The learning experiences of general practice registrars in the South East of Scotland

To train to be a general practitioner in the U.K. a doctor must spend two years in hospital training posts and one year in general practice as a general practice registrar (GPR). Concern has been expressed in the literature about both the duration and adequacy of general practice training. A literature review identified that there was limited knowledge of and understanding about the learning experiences of GPRs. The aim of the study was to describe and interpret the learning experiences of GPRs in the South East of Scotland during their year in general practice. The methodology was derived from Denzin's concept of Interpretivism and involved in depth interviews over time with GPRs and thick description to capture and interpret the GPRs learning experiences. Two cohorts of 24 GPRs were recruited, cohort one ran from September 2002 to July 2003 and cohort two from September 2003 to August 2004. The GPRs were interviewed on three occasions during their year. In addition to the interviews six GPR focus groups and six GP trainer focus groups were held over the period December 2002 to September 2003. 21 GPRs in cohort one completed all three interviews and 20 GPRs in cohort two. All the participating GPRs completed at least two interviews. The results were interpreted within the educational concept of the curriculum. Four main curricula were identified during the GPR year: these were the formal, assessment, individual and hidden. Each independently contributed to the GPRs learning and also interacted synergistically at various times during the year. In the last quarter of the year there was a tension between the requirements of the assessment and individual curricula. The individual curriculum which was composed of the GPRs clinical experiences and in particular epiphanies was the main driver of GPR learning. Epiphanies were identified by GPRs as having the most significant impact on their learning. Central to this learning was the contribution of their general practice trainer who supported their learning both through the development of the practice learning environment and the promotion of reflection and self directed learning. GPR learning during the year was an iterative process, which involved a reflective and supported interaction between the GPR, their clinical experiences, epiphanies and their trainer. Through this process the GPRs became self directed and reflective learners and developed individual learning networks which led to changes in the way they practiced medicine. This process also led to the socialisation of their learning and promoted their integration into the culture of working general practice, through which they were exposed to the working realities of life as a general practitioner and these experiences had a critical effect on their future career choice. A number of important policy implications were identified which have implications for the present and future direction of training for general practice. The process of thick description and the longitudinal nature of the study allowed for a new interpretation of the learning experiences of GPRs and added to the knowledge and understanding of how GPRs learn during their training

Understanding the Transient Nature of STEM Doctoral Students’ Research Self-Efficacy Across Time: Considering the Role of Gender, Race, and First-Generation College Status

Developing research self-efficacy is an important part of doctoral student preparation. Despite the documented importance of research self-efficacy, little is known about the progression of doctoral students’ research self-efficacy over time in general and for students from minoritized groups. This study examined both within- and between-person stability of research self-efficacy from semester to semester over 4 years, focusing on doctoral students in biological sciences (N = 336). Using random intercept autoregressive analyses, we evaluated differences in stability across gender, racially minoritized student status, and first-generation student status. Results showed similar mean levels of self-efficacy across demographic groups and across time. However, there were notable differences in between-person and within-person stability over time, specifically showing higher between-person and lower within-person stability for racially minoritized and first-generation students. These findings indicate that racially minoritized and first-generation students’ research self-efficacy reports were less consistent from semester to semester. Such results may indicate that non-minoritized and continuing-generation students’ experiences from semester to semester typically reinforce their beliefs about their own abilities related to conducting research, while such is not the case for racially minoritized nor first-generation students. Future research should examine what types of experiences impact self-efficacy development across doctoral study to offer more precise insights about factors that influence these differences in within-person stability

Identifying Faculty and Peer Interaction Patterns of First-Year Biology Doctoral Students: A Latent Class Analysis

Faculty and peer interactions play a key role in shaping graduate student socialization. Yet, within the literature on graduate student socialization, researchers have primarily focused on understanding the nature and impact of faculty alone, and much less is known about how peer interactions also contribute to graduate student outcomes. Using a national sample of first-year biology doctoral students, this study reveals distinct categories that classify patterns of faculty and peer interaction. Further, we document inequities such that certain groups (e.g., underrepresented minority students) report constrained types of interactions with faculty and peers. Finally, we connect faculty and peer interaction patterns to student outcomes. Our findings reveal that, while the classification of faculty and peer interactions predicted affective and experiential outcomes (e.g., sense of belonging, satisfaction with academic development), it was not a consistent predictor of more central outcomes of the doctoral socialization process (e.g., research skills, commitment to degree). These and other findings are discussed, focusing on implications for future research, theory, and practice related to graduate training

The learning experiences of general practice registrars in the South East of Scotland

To train to be a general practitioner in the U.K. a doctor must spend two years in hospital training posts and one year in general practice as a general practice registrar (GPR). Concern has been expressed in the literature about both the duration and adequacy of general practice training. A literature review identified that there was limited knowledge of and understanding about the learning experiences of GPRs. The aim of the study was to describe and interpret the learning experiences of GPRs in the South East of Scotland during their year in general practice. The methodology was derived from Denzin's concept of Interpretivism and involved in depth interviews over time with GPRs and thick description to capture and interpret the GPRs learning experiences. Two cohorts of 24 GPRs were recruited, cohort one ran from September 2002 to July 2003 and cohort two from September 2003 to August 2004. The GPRs were interviewed on three occasions during their year. In addition to the interviews six GPR focus groups and six GP trainer focus groups were held over the period December 2002 to September 2003. 21 GPRs in cohort one completed all three interviews and 20 GPRs in cohort two. All the participating GPRs completed at least two interviews. The results were interpreted within the educational concept of the curriculum. Four main curricula were identified during the GPR year: these were the formal, assessment, individual and hidden. Each independently contributed to the GPRs learning and also interacted synergistically at various times during the year. In the last quarter of the year there was a tension between the requirements of the assessment and individual curricula. The individual curriculum which was composed of the GPRs clinical experiences and in particular epiphanies was the main driver of GPR learning. Epiphanies were identified by GPRs as having the most significant impact on their learning. Central to this learning was the contribution of their general practice trainer who supported their learning both through the development of the practice learning environment and the promotion of reflection and self directed learning. GPR learning during the year was an iterative process, which involved a reflective and supported interaction between the GPR, their clinical experiences, epiphanies and their trainer. Through this process the GPRs became self directed and reflective learners and developed individual learning networks which led to changes in the way they practiced medicine. This process also led to the socialisation of their learning and promoted their integration into the culture of working general practice, through which they were exposed to the working realities of life as a general practitioner and these experiences had a critical effect on their future career choice. A number of important policy implications were identified which have implications for the present and future direction of training for general practice. The process of thick description and the longitudinal nature of the study allowed for a new interpretation of the learning experiences of GPRs and added to the knowledge and understanding of how GPRs learn during their training.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Apatites in Gale Crater

ChemCam is an active remote sensing instrument suite that has operated successfully on MSL since landing Aug. 6th, 2012. It uses laser pulses to remove dust and to analyze rocks up to 7 m away. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) obtains emission spectra of materials ablated from the samples in electronically excited states. The intensities of the emission lines scale with the abundances of the related element. ChemCam is sensitive to most major rock-forming elements as well as to a set of minor and trace elements such as F, Cl, Li, P, Sr, Ba, and Rb. The measured chemical composition can then be used to infer the mineralogical composition of the ablated material. Here, we report a summary of inferred apatite detections along the MSL traverse at Gale Crater. We present the geologic settings of these findings and derive some interpretations about the formation conditions of apatite in time and space

Epidemiology and Investigation of Melioidosis, Southern Arizona

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a bacterium endemic to Southeast Asia and northern Australia, but it has not been found to occur endemically in the United States. We report an ostensibly autochthonous case of melioidosis in the United States. Despite an extensive investigation, the source of exposure was not identified

Resequencing microarray probe design for typing genetically diverse viruses: human rhinoviruses and enteroviruses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Febrile respiratory illness (FRI) has a high impact on public health and global economics and poses a difficult challenge for differential diagnosis. A particular issue is the detection of genetically diverse pathogens, i.e. human rhinoviruses (HRV) and enteroviruses (HEV) which are frequent causes of FRI. Resequencing Pathogen Microarray technology has demonstrated potential for differential diagnosis of several respiratory pathogens simultaneously, but a high confidence design method to select probes for genetically diverse viruses is lacking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using HRV and HEV as test cases, we assess a general design strategy for detecting and serotyping genetically diverse viruses. A minimal number of probe sequences (26 for HRV and 13 for HEV), which were potentially capable of detecting all serotypes of HRV and HEV, were determined and implemented on the Resequencing Pathogen Microarray RPM-Flu v.30/31 (<it>Tessarae RPM-Flu</it>). The specificities of designed probes were validated using 34 HRV and 28 HEV strains. All strains were successfully detected and identified at least to species level. 33 HRV strains and 16 HEV strains could be further differentiated to serotype level.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides a fundamental evaluation of simultaneous detection and differential identification of genetically diverse RNA viruses with a minimal number of prototype sequences. The results demonstrated that the newly designed RPM-Flu v.30/31 can provide comprehensive and specific analysis of HRV and HEV samples which implicates that this design strategy will be applicable for other genetically diverse viruses.</p