Shadowing of Clinical Genetic Counselors as an Admissions Criteria for Genetic Counseling Programs

Introduction: Exposure to genetic counseling is a strongly recommended prerequisite for entrance into genetic counseling programs. Shadowing a clinical genetic counselor is the most common method of fulfilling that requirement. Despite this, a survey of the literature revealed no studies documenting the benefits of this experience to either genetic counseling training programs or their trainees. Purpose and Methods: This study queried both program directors and genetic counseling students to determine the perceived value of shadowing and barriers to access, as well as identifying acceptable alternatives to shadowing. An online survey was distributed to 34 genetic counseling program directors using SurveyMonkey and completed by 20 for a response rate of 59%. A second survey was distributed to ~700 current genetic counseling students using SurveyMonkey and completed by 229 for a response rate of 33%. Results: The majority of students (91%, n=208) reported shadowing a genetic counselor prior to acceptance, though many (19%, n=37) indicated that it was either near to impossible or very difficult to get this experience. Most described their experiences positively, with 94%, of students (n=187) reporting that shadowing confirmed their desire to pursue a career in genetic counseling.” A substantial minority (47%, n=94) had alternate experiences they considered “as beneficial as shadowing.” Most training programs (80%, n=16) reported shadowing as a recommended, but not required, admissions criterion. All program directors (100%, n=20) felt that shadowing gives applicants a better understanding of the profession. Despite the difficulty in getting this experience, 85% of directors (n=17) did not feel that the recommendation limits the applicant pool. Most program directors (83% 3 SHADOWING OF CLINICAL GENETIC COUNSELORS AS AN ADMISSIONS CRITERIA n=15) considered interviewing a genetic counsellor an acceptable alternative; a minority (25%, n=5) looked unfavorably on shadowing done exclusively in a non-clinical setting. Conclusion: Students and program directors both perceive value in shadowing a clinical genetic counselor. Given the level of difficulty in gaining this exposure, alternative experiences are also perceived to be of value to both populations. The perceived value of non-clinical shadowing in both populations is an area of further research as it will likely be more common as the field expands

Religiousness and preoperative anxiety: a correlational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Major life changes are among factors that cause anxiety, and one of these changes is surgery. Emotional reactions to surgery have specific effects on the intensity and velocity as well as the process of physical disease. In addition, they can cause delay in patients recovery. This study is aimed at determining the relationship between religious beliefs and preoperative anxiety.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This survey is a correlational study to assess the relationship between religious beliefs and preoperative anxiety of patients undergoing abdominal, orthopaedic, and gynaecologic surgery in educational hospitals. We used the convenience sampling method. The data collection instruments included a questionnaire containing the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and another questionnaire formulated by the researcher with queries on religious beliefs and demographic characteristics as well as disease-related information. Analysis of the data was carried out with SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results were arranged in three tables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The findings showed that almost all the subjects had high level of religiosity and moderate level of anxiety. In addition, there was an inverse relationship between religiosity and intensity of anxiety, though this was not statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study can be used as evidence for presenting religious counselling and spiritual interventions for individuals undergoing stress. Finally, based on the results of this study, the researcher suggested some recommendations for applying results and conducting further research.</p

The lived experience of working with female patients in a high secure hospital

Women’s secure hospitals are often considered to be stressful and demanding places to work, with these environments characterised as challenging and violent. The staff experience of working in this environment is however not well represented in the literature. This study is the first to examine the ‘lived experience’ of seven nurses working in the National High Secure Healthcare Service for Women. Interview transcripts were analysed with the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and the findings presented within four superordinate themes ‘horror’, ‘balancing acts’, ‘emotional hard labour’, and ‘the ward as a community’. These themes all depict the challenges that participants experience in their work, the ways in which they cope with these challenges and how they make sense of these experiences. A meta-theme of ‘making sense by understanding why’ is also presented, which represents the importance for participants to attempt to make sense of the tensions and challenges by formulating a fuller meaning. The findings suggest the importance of workforce development, in terms of allowing sufficient protected time for reflection and formulation (for example within the format of group supervision or reflective practice), and for staff support mechanisms (e.g. clinical supervision, counselling, debriefs) to be inbuilt into the ethos of a service, so as to provide proactive support for staff ‘on the frontline’

Less is More: Capital Theory and Almost Irregular-Uncontrollable Actual Economies

Capital theory and the associated with it price effects consequent upon changes in the distributive variables hold centre stage when it comes to the internal consistency of both classical and neoclassical theories of value. This paper briefly reviews the literature and then focuses on the detected skew eigenvalue distribution of the vertically integrated technical coefficients matrices of actual economies. The findings prompt the use of the Schur triangularization theorem for the construction even of a single industry from the input-output structure of the entire economy. Such a hyper-basic industry, in combination with hyper-non-basic industries, embodies properties that may capture the behaviour of the entire economic system. Thus, we can derive some meaningful results consistent with the available empirical evidence, which finally suggest that actual economies tend to respond as ‘irregular-uncontrollable’ systems

Marketing of urban tourism in digital environment

Elektronički ili internetski ili online marketing predstavlja okosnicu marketinških aktivnosti u suvremenom poslovanju, te korištenjem svih tehnika, alata i servisa omogućuje optimalno zadovoljenje svih elemenata marketinškog spleta. Uvažavajući tu činjenicu, bitno je istaknuti potencijal ovih aktivnosti u turizmu kao jednoj od najvažniji gospodarskih grana, pri čemu se predložena doktorska disertacija usredotočuje na urbani turizam, konkretno njihov utjecaj na turizam grada Zagreba Analizom dostupne stručne literature i dosadašnjih istraživanja teme htjelo se uvidjeti koliko i kako su moderne tehnike i alati elektroničkog marketinga prihvaćene u urbanom turizmu grada Zagreba, posebno u njegovim promotivnim aktivnostima. Disertacija daje sustavni i sveobuhvatni pregled i analizu postojećeg stanja korištenja tehnika i alata elektroničkog marketinga u urbanom turizmu grada Zagreba radi utvrđivanja relevantnih strateških opcija kojima se može ostvariti rast turističke djelatnosti u gradu Zagrebu kroz jaču promociju u digitalnom okruženju. Također, važan čimbenik razvoja promocije Zagreba kao turističke destinacije simbioza je Turističke zajednica grada Zagreba sa svim dionicima na turističkom tržištu koji djeluju na području Zagreba. Kroz primjenu suvremene informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije, a naročito marketinških aktivnosti, moguće je stvoriti preduvjete za još bolju regionalnu, europsku i globalnu promociju Zagreba kao privlačne destinacije urbanog turizma na kompetitivnom međunarodnom tržištu. Kako se razvijaju navike potrošnje i online ponašanja potrošača, iste je nužno pratiti i prilagođavati se zahtjevima turista. Potrebno je zadovoljiti sve složeniju turističku potražnju za online informacijama i uslugama, posebno onih temeljenih na društvenim mrežama, videu, mobilnom internetu i aplikacijama za pametne telefone i influencer marketingu. Naravno ne treba zapostaviti ni razvoj tehnologije proširene (AR) i virtualne stvarnosti (VR) te korištenje umjetne inteligencije za prikupljanje i analitiku velikih skupina podataka (Big Data) vezanih za turiste, istraživanje sentimenta, istraživanje njihovih komentara te nove tehnologije poput usluga utemeljenih na prepoznavanju glasa, smart city uslugama, Interneta stvari i dr..10 Očekivani znanstveni doprinos rada bit će dvojak. Disertacija će dati sustavni i sveobuhvatni pregled, te kritičku analizu postojećih spoznaja iz područja istraživanja utjecaja e-promidžbe na brendiranje destinacije grada Zagreba, s obzirom na to da je ista dosad bila nedovoljno istražena. Teorijski doprinos očitovat će se u analizi upravljanje Zagrebom kao turističkom destinacijom te izgradnji zagrebačkog turističkog brenda s naglaskom na digitalnim i mobilnim platformama. Praktični će se doprinos ogledati u definiranju smjernica za dopunu postojeće i razvoja nove digitalne strategije Zagreba i unaprjeđenja njegove turističke ponude i promocije, i digitalne prisutnosti grada Zagreba i zagrebačkog turizma, te mogućnosti apliciranja novih digitalnih marketinških alata za unaprjeđenje njegova razvoja.Electronic or online or web marketing is the backbone of marketing activities in the contemporary business. Usage of its techniques, tools and services enables optimal fulfillment of all the elements of the marketing sphere. Bearing this in mind, it is important to point out the potential of these activities in tourism as one of the most important economic branches of Croatia, with the proposed doctoral dissertation focusing on urban tourism, concretely, the impact of online marketing on the tourism of the City of Zagreb By analyzing the available literature and previous research we wanted to see how modern techniques and tools of electronic marketing are applied in the urban tourism of the City of Zagreb, especially in its promotional activities. The dissertation provides a systematic and comprehensive overview and analysis of the state of use of electronic marketing techniques and tools in urban tourism in the City of Zagreb with the aim of identifying relevant strategic options for achieving the growth of tourist activity in the City of Zagreb through stronger promotion in the digital environment. Also, an important factor for the development of Zagreb's promotion as a tourist destination is the symbiosis of the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb with all the stakeholders in the tourist market, which operate in the Zagreb area. Through the use of modern information and communication technology, as a new information infrastructure for the implementation of all communications and in particular marketing activities. We believe it is possible to create preconditions for an even better regional, European and global promotion of Zagreb as an attractive destination for urban tourism on a competitive international market. As consumer habits and consumer behavior are evolving, it is necessary to monitor and adapt to the demands of modern tourists. All the more complex tourist demand for online information and services, especially those based on social networks, video, mobile Internet, mobile applications and influencer marketing, need to be met. Of course, the development of augumented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) as well as the use of artificial intelligence for gathering and analytics of Big Data related to tourists, their sentiment, research of their comments, and new technologies such as recognition based services voice, smart city services, internet of things will affect tourism more and more in the near future.12 The expected scientific contribution of the work will be twofold. The dissertation will provide a systematic and comprehensive review and a critical analysis of the existing knowledge in the area of research on the impact of e-publicity on the branding of the City of Zagreb's destination, since it has been insufficiently explored so far. The theoretical contribution will be an analysis of the management of Zagreb as a tourist destination and the construction of the Zagreb tourist attractions with the emphasis on digital and mobile platforms. Practical contributions will be reflected in defining the guidelines for adapting the existing and developing of the new digital strategy of Zagreb and improving its tourist offer and promotion. The digital presence of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb tourism, and the possibility of applying new digital marketing tools to improve its development will be explored