The Ideal Psychiatry Training Program: A Resident\u27s Viewpoint

The journey between medical school graduation and specialty board certification in one\u27s chosen field of medicine may comprise the most challenging, exciting and important times of a young professional\u27s life. This journey is called residency education. While the most obvious objectives are cognitive education and practice in the field, trainees also face fundamental life challenges such as developing identity, intimacy and a direction for their own generative goals in the world. Psychiatry residency should be viewed as a personal as well as professional developmental process (1). It contains all of the turbulence of adolescence revisited (2), where normative crises (3) can be expected to occur. This journey through fundamental stages of emotional development actually begins long before one enters residency (4), but dealing with disorders of thought, behavior and action will constitute a major challenge to the trainee\u27s identity. Yager (5) contends that some degree of identity crisis may in fact be beneficial to growth, but that training programs should identify and control factors which magnify this crisis unnecessarily. Taintor et al (6) discussed specific stress factors and their contributions to personal and professional growth. An excellent paper by Lindy (7) presented a training director\u27s perspective on a phase-specific model for psychiatric training based on maturational steps

‘The Lighthouse Invites the Storm’ – Professional Regulation of Nursing in England and Wales – Under Threat

This paper explores current issues related to the professional regulation of nursing in England and Wales and considers whether self-regulation is currently under threat. In modern times there have been a significant number of serious incidents and scandals in health and social care and these have attracted adverse publicity in the media and exercised the mind of Government in the direction of public protection. Mental health practice has not escaped the critical gaze and recent homicide inquiries continue to cast a long shadow over the provision of mental health services. Recently, the Government has questioned the effectiveness of the nurses' professional body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and has spelt out the pressing need for tighter regulation of nursing practice. Recent policy documents aimed at ‘modernising’ nursing careers may actually circumscribe professional autonomy and subtly control the development of nursing practice and nurse education. On 1st April 2009 a new regulatory body, the Care Quality Commission will come into being and its advent will herald significant changes for health and social care. Lost in the changes will be the Mental Health Act Commission, as a stand alone visiting body

Clinical Pathways to Ethically Substantive Autonomy

There is no shortage of support for the idea that ethics should be incorporated into the academic and professional curriculum. There is a difference, however, between, on the one hand, teaching professionals about ethics, and, on the other, demanding that they give ethical expression to the range of professional skills they are expected to apply daily in their work. If this expression is not to be perfunctory, ethical judgement must be genuinely integrated into the professional skill set. The mark of integration in this regard is the capacity for autonomous judgement. Ethical autonomy cannot be achieved by a mechanical, rule-bound and circumstance-specific checklist of ethical do’s and don’ts, and it is only partially achieved by a move from mechanistic rules to ‘outcome based’ processes. Rather, professional ethical autonomy presupposes not only a formal understanding of the requirements of an ethical code of conduct, but a genuine engagement with the substantive values and techniques that enable practitioners to interpret and apply principles confidently over a range of circumstances. It is not then, that ethical skill is not valued by the legal profession or legal education, or that the shortfall of ethical skill goes unacknowledged, it is rather that the language of professional ethics struggles to break free from the cautious circularity that is the mark of its formal expression. To require a professional to ‘act in their client’s interests’, or ‘act in accordance with the expectations of the profession’ or act ‘fairly and effectively’ are formal, infinitely ambiguous and entirely safe suggestions; to offer a substantive account of what, specifically, those interests might be, or what expectations we should have, are rather more contentious. Fears of dogma and a narrowing of discretion do, of course, accompany the idea of a search for ethical substance, and caution is to be expected in response to it. Notwithstanding these anxieties, there would appear to be no coherent alternative to the aspiration to substantive autonomy, and this must remain the goal of teaching legal ethics. In light of this, the problem facing educationalists is then perhaps expressed more diplomatically in terms of how ethical skill might be substantively developed, imparted, and integrated into a genuinely comprehensive conception of professional skill. Clinical education can go a long way to solving this problem: exposure to the practical tasks of lawyering is the surest and best way of raising consciousness in this regard: ‘Hands-on’ is good - and consciousness-raising is a step in the direction of autonomy, but raw experience and elevated awareness is not enough. We know that our most influential theories of learning tells us that it is in the process of reflection upon problem solving that the practitioner begins to take autonomous control of skill development. In the view of the author, reflection, requires content and direction, and in this paper, with the aid of three models of skill integration inspired by Nigel Duncan’s detailed analysis and video reconstruction of the ethical and technical skill deficiencies brought to light by R v Griffiths, we attempt to specify what might be understood in this regard: Reflective content refers to the discrete interests and values that compete to produce tension in what we will refer to the ‘matrix’ of concerns that feature in all forms of dispute resolution; reflective direction points to an engagement with the resources and techniques that can empower critical and autonomous judgment. In the context of a clinical process broadly structured by the insights of Wenger and by Rest’s model of ethical skill, guided reflection so specified thus serves as an interface between on the one hand, indeterminate ethical form, and, on the other, the substantive ethical wisdom to be found in the repository of values that underpin the very idea of the legal enterprise

Pedagogical technologies for the development of the life and professional maturity of future teachers

The article defines the essence and structure of the phenomenon "development of life and professional maturity of the future teacher", substantiates the concept of development of life and professional maturity of future teachers, defines the components, criteria, indicators and characterized levels of vital and professional maturity, development and maturity higher education institutions. The purpose of the article is to substantiate and experimentally test the system of pedagogical technologies for the development of life and professional maturity of future teachers. The components of development of life and professional maturity of future teachers are defined: age maturity, professional orientation, creativity and initiative in solving life situations, high level of realization of life events. The levels of development of the life and professional maturity of future teachers are grounded on the criteria of the quality of their professional training. Five levels of development of future teachers' life and professional maturity have been identified and characterized: excellent; Very good; good; sufficient; satisfactory. The peculiarities of the periodization of the development of life and professional maturity of future teachers in the educational space of a pedagogical institution of higher education in three leading stages (adaptation, individualization, integration) and the corresponding system of pedagogical technologies of development of life-professions are substantiated. Experimental and experimental verification of the system of pedagogical technologies for the gradual development of the life and professional maturity of future teachers proved their effectiveness, which was reflected in the difference between the levels of development of the life and professional maturity of students of control and experimental groups. The prospective direction of further research is to study the theoretical and methodological foundations of the development of life and professional maturity of graduates of pedagogical institutions of higher education in the age of early maturity in the process of their adaptation, individualization and integration in primary educational positions in general educational settings

The effects of personal peer counselling on the self concept and attainment of secondary aged slow learning pupils

The aim of this study was to investigate the progress achieved in self concept and academic attainment by older slow learning pupils through the stimulus of peer counselling additional to classroom based general education. This was compared with control groups receiving the same education but without the peer counselling. It has been felt for some time that specialist remedial education is of questionable value in the long term, and that seemingly encouraging gains are short-lived. Research into causes and treatment of educational failure has left the professional teacher without clear direction for the future, but there has been in recent years a shift of attention from cognitive aspects of slow learners to an emphasis on the child's emotional state as being his most outstanding handicap to further progress. [Continues]

A Study of the Effects of the Professional Semester on Certain Aspects of Personality & Interests of Elementary Education Students Minoring in Special Education

When 32 elementary education students, 16 of whom were enrolled in an off-campus block of laboratory experiences with handicapped, took the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study and the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey, Form DD, there was no evidence that the professional semester affected self-confidence or social adjustment as measured by the number of extrapunitive and need-persistence reactions, respectively, on the P-F Study. The t test was used to compare the mean number of those responses made by members of the two groups. There was considerable evidence, however, that the number of subjects who gave elementary education the same or an even higher rank following the professional semester was too great to be attributed to chance when compared by means of chi square to the number and direction of rank changes made by members of the control group on the same occupational survey. The support which this study has given to actual classroom experience as a cause of increased professional commitment is sufficiently great to imply that other students might profit if their programs contained periods of time spent in daily contact with learners before their student teaching experiences begin

Methods of Using Programmed Means to Organize Practical Training for Improving the Professional Skills of Future Teachers of Fine Arts

   The combination of theoretical and practical knowledge in the professional training of future teachers of fine arts, the importance of theoretical and practical exercises in the subject of Composition. The theoretical basis for improving the professional training of future teachers of fine arts is systematically analyzed in the article. The didactic possibilities of further increasing the scientific motivation of students through the use of software means in the educational process were studied. To form the virtual practical training in the teaching of the subject "Composition" in the direction of education 5110800-Fine Arts and Engineering Graphics in higher education, to develop the methodological recommendations for its use, are pedagogically based. Methodology for developing a programmed, electronic educational-methodical complex on the subject of "Composition" which covers (introduction, normative documents, lectures, practical classes, self-study topics, presentations, animations, programmed control test, keywords and terms, used literature, information about the authors) is recommended. Thoughts about the actual tasks of the development of the educational system in increasing the efficiency of the acquisition of the subject “Composition” are stated

DÉPORVIDA: a character strengths positive intervention among young soccer players

In recent years, various intervention programs have been developed to enhance the quality of life of young athletes. This is particularly important for those who live in residences of professional clubs, far from their families. In this regard, we designed a positive psychology intervention program called “DÉPORVIDA”, aimed at enhancing character strengths. To assess the efcacy of this 8-week intervention, we tested 28 young soccer players from a Spanish professional club. The intervention program used a strength-based approach from the values in action (VIA) model, and was conducted by club employees with formal academic education. Data were analysed using a set of 2×2 (intervention×time) mixed design ANOVAs. Results revealed diferent trends for the intervention and the control groups participants for seasonal performance satisfaction and percentage of time feeling happy/unhappy, highlighting consistent changes in the desired direction. Overall, the results indicate that the DÉPORVIDA program is a useful tool to promote positive development in young athletes

Особливості формування творчого підходу в студентів вищої школи економічного профілю у процесі вивчення іноземної мови (The creative attitude formation peculiarities of students in higher economic academic institutions in the foreign) language studying process

У статті розглядаються особливості формування творчого підходу в студентів вищої школи економічного профілю у процесі вивчення іноземної мови. (In the article the peculiarities of creative approach formation of students in higher economic educational institutions in the foreign language studying process are described. Economic disciplines and learning foreign languages nowadays have occupied a leading role not only in economic universities and economic faculties and also in almost all other universities. Professional formation of students in higher education depends on the level of their cognitive properties, such as: perseverance, self-control, emotional stability. A huge influence on the professional development of students in higher education institutions produce their professional orientation, educational objectives and significance of their own activity. Upgraded educational process of higher school of economics should be based on the study of the students’ perception in studying of economic information and foreign languages and levels of development of the students’ creative approach to professional knowledge. This path involves the use of student interest in learning knowledge through the development of creative approach to the process and focus in the right direction of his work. In the development and application of appropriate educational and correctional techniques can organize such an impact on student activities, which will be directed «inside – outside», and namely to improve the adaptability of a student and his teamwork in academic interest group through the student to the educational process. Consider the basic aspects of student creativity and enhance its creative approach to the study of economic sciences, foreign languages and the educational process. Creativity of students in the mastery of professional knowledge in the process of learning a foreign language can be seen as a conscious desire to their deep understanding, evaluation and application in both the academic and professional activities. The aim of the article is to analyze the importance of students’ creativity formation in the process of obtaining professional knowledge in the study of foreign languages to facilitate the reorientation of the educational system of functional-executive basis for content-search and creativity; the factors of the students’ educational information perception of economic subjects and foreign languages, which is based on economic education. From the perception of educational information point of view it is essential to analyze the level of the students’ creative attitude development to professional knowledge, which is especially important to ensure such educational and training activities that will make the learning process interesting for students, according to their goals and wishes and add encouragement in the choice of future profession.