785 research outputs found
Clinical audit in veterinary practice: theory v reality
CLINICAL AUDIT is an effective tool for assessing and improving the clinical care provided to patients. Good guidance has previously been provided in the veterinary literature as to how to conduct clinical audit in veterinary practice (Mosedale 1998, Viner 2009, 2010, 2012, Dunn 2012, RCVS Knowledge 2015). These resources go into depth about how to conduct audit and the types of topics to choose. However, the combination of the limited veterinary evidence-base and the reality of practice makes traditional clinical audit as per the framework derived from the medical field challenging to implement in the veterinary setting. Despite this, it can still be a rewarding and valuable tool to use in practice
A Model for Sustaining Participation with Hard-to-Serve Clients: The Learning Continuum
This article reports on a model developed by the Florida Crown Workforce Board in cooperation with the University of Florida\u27 s Welfare to Work Initiative. The model proposes a sustained educational experience that includes a variety of activities to enable welfare transition clients to become employed and self-sufficient. The concept of a Learning Continuum is described, and implications for Extension are discussed
User perceptions of multi-source feedback tools for junior doctors
Context:  The effectiveness of multi-source feedback (MSF) tools, which are increasingly important in medical careers, will be influenced by their users’ attitudes. This study compared perceptions of two tools for giving MSF to UK junior doctors, of which one provides mainly textual feedback and one provides mainly numerical feedback. We then compared the perceptions of three groups, including: trainees; raters giving feedback, and supervisors delivering feedback. Methods:  Postal questionnaires about the usability, usefulness and validity of a feedback system were distributed to trainees, raters and supervisors across the north of England. Results:  Questionnaire responses were analysed to compare opinions of the two tools and among the different user groups. Overall there were few differences. Attitudes towards MSF in principle were positive and the tools were felt to be usable, but there was little agreement that they could effectively identify doctors in difficulty or provide developmental feedback. The text-oriented tool was rated as more useful for giving feedback on communication and attitude, and as more useful for identifying a doctor in difficulty. Raters were more positive than other users about the usefulness of numerical feedback, but, overall, text was felt to be more useful. Some trainees expressed concern that feedback was based on insufficient knowledge of their work. This was not supported by raters’ responses, although many did use indirect information. Trainees selected raters mainly for the perceived value of their feedback, but also based on personal relationships and the simple pragmatics of getting a tool completed. Discussion:  Despite positive attitudes to MSF, the perceived effectiveness of the tools was low. There are small but significant preferences for textual feedback, although raters may prefer numerical scales. Concerns about validity imply that greater awareness of contextual and psychological influences on feedback generation is necessary to allow the formative benefits of MSF to be optimised and to negate the risk of misuse in high-stakes contexts
B -> K^* gamma from D -> K^* l nu
The B -> K^* gamma branching fraction is predicted using heavy quark spin
symmetry at large recoil to relate the tensor and (axial-)vector form factors,
using heavy quark flavor symmetry to relate the B decay form factors to the
measured D -> K^* l nu form form factors, and extrapolating the semileptonic B
decay form factors to large recoil assuming nearest pole dominance. This
prediction agrees with data surprisingly well, and we comment on its
implications for the extraction of |Vub| from B -> rho l nu.Comment: 10 page
Re-evaluating the factor structure of the Tolerance of Ambiguity of Medical Students And Doctors (TAMSAD) scale in newly qualified doctors
This is the final version. Available on open access from MedEdPublish via the DOI in this recordData availability:
Underlying data:
Newcastle University: Questionnaire data files for study of interim Foundation Year 1 (FiY1) doctors transition to practice in 2000. https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.2253709926.
The project contains the following underlying data:
- final phase 1 data for repository.csv
- final phase 2 data for repository.csv
Extended data:
Newcastle University: Questionnaire data files for study of interim Foundation Year 1 (FiY1) doctors transition to practice in 2000. https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.2253709926.
The project contains the following extended data:
- README.txt (brief description of the contents of all files)
- Phase 1 questionnaire.pdf
- Phase 2 questionnaire.pdf
- questionnaire field key for repository.xlsx
Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).Background
Ambiguity and uncertainty are inherent within the practice of medicine. While theory suggests the construct may be multidimensional, scales such as the Tolerance of Ambiguity of Medical Students And Doctors (TAMSAD) act unidimensionally, at least in a local population. Therefore, the dimensionality of the Tolerance of Ambiguity (ToA) construct remains unclear. This study aims to explore the dimensionality of ToA in early postgraduate doctors using the TAMSAD scale in a UK national sample and consider the implications of this dimensionality for theory and practice.
Methods
We used data from 428 respondents in a national research project examining the experiences of newly qualified doctors in the UK (2020). We undertook an exploratory factor analysis (extracting one-factor to six-factor solutions) of the 29-item TAMSAD scale and compared findings to an existing integrative model of uncertainty tolerance.
Results
The analysis suggested that the ToA construct is multidimensional. The three-factor model and five-factor model provided clinically interpretable factors and had different merits. It appears that having an affinity for complexity is not simply the opposite of experiencing discomfort from uncertainty, and that a professional’s epistemological beliefs about the nature of medicine may influence their ToA.
Conclusions
These findings support an extension to a key integrative model of uncertainty tolerance, and support development of interventions to increase ToA in doctors. For example, through encouraging increased reflection on an individual’s own epistemological beliefs about medicine and the role of doctors. The potential impact of such interventions can be evaluated using scales such as the TAMSAD
Constraining Supergravity Scenarios through the Decay.
We evaluate the branching ratio BR() in the minimal
supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), determining the corresponding
phenomenological restrictions on two attractive supergravity scenarios, namely
minimal supergravity and a class of models with a natural solution to the
problem. We have included in the calculation some one--loop refinements that
have a substantial impact on the results. The numerical results show some
disagreements with part of the previous results in the literature, while they
are in agreement with others. For minimal supergravity the CLEO upper and lower
bounds put important restrictions on the scalar and gaugino masses in both
cases . For the other supergravity scenarios the relevant
CLEO bound is the upper one. It is stressed the fact that an eventual
improvement of the experimental bounds of order would strengthen the
restrictions on the MSSM dramatically. This would be enough to discard these
supergravity scenarios with if no discrepancy is found with the
standard model prediction, while for there will remain low-energy
windows.Comment: 13 pages + 8 figures included in a separate file, Latex, requires
psfig.sty. We have corrected a mistake affecting some figures and their
corresponding quotations in the text, as well as several misprints
Gauge Theories on a 2+2 Anisotropic Lattice
The implementation of gauge theories on a four-dimensional anisotropic
lattice with two distinct lattice spacings is discussed, with special attention
to the case where two axes are finely and two axes are coarsely discretized.
Feynman rules for the Wilson gauge action are derived and the renormalizability
of the theory and the recovery of the continuum limit are analyzed. The
calculation of the gluon propagator and the restoration of Lorentz invariance
in on-shell states is presented to one-loop order in lattice perturbation
theory for on both 2+2 and 3+1 lattices.Comment: 27 pages, uses feynmf. Font compatibility adjuste
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