Climate Surveys of Biomedical PhD Students and Training Faculty Members in the Time of Covid

In July 2020, four months into the disruption of normal life caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we assessed the institutional climate within the School of Medicine. Voluntary surveys were completed by 135 graduate students in 11 PhD-granting programs and by 83 members of the graduate training faculty. Several themes emerged. PhD students work hard, but the number of hours spent on research-related activities has declined during the pandemic. The students are worried about the pandemic's impact on their research productivity, consequent delays in their graduation, and diminished future job prospects. Many late stage PhD students feel they do not have adequate time or resources to plan for their future careers. Symptoms of anxiety and/or depression are prevalent in 51% of the students, based on answers to standardized questions. Most students report they have strong mentoring relationships with their faculty advisors and like their programs, but they identify to a lesser extent with the medical school as a whole. Faculty think highly of their graduate students and are also worried about the pandemic's impact upon productivity and the welfare of students. Students are interested in access to an Ombuds office, which is currently being organized by the medical school. Moving forward, the school needs to address issues of bias, faculty diversity, support for mentor training, professional development, and the imposter syndrome. We must also work to create a climate in which many more graduate students feel that they are valued members of the academic medicine community.

Exposing Learners to Practice

Clinical education is the center of professional preparation in healthcare fields, linking theoretical knowledge with clinical practice in the minds and behaviors of student clinicians. Clinical education, supervised by educators who are licensed professionals, is essential in the process of creating new professionals. What does a professional training program do about clinical education when the world shuts down? This chapter addresses the context of a private, not for profit university's response to the COVID-19 public healthcare crisis in spring of 2019 and the process by which a graduate training program in speech-language pathology re-organized, and re-visioned, clinical education in that context. The process allowed an upper cohort of students to graduate successfully and on time, engaged a lower cohort of brand-new clinicians in meaningful clinical learning, and taught the program new lessons about what is important in designing clinical education.

Is hydronephrosis a risk factor for complications in conventional percutaneous nephrolithotomy?

Objective: To assess Hydronephrosis as a Risk Factor for complications in Conventional Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy. Study Design: Cross Sectional Descriptive study. Setting: Kidney Centre Post Graduate Training Centre, Karachi. Period: January to December 2020. Material & Methods: This study was done to know post-operative complications including bleeding, infection, and incomplete stone clearance in patients with or without hydronephrosis undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy. After applying the inclusion/ exclusion criteria it was found that the patients with hydronephrosis had less bleeding as compared to the no hydronephrosis group. In the same way, they also had fewer nephrostomy tubes placed, and chest drain insertion. All other complications were approximately the same in each group. Patients were selected using non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Percentage and frequencies were determined for quantitative variables. Mean and standard deviation were determined for quantitative variables. Results: Total 300 cases were studied fulfilling inclusion criteria. There were 70.07% male and 29.3% female cases. Age range of the patients was 18-60 years. There were 52.7% cases with hydronephrosis, placed in one group and 47.3% cases were without hydronephrosis placed in other group. Most common complication was postoperative bleeding reported in 48.9% cases with hydronephrosis as compared to 56.2% cases without hydronephrosis. Mean operative time was 115.7 ± 41.9 minutes in patients with hydronephrosis and 135 ± 35.4 minutes in patients without hydronephrosis. Conclusion: Patients with hydronephrosis experienced less postoperative complications, after PCNL as compared to those without hydronephrosis.

THE USE OF THE INTERPRETATION OF WORKS OF ART IN PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION

The research focuses on examining the use of the interpretation of works of art in pre-school education in three dimensions - the current state of the use of the interpretation of works of art, the opinions of kindergarten teachers on art, and the opportunities for kindergarten teachers to acquire knowledge about the theory and history of art in their undergraduate training or in other forms of education. The aim of the research was to determine a correlation between the aforementioned variables. 366 kindergarten teachers responded to the items of the self-constructed questionnaire. It has been proven that the current state of the use of the interpretation of works of art in pre-school education can be described as below average, the opportunities for kindergarten teachers to acquire knowledge from the theory and history of art in their pre-graduate training or in other forms of education were lower than average, and the opinions of kindergarten teachers on art can also be described as below average. There is a statistically significant positive correlation between the aforementioned dimensions of the interpretation of works of art in pre-school education. Keywords: empirical experience, kindergarten teacher, pre-school education, works of art

The role of supra-professional competencies in the professional development of students

Researchers' attention to the problem of supra-professional competencies is explained by the rapid changes in all spheres of human activity. Changes in the production sphere, changes in the labor market, changes in the economic, political, socio-cultural spheres pose the task of pedagogical science to search for internal resources of the educational process for the training of a new type of specialist. In today's changing conditions, the problem of training professional personnel is relevant all over the world and for all professional fields. One of the ways to solve this problem is the study and development of the theory and practice of supra-professional competencies as an additional resource for the professional development of a labor subject. The article presents the results of a theoretical analysis of various approaches to determining the content of the concept of "supra-professional competencies"; options for classifying these competencies; discusses the results of an empirical study to assess the formation of supra-professional competencies among students. The paper also presents a discussion by various authors on the role and significance of the formation and development of supra-professional competencies during vocational training. The presented work also emphasizes the fact that employers note a sufficiently high theoretical level of graduate training, which increases the share of practical training, but still graduates are not ready for creative and flexible application of the theoretical knowledge and practical skills acquired in the workplace. Drawing conclusions based on the assessment of different opinions, as well as the empirical results obtained, the authors emphasize the exceptional role and great importance of supra-professional competencies in the professional development and formation of a future specialist, which poses new challenges to the higher education system for the development and improvement of this group of competencies.

Work Patterns, Training, and Clinical Supervision Demographics of Home-Based Professional Counselors

Home-based counseling is an emerging modality of providing mental health counseling services to clients across the lifespan. However, minimal graduate training programs and home-based agencies provide training and preparation for professional counselors. In addition, educational and professional requirements are currently ill defined. A nonexperimental pilot survey exploring home-based professional counselors work-based, and clinical supervision and training patterns was conducted. Results suggest home-based professional counselors serve diverse populations and have limited training regarding home-based competencies. Findings from the study are presented. Implications for training and practice for home-based counselors are discussed.

Herd Routines and Veterinary Advice Related to Dry-Cow Therapy and Treatment with Internal Teat Sealants in Dairy Cows

Dry-cow therapy with antibiotics (DCT) and treatment with internal teat sealants (ITS) are often used to control mastitis in dairy cows. However, the knowledge on farmer and veterinary compliance with recommendations for DCT and ITS is scarce. Thus, the main aim was to collect information on farmer routines and veterinary advice for such treatments. Associations with herd and veterinary variables were also studied. Web-based questionnaires including questions on demographics and the use of DCT and ITS were sent to 2472 farmers and 517 veterinarians in Sweden. The answers were summarized descriptively, and associations with demographics were evaluated using univariable regression models. The response rate was 14% for farmers and 25% for veterinarians. Among the farmers, 81% used selective DCT (SDCT), 3% used blanket DCT (BDCT), and 16% did not use DCT. Almost all (93%) veterinarians prescribed DCT and among those most recommended SDCT while 8% recommended BDCT. Eighty-two percent of the farmers did not use ITS and 45% of the veterinarians never prescribed ITS. Milking system and milk production, and post-graduate training and number of mastitis cases per month were associated with the largest numbers of farmer and veterinary answers, respectively. In conclusion, many farmer routines and veterinary advice complied with the recommendations available at the time, but a clear need for more education was also identified. The results also indicated that an up-date of the national recommendations was warranted.

Perception and practices of operative and endodontic specialists in Pakistan towards the use of dental magnification

BACKGROUND: The perceptions and trends of magnification use in dentistry need to be determined since magnification significantly enhances clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To assess perception and practices of Operative and Endodontic specialists currently working in Pakistan, regarding use of magnification. METHODS: A structured questionnaire administered for this analytical cross-sectional study recorded demographics, trends of magnification devices used in practice and their perceived advantages and disadvantages by the specialists with close-ended questions and three-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Out of 91 forms, 77 responses were received (response rate of 84%). Most participants had 1–4 years’ practical experience, were employed at both faculty and clinical positions, were more interested in operative/restorative procedures and used TLL (through the lens loupes) at low magnification. Use of magnification devices was learnt mostly during post-graduate training and was used daily or weekly for complicated cases. Noteworthy perceptions included improved treatment quality and standard of care. However, they were also perceived as irritating, increasing treatment time, with adverse effect on eyesight with prolonged use. No statistically significant correlation was found between the variables recorded (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Most specialists used magnification devices in some form and were abreast with their advantages. Proper training and continued dental education courses can help dispel any observed misapprehensions.

Gloria Werner, 1940–2021

Gloria Werner, successor to Louise M. Darling at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, university librarian emerita, and eighteenth editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, died on March 5, 2021, in Los Angeles. Before assuming responsibility in 1990 for one of the largest academic research libraries in the US, she began her library career as a health sciences librarian and spent twenty years at the UCLA Biomedical Library, first as an intern in the NIH/NLM-funded Graduate Training Program in Medical Librarianship in 1962–1963, followed by successive posts in public services and administration, eventually succeeding Darling as biomedical librarian and associate university librarian from 1979 to 1983. Werner’s forty-year career at UCLA, honored with the UCLA University Service Award in 2013, also included appointments as associate university librarian for Technical Services. She was president of the Association of Research Libraries in 1997, served on the boards of many organizations including the Association of Academic Health Sciences Library Directors, and consulted extensively. She retired as university librarian in 2002.

The making of child and adolescent psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand

Child and adolescent psychiatry has an opportunity to adapt alongside the advancements in medical knowledge, post-graduate training, epidemiological realities and clinical service models. Here, we are guided by the mental health needs of our community’s young and their families in our review of child and adolescent psychiatry training in Australia and New Zealand. We recognise that training must respond to clinical demand and service reform while ensuring a range of clinical and educational experiences to deliver expectable competencies in order to produce child and adolescent psychiatrists that meet the communities’ needs now and in the future. We argue that training programmes be subject to rigorous evaluation by embedding continuing cycles of improvement including regular review and international bench marking.