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Author: Brian S McGowan, PhD

MANUSCRIPT: The association between academic engagement and achievement in health sciences students

Background
Educational institutions play an important role in encouraging student engagement, being necessary to know how engaged are students at university and if this factor is involved in student success.

To explore the association between academic engagement and achievement.

Methods
Cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 304 students of Health Sciences. They were asked to fill out an on-line questionnaire. Academic achievements were calculated using three types of measurement.

Results
Positive correlations were found in all cases. Grade point average was the academic rate most strongly associated with engagement dimensions and this association is different for male and female students. The independent variables could explain between 18.9 and 23.9% of the variance (p < 0.05) in the population of university students being analyzed.

Conclusions
Engagement has been shown to be one of the many factors, which are positively involved, in the academic achievements of college students.

via BMC Medical Education | Abstract | The association between academic engagement and achievement in health sciences students.

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ABSTRACT: Junior doctors’ guide to portfolio learning and building.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
A portfolio is a collection of evidence supporting an individual’s achievement of competencies and learning outcomes. The material included in the portfolio must be reflected upon, as reflection provides the evidence that learning has taken place.
CONTEXT:
Portfolio learning is important for two principal reasons: assessment of the trainee, and for lifelong learning and reflection. The ability of a portfolio to be used for both summative and formative assessment makes it a flexible and robust assessment method. A portfolio also demonstrates reflection and lifelong learning abilities. Reflective learning is key to postgraduate medical education: it is part of both the Foundation Programme curriculum and General Medical Council guidance on best practice.
INNOVATION:
To ensure correct learning outcomes are identified and evidenced, the curriculum programme must be referred to and an educational supervisor should be consulted. Once identified, it is necessary to: identify how these outcomes can be met (learning needs); decide what needs to be done to meet these needs; reflect on what has been done; and evidence what has been done in the portfolio. Evidence could include written feedback, certificates of course completion, online learning modules, etc.
IMPLICATIONS:
A learning portfolio is a necessary tool for every postgraduate medical trainee. The portfolio serves to record and evidence all learning that has taken place, and thereon acts as a guide for future learning needs. The key process to portfolio building and learning is the provision of evidence by reflecting upon the learning that has taken place.

via Junior doctors’ guide to portfolio learning and b… [Clin Teach. 2012] – PubMed – NCBI.

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ABSTRACT: Stages of competency for medical procedures.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Basic medical procedures have historically been taught at the bedside, without a formal curriculum. The supervision of basic procedures is often provided by the next most senior member of the health care team, who themselves may have very little experience. This approach does not allow for preparatory reading or deliberate practise of the procedure, and trainees often track the number of completed procedures as the only evidence of competency, without documented assessments of quality.
CONTEXT:
The conscious competence model is a learning paradigm for acquiring a new skill that can be applied to teaching medical procedures. There are multiple stages for effectively learning how to competently perform a procedure, which should not be distilled down into bedside demonstration alone. Learners can be guided through these stages to allow progression towards competency to perform a procedure unsupervised.
INNOVATION:
We propose a novel approach that divides procedural education into a four-step process that covers knowledge, experience, technical skill development and competency evaluation. The stages of competency outlined here can be tailored, with incremental expectations for any medical procedure and any level of learner.
IMPLICATIONS:
This educational paradigm alters the current structure of teaching procedures at any level of medical education, with the goals of better comprehension, skill retention and decreased adverse outcomes. Graded objectives based on learner level can be determined by educators for each clinical procedure. This four-step framework for teaching medical procedures will make the adage ‘see one, do one, teach one’ obsolete.

via Stages of competency for medical procedures. [Clin Teach. 2012] – PubMed – NCBI.

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MANUSCRIPT: Promoting networks between evidence-based medicine and values-based medicine in continuing medical education.

Abstract
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: In recent years, medical practice has followed two different paradigms: evidence-based medicine (EBM) and values-based medicine (VBM). There is an urgent need to promote medical education that strengthens the relationship between these two paradigms. This work is designed to establish the foundations for a continuing medical education (CME) program aimed at encouraging the dialogue between EBM and VBM by determining the values relevant to everyday medical activities.
METHODS:
A quasi-experimental, observational, comparative, prospective and qualitative study was conducted by analyzing through a concurrent triangulation strategy the correlation between healthcare personnel-patient relationship, healthcare personnel’s life history, and ethical judgments regarding dilemmas that arise in daily clinical practice. In 2009, healthcare personnel working in Mexico were invited to participate in a free, online clinical ethics course. Each participant responded to a set of online survey instruments before and after the CME program. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare personnel, focusing on their views and representations of clinical practice.
RESULTS:
The healthcare personnel’s core values were honesty and respect. There were significant differences in the clinical practice axiology before and after the course (P <0.001); notably, autonomy climbed from the 10th (order mean (OM) = 8.00) to the 3rd position (OM = 5.86). In ethical discernment, the CME program had an impact on autonomy (P [less than or equal to]0.0001). Utilitarian autonomy was reinforced in the participants (P [less than or equal to]0.0001). Regarding work values, significant differences due to the CME intervention were found in openness to change (OC) (P <0.000), self-transcendence (ST) (P <0.001), and self-enhancement (SE) (P <0.019). Predominant values in life history, ethical discernment and healthcare personnel-patient relation were beneficence, respect and compassion, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS:
The healthcare personnel participating in a CME intervention in clinical ethics improved high-order values: Openness to change (OC) and Self Transcendence (ST), which are essential to fulfilling the healing ends of medicine. The CME intervention strengthened the role of educators and advisors with respect to healthcare personnel. The ethical values developed by healthcare professionals arise from their life history and their professional formation. Please see related commentary article here http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/11/40.

via Promoting networks between evidence-based medicine a… [BMC Med. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

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ABSTRACT: Asynchronous discussion: a comparison of larger and smaller discussion group size.

Abstract
AIM:
To explore the effect of size and strategy on asynchronous discussions (AD) in a small baccalaureate nursing program.
BACKGROUND:
As the prevalence of e-learning increases in nursing education, the use of AD as a learning strategy will increase. Because the AD can be engaging, group size should be considered to enhance learning.
METHOD:
Descriptive, correlational, and quasi-experimental methodologies were used to gather and analyze data from 23 junior baccalaureate nursing students. Variables included differences in group size (12 versus 23) and strategy (Virtual Clinical Excursions versus faculty-developed questions).
RESULTS:
There was no statistically significant difference in student outcomes for group size or strategy. The data suggested that smaller group size would help students “dig deeper” into the content being explored.
CONCLUSIONS:
Student perception responses indicate that Virtual Clinical Excursions was more likely to prepare them for nursing and clinical practice. Future research should include larger sample sizes and more variety in the sample demographics.

via Asynchronous discussion: a compar… [Nurs Educ Perspect. 2012 Nov-Dec] – PubMed – NCBI.

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ABSTRACT: Automatic keyphrase annotation of scientific documents using Wikipedia and genetic algorithms

Abstract

Topical annotation of documents with keyphrases is a proven method for revealing the subject of scientific and research documents to both human readers and information retrieval systems. This article describes a machine learning-based keyphrase annotation method for scientific documents that utilizes Wikipedia as a thesaurus for candidate selection from documents’ content. We have devised a set of 20 statistical, positional and semantical features for candidate phrases to capture and reflect various properties of those candidates that have the highest keyphraseness probability. We first introduce a simple unsupervised method for ranking and filtering the most probable keyphrases, and then evolve it into a novel supervised method using genetic algorithms. We have evaluated the performance of both methods on a third-party dataset of research papers. Reported experimental results show that the performance of our proposed methods, measured in terms of consistency with human annotators, is on a par with that achieved by humans and outperforms rival supervised and unsupervised methods.

via Automatic keyphrase annotation of scientific documents using Wikipedia and genetic algorithms.

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MANUSCRIPT: Exploring the use of social media to measure journal article impact.

Abstract
Science blogs, Twitter commentary, and comments on journal websites represent an immediate response to journal articles, and may help in identifying relevant publications. However, the use of these media for establishing paper impact is not well studied. Using Wikipedia as a proxy for other social media, we explore the correlation between inclusion of a journal article in Wikipedia, and article impact as measured by citation count. We start by cataloging features of PubMed articles cited in Wikipedia. We find that Wikipedia pages referencing the most journal articles are about disorders and diseases, while the most referenced articles in Wikipedia are about genomics. We note that journal articles in Wikipedia have significantly higher citation counts than an equivalent random article subset. We also observe that articles are included in Wikipedia soon after publication. Our data suggest that social media may represent a largely untapped post-publication review resource for assessing paper impact.

via Exploring the use of social media to mea… [AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2011] – PubMed – NCBI.

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ABSTRACT: Incorporating iPads into a preclinical curriculum: A pilot study.

Abstract
Background: The incorporation of technology into medical education is critical for learners. Little is known about the effect of integrating iPad technology into undergraduate medical education. Aims: We introduced iPads into the first-year curriculum in 2011-2012. We aimed to evaluate students’ use of, and attitudes toward, the iPad. Methods: We administered two surveys to students during the 2011-2012 academic year. Additionally, we conducted focus groups to further evaluate the effectiveness of iPad integration into the curriculum. Results: Survey data reflect mixed attitudes toward the use of the iPad in the preclinical curriculum. While a vast majority of students agree “the iPad has value in the medical curriculum” (79% in the first survey; 65% in the second survey), there was a decrease over time in the view that “the iPad is a positive addition to the curriculum” (75% in the first survey; 49% in the second survey). Focus group data indicate students appreciate certain aspects of iPad use in the curriculum, including improved curriculum interactivity, but the majority believe it cannot replace printed handouts at this time. Discussion: The iPad provides some benefits in undergraduate medical education. More studies are necessary to determine how the iPad is best incorporated into medical education.

via Incorporating iPads into a preclinical curriculum:… [Med Teach. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

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ABSTRACT: The Ethics of Conducting Graduate Medical Education Research on Residents.

Abstract
The field of graduate medical education (GME) research is attracting increased attention and broader participation. The authors review the special ethical and methodological considerations pertaining to medical education research. Because residents are at once a convenient and captive study population, a risk of coercion exists, making the provision of consent important. The role of the institutional review board (IRB) is often difficult to discern because GME activities can have multiple simultaneous purposes, educational activities may go forward with or without a research component, and the subjects of educational research studies are not patients. The authors provide a road map for researchers with regard to research oversight by the IRB and also address issues related to research quality. The matters of whether educational research studies should have educational value for the study subject and whether to use individual information obtained when residents participate as research subjects are explored.

via The Ethics of Conducting Graduate Medical Education… [Acad Med. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

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ABSTRACT: Welcome to Cultural Competency: Surgery’s Efforts to Acknowledge Diversity in Residency Training.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Although cultural competency is not a new concept in healthcare, it has only recently been formally embraced as important in the field of surgery. All physicians, including and especially surgeons, must acknowledge the potential influence of culture in order to provide effective and equitable care for patients of all backgrounds. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recognizes cultural competency as a component of “patient care,” “professionalism,” and “interpersonal and communication skills.”
METHODS:
A systematic literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. All publications focusing on surgical residents and the assessment of patient care, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, or specifically cultural competency and/or were considered. This initial search resulted in 12 articles. To further refine the review, publications discussing curricula in residencies other than surgery, the assessment of technical, or clinical skills and/or without any explicit focus on cultural competency were excluded.
RESULTS:
Based on the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria, 5 articles were selected. These studies utilized various methods to improve surgical residents’ cultural competency, including lectures, Objective Structural Clinical Examinations (OSCE), and written exercises and evaluations.
CONCLUSIONS:
A number of surgical residency programs have made promising strides in training culturally competent surgeons. Ultimately, in order to maximize our collective efforts to improve the quality of health care, the development of cultural competency curricula must be made a priority and such training should be a requirement for all trainees in surgical residency programs.

via Welcome to Cultural Competency: Surgery’s Effort… [J Surg Educ. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

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