Learning health professionalism at Makerere University: an exploratory study amongst undergraduate students

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anecdotal evidence shows that unprofessional conduct is becoming a common occurrence amongst health workers in Uganda. The development of appropriate professional values, attitudes and behaviors is a continuum that starts when a student joins a health professional training institution and as such health professionals in training need to be exposed to the essence of professionalism. We sought to explore undergraduate health professions students' perceptions and experiences of learning professionalism as a preliminary step in addressing the problem of unprofessional conduct amongst health workers in Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eight focus group discussions were conducted with 49 first to fifth year health professions undergraduate students of the 2008/2009 academic year at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed, and were analyzed using content analysis with emergent coding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The difference in the way first and fifth year students of Makerere University College of Health Sciences conceptualized professionalism was suggestive of the decline in attitude that occurs during medical education. The formal curriculum was described as being inadequate while the hidden and informal curricula were found to play a critical role in learning professionalism. Students identified role models as being essential to the development of professionalism and emphasized the need for appropriate role modeling. In our setting, resource constraints present an important, additional challenge to learning universal standards of health professionalism. Furthermore, students described practices that reflect the cultural concept of communalism, which conflicts with the universally accepted standard of individual medical confidentiality. The students questioned the universal applicability of internationally accepted standards of professionalism.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings call for a review of the formal professionalism curriculum at Makerere University College of Health Sciences to make it more comprehensive and to meet the needs expressed by the students. Role models need capacity building in professionalism as health professionals and as educators. In our setting, resource constraints present an additional challenge to learning universal standards of health professionalism. There is need for further research and discourse on education in health professionalism in the Sub-Saharan context of resource constraints and cultural challenges.</p

Phreatic eruptions at crater lakes: occurrence statistics and probabilistic hazard forecast

Phreatic eruptions, although posing a serious threat to people in crater proximity, are often underestimated and have been comparatively understudied. The detailed eruption catalogue for Ruapehu Volcano (New Zealand) provides an exceptional opportunity to study the statistics of recurring phreatic explosions at a crater lake volcano. We performed a statistical analysis on this phreatic eruption database, which suggests that phreatic events at Ruapehu do not follow a Poisson process. Instead they tend to cluster, which is possibly linked to an increased heat flow during periods of a more shallow-seated magma column. Larger explosions are more likely to follow shortly after smaller events, as opposed to longer periods of quiescence. The absolute probability for a phreatic explosion to occur at Ruapehu within the next month is about 10%, when averaging over the last 70 years of recording. However, the frequency of phreatic explosions is significantly higher than the background level in years prior to magmatic episodes. Combining clast ejection simulations with a Bayesian event tree tool (PyBetVH) we perform a probabilistic assessment of the hazard due to ballistic ejecta in the summit area of Ruapehu, which is frequently visited by hikers. Resulting hazard maps show that the absolute probability for the summit to be affected by ballistics within the next month is up to 6%. The hazard is especially high on the northern lakeshore, where there is a mountain refuge. Our results contribute to the local hazard assessment as well as the general perception of hazards due to steam-driven explosions

LIVE: The Creation of an Academy for Veterinary Education

The purpose of this paper Is to Introduce a new educational development and research program; to describe the vision which created the LIVE Centre for Excellence In Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, UK; and to give details of the educational developments and research that have been pursued In LIVE since 2005. LIVE's purpose, to act as an "Incubator" to help support all those Interested in veterinary teaching and learning, and associated research, Is discussed. The paper describes how the alms of the Initial funding bid are being realized through the development of a multi-layered strategy. The discussion concludes by suggesting that new faculty models such as the US Academy Network for Medical Educators or veterinary hubs such as LIVE could act as catalysts for the development of a new breed of clinical teachers and educational researchers, empowered by Innovative teaching and learning methods relevant to both medical and veterinary education

Faculty Development in Veterinary Education: Are We Doing Enough (or Publishing Enough About It), and Do We Value It?

Catriona Bell – ORCID: 0000-0001-8501-1697 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8501-1697Item not available in this repository.In this discussion article, I aim to promote international discourse about faculty development in veterinary education, to highlight both the paucity of literature available in this field and the variation in terminology used in publications, to draw from existing evidence in medical education literature, and to identify what we know already and where we are now and where we should be in the next 10 years.https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.0113-022R40pubpub

Critical appraisal skills teaching in UK dental schools

Key publications on training in dentistry, including the latest version of the General Dental Council learning outcomes for dentists, recognise the importance of teaching evidence-based practice for dental students. However, dental curriculum designers have considerable flexibility on the scope and approach for teaching evidence-based dentistry (EBD) and there is no readily available information showing how EBD is taught across the dental schools in the United Kingdom (UK). Critical appraisal is one of the key steps of evidence-based decision making and so we investigated through an electronic survey whether and how critical appraisal skills (CAS) are taught and assessed across the UK dental schools. The survey included questions regarding teaching methods, duration and timing of CAS teaching, and assessment methods. Twelve out of the total 16 UK dental schools participated in this survey, giving an institutional response rate of 75%. While all 12 participating UK dental schools reported CAS were taught and assessed in their institution, there were very varied approaches between institutions in every surveyed aspect of CAS education. CAS teaching and assessment strategies should be regularly reviewed in line with the evolving dental curriculum. Regular inter- and intra-institutional review of teaching, specifically in evidence-based dentistry including CAS may encourage professional debate regarding facilitation of improved CAS and their integration into clinical practice