Connected education and the co-construction of knowledge in a joint course for law and interpreting students

This article raises questions of education sociology with a focus on one of its core concepts: connectedness. It relates the dimensions of the connected curriculum to research on didactic approaches, showing how methods of connected learning and the co-construction of knowledge can be applied at different levels to enable students to gain subject-related, methodological and transdisciplinary communicative competence in addition to building relationships and cooperation among them across fields of study. These dimensions are presented using the example of the course “Questioning techniques from the perspective of criminology and interpreting”. During this course, students of law and interpreting had the opportunity to acquire both core theoretical knowledge of and practical experience in questioning techniques. This they did through role playing the questioning of defendants and witnesses that typically occurs in a courtroom from the perspective of both criminology and interpreting. The evaluation and feedback showed that the law and the interpreting students appreciated the way the course made them aware of issues in both their own and the other field, helped them to connect academic learning to professional competences and gave them insights into interprofessional cooperation in interpreted legal settings.

“Vaccination needs to be easy for the people, right ?”: a qualitative study of the roles of physicians and pharmacists regarding vaccination in Switzerland

ObjectiveVaccination in pharmacies has been a key component of national vaccination strategies to facilitate vaccination access. Qualitative data on the perspectives of professional stakeholders on vaccination in pharmacies and on the professional relations of pharmacists with physicians regarding increasing immunisation rates is limited. We conducted a qualitative study in Switzerland. The main aim was to gain further insight into professional stakeholders’ perspectives on vaccination counselling and administration conducted in pharmacies, and to further understand their views on physicians’ and pharmacists’ roles in increasing immunisation rates.DesignWe conducted semistructured qualitative interviews. We coded and analysed transcripts using thematic analysis.SettingFace-to-face interviews took place in German-speaking and French-speaking regions of Switzerland.ParticipantsWe interviewed 14 key vaccination stakeholders including health authorities, heads of pharmacy management and professional association boards. All participants had a background in medicine or pharmacy.ResultsThree main themes emerged from the qualitative data: (1) Participants viewed pharmacists as competent to provide vaccination counselling and administration based on their university training; (2) interprofessional cooperation between physicians and pharmacists on vaccination topics is limited and should be improved; and (3) pharmacists play an important role in increasing immunisation rates by facilitating vaccination access and through provision of vaccination counselling.ConclusionBy providing vaccination counselling and administering vaccines, pharmacists play an important public health role. Healthcare policies and health authorities should encourage more involvement of pharmacists and encourage interprofessional cooperation between physicians and pharmacists in order to improve vaccination counselling and increase immunisation rates.

Nursing qualifications needed in municipal emergency inpatient units. A qualitative study

Background Providing care to older individuals with complex needs and patients with chronic illness is a concern worldwide. In Norway, this situation led to the transfer of responsibility for care and treatment to the municipalities. Providing emergency care at the municipal level – thereby reducing the need for emergency hospital admissions – is part of the Coordination Reform in Norway. This reform from 2012 warrants a reconsideration of which nursing qualifications are needed in the municipalities. The aim of the study is to explore which professional qualifications nurses need to provide emergency care in municipal emergency inpatient units. Method A qualitative design with a hermeneutic approach was employed. Interviewing physicians about nursing qualifications may be considered inappropriate. We believe that this is important for developing knowledge that can strengthen interprofessional cooperation in emergency situations. Three focus groups were conducted. Physicians with experience in municipal emergency inpatient units were interviewed. Results We synthesised three themes from the data: (1) broad medical knowledge; (2) advanced clinical skills; and (3) ethical qualifications and a holistic approach. The first theme is about knowledge, the second is about skills, and the third conveys the need for overall competence. Conclusions Nurses working in municipal emergency inpatient units need advanced ethical qualifications, which integrate broad medical knowledge, advanced clinical skills and the ability to take a holistic approach. They have a considerable responsibility to work independently and safely in a setting where both the patient and the patient’s family play important roles. Establishing arenas for collaborative practice between physicians and nurses on clinical issues may be a way of strengthening patient safety and nurses’ clinical judgement.

How Physicians Renew Electronic Prescriptions in Primary Care: Therapeutic Decision or Technical Task?

In long-term pharmacotherapies, the renewal of prescriptions is part of the medication use process. Although the majority of medicines are used with renewed prescriptions, little research has focused on renewal practices. The aim of this study was to explore current renewal practices from a primary care physician’s perspective to identify system-based challenges and development needs related to the renewal practices. This qualitative study was conducted in two phases in public primary health care centres of Kirkkonummi, Finland. First, five physicians were shadowed on-site while they renewed prescriptions. The findings of the shadowing phase were further discussed in two focus group discussions with seven other physicians than in the shadowing phase. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis utilizing Reason’s risk management theory as a theoretical framework. Due to problems in the renewal process, including impractical information systems, a lack of reconciled medication lists, and a lack of time allocated for renewing prescriptions, physicians felt that monitoring and reviewing each patients’ medications for renewal was complicated. Therefore, they felt that renewing, at times, became a technical task rather than a therapeutic decision. The physicians suggested information system improvements, enhanced interprofessional cooperation, and patient involvement as strategies to ensure rational pharmacotherapy and patient safety in the renewal of prescription medicines.

Der aktive Gesellschafterkreis anwaltlicher Berufsausübungsgesellschaften

After the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) already declared §§ 59a, 59e, 59f BRAO partially unconstitutional in two decisions in 2014 and 2016 – thus giving new momentum to the discussion on interprofessional cooperation that has been going on for decades – the legislator is now ready to act through a major legal reform to correct these provisions, among others. This thesis is devoted to this aspect of the reform project, namely the question of the extent to which the circle of partners in law firms should be opened up to previously excluded professional groups and how to proceed in the future with regard to the structural majorities (still) prescribed by law.

AGHE as an Incubator for Interdisciplinary Education

For several decades, the history of interdisciplinary education and the development of AGHE initiatives have been closely linked. The need to educate colleagues on methods and benefits of interdisciplinary/ interprofessional cooperation toward service and research of aging has never waned. In this presentation we (a) highlight how AGHE has performed as a potent incubator for progress in this area and (b) use a few examples to illustrate how notable resulting efforts have improved geriatric care. For example, early and significant infusion of federal funds for gerontology training programs supported multi-disciplinary university-based centers, the Veterans Health Administration created interprofessional geriatric training programs, foundations such as John A. Hartford and Josiah Macy founded team training and interprofessional education programs, and the Health Resources and Services Administration funded Geriatric Education Centers and Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Programs. Efforts to advance interdisciplinary/interprofessional education have been fruitful and AGHE’s role as an incubator continues to evolve.