of disease, it is not always easy to objectively assess herd lung health state or to monitor improvements following specific therapeutic or prophylactic measures. Here, the effects of specific vaccination on lung health in a chronically diseased farrow-to-finish farm in Lower Austria experiencing an acute episode were monitored by means of an app-based electronic tool, enabling the scorers to document lung pathologies real-time at slaughter. At the time, when vaccination measures took effect, percentages of lungs affected by dorsocaudal pleurisy had decreased from 43 to 5 and the APP-index from 1.2 to 0.1, respectively. But not only pleurisies were diminished, also incidences and severities of bronchopneumonic alterations had dramatically decreased and exhibited interesting trends when set in connection to clinical signs. Overall, vaccination measures against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae proved to be very effective in restoring herd lung health.

Årsaker til forsinkelser ved elektive operasjoner

Forsinkelser og strykninger under elektive operasjoner hindrer optimal drift og kan være en påkjenning for pasienter. Målet med studien var å identifisere og beskrive de faktiske årsaker til forsinkelser ved elektive operasjoner, samt omfang, varighet og andre kjennetegn ved slike forsinkelser. Studien har et flermetodisk prospektivt studiedesign. I en periode på to måneder ble alle elektronisk registrerte forsinkelser fulgt opp med strukturerte intervju. I løpet av studieperioden ble halvparten av elektive operasjoner registrert med en eller flere forsinkelser (N = 402). Informantene anga 60 ulike rotårsaker som en forklaring på forsinkelsene. I 72% av alle forsinkelser var årsaken knyttet til organisering/administrering av operasjonsplanleggingen. Forsinkelser ved elektive operasjoner skyldes i stor grad utilstrekkelig planlegging og organisering. Mer presis planlegging, informasjonsutveksling og forbedret dataverktøy kan redusere forsinkelser ved elektive operasjoner. Causes of delays in elective surgery: A prospective study Abstract Delays and cancellations in elective surgery prevent optimal services and can be stressful for patients. This study aimed to identify and describe the actual causes of delays in elective surgery, and the extent, duration and other characteristics of these delays. The study has a multi-method prospective study design. For two months, all electronically recorded delays in a Norwegian hospital were followed up with structured interviews to identify their true causes. Half of the elective surgeries recorded had one or more delays (N = 402). The delays had 60 different root causes; using qualitative content analysis, these were interpreted into 13 subcategories and four main categories, namely patient-related (17%), staff-related (10%), related to surgical ward/equipment (2%) or organizational (71%). Most delays were due to poor planning and organization of surgery. The study indicates that more precise planning, better information exchange and an improved electronic tool can reduce delays in elective surgery.

Long-term improvement of quality of life in patients with breast cancer: supporting patient-physician communication by an electronic tool for inpatient and outpatient care

Purpose The effectiveness of a pathway with quality of life (QoL) diagnosis and therapy has been already demonstrated in an earlier randomized trial (RCT) in patients with breast cancer. We refined the pathway by developing and evaluating an electronic tool for QoL assessment in routine inpatient and outpatient care. Methods In a single-arm study, patients with breast cancer with surgical treatment in two German hospitals were enrolled. QoL (EORTC QLQ-C30, QLQ-BR23) was measured with an electronic tool after surgery and during aftercare in outpatient medical practices (3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months) so that results (QoL-profile) were available immediately. Feedback by patients and physicians was analyzed to evaluate feasibility and impact on patient-physician communication. Results Between May 2016 and July 2018, 56 patients were enrolled. Physicians evaluated the QoL pathway as feasible. Patients whose physician regularly discussed QoL-profiles with them reported significantly more often that their specific needs were cared for (p < .001) and that their physician had found the right treatment strategy for these needs (p < .001) compared with patients whose doctor never/rarely discussed QoL-profiles. The latter significantly more often had no benefit from QoL assessments (p < .001). Conclusion The QoL pathway with electronic QoL assessments is feasible for inpatient and outpatient care. QoL results should be discussed directly with the patient. Clinical trial information NCT04334096, date of registration 06.04.2020

809 Innovative electronic sleep mitigation tool for medical trainees

Introduction The ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) has been advocating for training of medical learners in sleep and fatigue mitigation, in attempt to enhance their wellbeing. While some educational programs include a one-time sleep didactic, prone to being overlooked, there is need for an educational resource which can be accessible to the learners throughout their training span. The trainees’ needs and readiness to learn may vary from time to time, therefore, continued access to educational resources can be very beneficial. Methods An electronic tool was created on Coggle, comprising of educational resources and content on the basic tenets of sleep quality, regulation, effects of deprivation and strategies to mitigate these effects. Links to free resources made available by AASM, such as “Choose Sleep,” were also included. The sleep resources were then incorporated in the overall continuum of Graduate Medical Education (GME) resources available to trainees, and was advertised in newsletters, incorporated in orientations (n=324) and wellness sessions (n=254). The GME Institutional Quality of Life data was obtained in 2018–2019 and in 2020 to ascertain baseline and post-intervention measures of wellness, workload and burn-out in trainees. Results Data collected in 2020, after introduction of Coggle, demonstrated: 1) A 4% increase of residents (n=1041) would rate their workload as “just right.” 2) A 9% increase of residents (n=1040) said their personal health and wellbeing was “very good” and “good.” 3) A 12% decrease of residents (n=1040) said they felt burned out at work. 4) A 5% decrease of residents (n=1037) said they felt they had become more calloused towards people since they first started training. Conclusion The analysis of learners’ feedback demonstrated that access to sleep training resources on a continuous, on-demand basis improved trainees’ personal health and wellbeing. The positive impact was sustained despite unprecedented stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Future steps include: 1) Moving the electronic tool to a more advanced platform with analytical capabilities. 2) Obtaining longitudinal data to assess the impact of the electronic tool on medical trainees’ sleep parameters. 3) Sharing the electronic tool with other organizations to improve wellbeing of all medical trainees and health professionals. Support (if any):