Medical professionalism: teaching and assessment tools

Establishing a structured curriculum for professionalism by adopting new methods and evaluation tools within an educational environment is important in the light of the vicissitudes of changing world and medical profession. By incorporating such tools of teaching and assessing, medical students will be abreast and gain a mastery over competencies such as collaboration, communication, teamwork, and rapport skills to deal with doctors, patients, peers, and the healthcare team

The concept and challenges of medical professionalism

We argue that the field of medicine ought to think over the definition of medical professionalism and the challenges that doctors face in everyday practice. Although there are a diversity of definitions revolving around medical professionalism, but the most recent and revalidated definition should be taken into account. In addition, we highlight four barriers threatening professionalism: 1) doctors’ of self-interest; 2) doctors’ temptation to deviate from the standards of medicine; 3) market incentives (financial conflicts of interest); and 4) peer pressures. We conclude with suggestions for remedies to overcome these threats, e.g. selection criteria of medical students, and stringent rules and guidelines

Characteristics of a Capable University Lecturer from the Viewpoints of Health Services Management Students in Iranian Medical Universities

Background & Objective: Understanding the characteristics and criteria that students use to select their teachers, is an indicator for evaluating teachers in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of education. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of a capable university lecturer from the viewpoints of health services management students in Iranian medical universities. Methods: In this descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study, 582 bachelor's degree students of health services management participated. Data were collected using a self-developed questionnaire, the content validity and reliability of which were confirmed. The questionnaire included six main domains, namely, teaching method, personal characteristics, evaluation skills, scholarly activities, interpersonal skills, and educational regulations. Data were analyzed using Student’s independent t-test and ANOVA in SPSS software. Results: Our findings suggest that teaching methods (4.34), interpersonal skills (4.17), and personal characteristics (4.11) were the most important domains from the students' perspectives. On the other hand, characteristic such as calling the roll (3.62), taking mid-term quizzes (3.66), and teacher's strictness (3.71) were the least important domains. There was a significant relationship between sex and the educational regulations domain (P = 0.01). However; there was no significant relationship between mean score of domains based on students' term of education (P > 0.05). In total, the correlation between all domains revealed 2 distinct categories in the form of personal characteristics and professional commitments. Conclusion: According to our results, favorable characteristics of academics, especially their individual characteristics and personality, are one of the determining factors in achieving educational goals and increasing the quality of education. Keywords Capable teacher Health services management Iranian medical universitie

The perspective of nurses towards euthanasia and assisted suicide: a review article

Euthanasia or assisted suicide is a contentious issue that provokes substantial clinical and ethical debate. Nurses have a key role in caring for end-of-life patients. They are also often involved in euthanasia or assisted suicide. Therefore, we aimed to assess the attitudes of nurses concerning this controversial topic in order to highlight the present debate about it. In particular, the nurses’ involvement in this practice based on some background factors were emphasized. In our review, we used articles published on the topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide in nursing profession. In this regard, all abstracts and full papers were read critically and the relevant meanings were pondered. Several arguments were observed for euthanasia or assisted suicide from the perspectives of nurses. These arguments were grouped based on the proponent and opponent of euthanasia or assisted suicide practice. In addition, there were a number of factors such as age, gender, specialty, and nurses’ decisions which found their importance. Nurses’ perspectives on euthanasia and assisted suicide are a matter of attention and debate as they occupy a central position and spend most of their time in the care of end-of-life patients. Our findings will enable nurses to engage in the euthanasia practice on its appropriate ground and its debate as well. Additionally, our findings are pragmatically essential for the policy makers and healthcare professionals

Perception of Graduate Students Regarding the Use of Social Networks in Education: A Qualitative Research

Background & Objective: Social networks are new technologies that have emerged in the past decade and are dramatically used in various areas such as education. This new social media has changed the lifestyle of individuals and their communication. Due to this fact and the increasing trend towards using social networks in universities, the present study was conducted with the purpose to explore graduate students' perspectives regarding the use of social networks in education. Methods: This study was conducted using qualitative content analysis method. The participants were selected using purposive sampling (n = 13). Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, recorded on audiotapes, transcribed, and then, analyzed. MaxQdata software was used for data analysis. Results: Data analysis led to the extraction of 476 codes, 59 sub-codes, 11 subcategories, and 4 main categories. The main categories included the advantages of social networks (3 subcategories), disadvantages of social networks (2 subcategories), required infrastructures for using social networks in education (3 subcategories), and the capabilities of social networks in education (3 subcategories). Conclusion: This study revealed the advantages, disadvantages, and the applications of social networks in education. Due to the importance of social networks in education, we suggest that by providing the required infrastructures, such as high speed internet, educational protocols, and etcetera, the uses of social networks in education be improved so that students can better use these networks in education. Key Words: Social networks, Education, Students, Qualitative stud

Standardized patients versus simulated patients in medical education: are they the same or different

In order to equip medical students with all the necessary skills in dealing with patients to provide optimal treatment, the need for the use of real patients in educational settings has become prominent. But all the required skills cannot be practiced on real patients due to patients’ safety and well-being. Thus, the use of standardized patients (SPs) or simulated patients (SiPs) as a substitute for real patients signifies their importance in simulationbased medical education. One question raised in regard to using SPs or SiPs in order to enhance medical students’ tangible and intangible skills in a safe controlled environment is whether these two terminologies are the same or different? Various studies use these terms interchangeably and do not consider a difference between them. Based on our literature review, there seems to be differences between these two modalities. We also try to highlight the advantages of these modalities in clinical encounters