Wound Closure Skills: Teaching Suturing in Athletic Training Education

Context The examination, diagnosis, and intervention curricular content listed in the 2020 Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education Standards for Accreditation of Professional Athletic Training Programs states that learners must be able to evaluate and manage wounds, including care and closure. Although many wound closure techniques exist in clinical practice, suturing may be a necessary skill for athletic trainers (ATs) and one for which they need proper training. Objective To describe the instructional format and step-by-step process for wound closure using the “simple interrupted” method of suturing. Background Athletic training has continued to evolve in terms of the skills that are permitted within the scope of an AT's practice. The skill of wound closure via suturing has been omitted in athletic training programs due to the invasive nature of the technique. As state practice acts continue to adapt, many athletic training programs are adding suturing to their curricular content, and subsequently, a need exists to educate the credentialed AT. Description A multimodal approach to teaching suturing is recommended. This educational technique focuses on the cognitive introduction module that should occur before the skills lab. Step-by-step instructions are available to ensure that educators are able to properly train others in the task and for learners to gain a baseline understanding of the technique. Clinical Advantage(s) Described herein are multiple strategies related to supplies and techniques to be mindful of the resources available for other athletic training programs. In addition, ATs who are trained and permitted to suture can provide improved patient outcomes through comprehensive interventions at the point of care. Conclusion(s) Learners should be taught the skills of suturing including wound cleaning and anesthetizing and given opportunities to practice the skills over time. By providing budget-conscious options and alternative methods of instruction, this skill can be delivered for most programs.

Can Online Learning Fulfill the Competence of Medical Study Program Students?

Background: The Covid-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on education, especially in health education both throughout the world and in Indonesia. Educational institutions are forced to close any access of offline meeting in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19. This is in accordance with the Official Letter of Ministry of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia. No. 36962 / MPK.A / HK / 2020, the government prohibits universities from holding offline lectures then encourages online learning. Online learning in Indonesia is not popular before pandemic but it must be held. However, the learning goal must still be achieved. The learning process is aimed to achieve the expected performance also improve the quality of education. Quality assurance and personalized online learning are one of the mechanisms that help higher education to achieve planned outcomes. Online learning changes all aspects in the learning process. Both educators and students need to adapt to the online learning process. As a result, students and educators need to adapt quickly to minimize the material backlog. Due to the various reasons above, it is necessary to develop an online learning model that can help the learning process both in the cognitive and psychomotor domains in the Medical Study Program so that the expected competencies can still be achieved. Method: The data was analyzed by using t-test statistic to compare between students’ achievement in distance learning and offline learning.Results: The results showed that the learning outcomes of students who took online learning methods were higher than those of students who took offline learning. This can be seen from the average learning evaluation score, the number of passing practicum scores, the number of passing skills lab scores and the number of passing blocks (p<0.05). Conclusion: It can be concluded that online learning helps students achieve competence at the academic stage of learning.

The Presence of House Dust Mites in Residences and Classrooms of Students with Allergic Rhinitis

Allergy is still a health problem in Indonesia. One of the manifestations of allergies is allergic rhinitis. Many factors can trigger the recurrence of rhinitis, including exposure to house dust mites. This study aims to identify the population of house dust mites in the classrooms and student residences. This study was participated by 74 FK UNRI students with allergic rhinitis. The samples included dust collected from residences and classrooms consisting of four large classrooms, three small classrooms, four laboratories, two examination rooms, 12 skills lab rooms, and 15 tutorial rooms. Detection of dust was performed using the direct method. The results showed that no classroom (0%) was found with house dust mites. However, there were 37.8% of residences were positive. Based on the result, it can be concluded that the high population of house dust mites in the students’ residences becomes an essential factor as a chronic stressor for allergic rhinitis.

Increasing postpartum IUCD coverage through a QI initiative: a step towards reducing the unmet need of postpartum contraception

BackgroundUnintended pregnancies have a negative impact on the health and economy of a nation, which can be prevented by effective family planning (FP) services. Postpartum intrauterine device (PPIUCD) is a safe and effective FP method which allows women to obtain long-acting contraception before discharge from the point of delivery. We observed poor coverage of deliveries with PPIUCD at our facility. This was the trigger to initiate a quality improvement (QI) initiative to increase the PPIUCD coverage from current rate of 4.5%–10% in 3-month period.MethodA fishbone analysis of the problem was done and the following causes were identified: lack of focused counselling for FP, lack of sensitisation and training of resident doctors and inconsistent supply of intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs). A QI team was constituted with representatives from faculty members, residents, interns, nursing officers and FP counsellors. The point of care quality improvement methodology was used.InterventionsDaily counselling of antenatal women was started by the counsellors and interns in antenatal wards. A WhatsApp group of residents was made initially to sensitise them; and later for parking of problems and trouble shooting. The residents were provided hands-on training at skills lab. Uninterrupted supply of IUCDs was ensured by provision of buffer stock of IUCDs with respective store keepers.ResultThe PPIUCD insertion rates improved from 4.5% to 19.2% at 3 months and have been sustained to a current 30%–35% after 1 ½ years of initiation of the project tiding through the turbulence during the COVID-19 pandemic using QI techniques.ConclusionSensitisation and training of residents as well as creation of awareness among antenatal women through targeted counselling helped improve PPIUCD coverage at the facility. QI initiatives have the potential to facilitate effective implementation of the FP programmes by strategic utilisation of the resources.

A prototype of a handheld augmented reality application to get familiar with ultrasound equipment knobology

Aims: A prototype application has been developed that is adapting modern augmented reality technology to support learning in ultrasound skills-labs or at home. The application enables students to get in real-time an orientation and information about the knobs on an equipment´s control panel that is available in the lab.Material and methods: The Augmented reality (AR) application for smartphones or tablets was created in Unity (San Francisco) with the software development kit Vuforia (Vuforia PTC Inc., Zurich) to support students with their own devices to learn the knobology of an ultrasound equipment. An interface was modelled, which is superimposed on the live camera image and provides information about the displayed knobs and sliders on the control panel.Results: The smartphone or tablet app is able to detect the specific ultrasound equipment in real in the skills-lab, as well as from a hardcopy photo or displayed by a monitor and to provide further detailed information. The application can be used therefore as preparation of a practical course or for orientation within the lab at the equipment.Conclusions: The flexibility of the app is optimal for students to become familiar with the equipment before they are having their skills-lab lecture and might help to reduce time for introduction to orientation at the equipment´s console.

The Effectiveness of Social Media Use as a Supplement Media of Clinical Skills Lab Learning for Undergraduate Medical Students in Low- and Middle-Income Countries during COVID-19 (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Before COVID-19, it was recommended that medical education be conducted using the blended learning method in order to achieve an effective learning experience. However, it seems that distance learning is currently the best alternative to the previous learning method. Clinical skills lab activities, which are one of the learning methods in medical education, must adapt because they cannot be administered in-person. Social media has been proven giving a potential to supplement formal medical education for undergraduate student. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aims to examine the effectiveness of media social use as a supplement for clinical skills lab learning on undergraduate medical students in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS We designed a protocol for creating a systematic review on the effectiveness of social media as a supplement media in clinical skills lab learning for undergraduate medical students in LMIC during COVID-19. We will be extracting information from appropriate sources online obtained from journal websites’ databases guided by the PRISMA-S checklist in accordance with the research problem. The included sources include randomized controlled trials, systematic review, and meta-analysis published between 2020-2021. RESULTS This manuscript is still a protocol and has not been implemented. CONCLUSIONS In this systematic review, we will discuss the effectiveness of social media as a clinical skills lab learning for undergraduate medical students in LMIC during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contextualizing Instruction for Struggling Writers

During the past decade, much reform has taken place within reading and writing developmental education at community colleges. One area of reform has focused on reducing the number of developmental education credits taken while accelerating the students’ literacy growth. This article describes a pilot project where, instead of taking a developmental education reading and writing course, the students co-enrolled in a zero-credit social sciences skills lab and at least one college-level gateway course. The lab focuses on reading and writing in the disciplines. Using classroom examples, the article also outlines the pedagogical approaches used in the lab. This 2018–19 pilot was characterized as promising, using prescribed institutional success metrics; as a result, version 2.0 will be implemented for 2021–22.