Medical students' and facilitators' experiences of an Early Professional Contact course: Active and motivated students, strained facilitators

Background: Today, medical students are introduced to patient contact, communication skills, and clinical examination in the preclinical years of the curriculum with the purpose of gaining clinical experience. These courses are often evaluated from the student perspective. Reports with an additional emphasis on the facilitator perspective are scarce. According to constructive alignment, an influential concept from research in higher education, the learning climate between students and teachers is also of great importance. In this paper, we approach the learning climate by studying both students' and facilitators' course experiences.\ud \ud In 2001, a new "Early Professional Contact" longitudinal strand through term 1–4, was introduced at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. General practitioners and hospital specialists were facilitators.\ud \ud The aim of this study was to assess and analyse students' and clinical facilitators' experiences of the Early Professional Contact course and to illuminate facilitators' working conditions.\ud \ud Methods: Inspired by a Swedish adaptation of the Course Experience Questionnaire, an Early Professional Contact Questionnaire was constructed. In 2003, on the completion of the first longitudinal strand, a student and facilitator version was distributed to 86 students and 21 facilitators. In the analysis, both Chi-square and the Mann-Whitney tests were used.\ud \ud Results: Sixty students (70%) and 15 facilitators (71%) completed the questionnaire. Both students and facilitators were satisfied with the course. Students reported gaining [inspiration] for their future work as doctors along with increased confidence in meeting patients. They also reported increased motivation for biomedical studies. Differences in attitudes between facilitators and students were found. Facilitators experienced a greater workload, less reasonable demands and less support, than students.\ud \ud Conclusion: In this project, a new Early Professional Contact course was analysed from both student and facilitator perspectives. The students experienced the course as providing them with a valuable introduction to the physician's professional role in clinical practice. In contrast, course facilitators often experienced a heavy workload and lack of support, despite thorough preparatory education. A possible conflict between the clinical facilitator's task as educator and member of the workplace is suggested. More research is needed on how doctors combine their professional tasks with work as facilitators

Interventions designed to improve the quality and efficiency of medication use in managed care: A critical review of the literature – 2001–2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Managed care organizations use a variety of strategies to reduce the cost and improve the quality of medication use. The effectiveness of such policies is not well understood. The objective of this research was to update a previous systematic review of interventions, published between 1966 and 2001, to improve the quality and efficiency of medication use in the US managed care setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for publications from July 2001 to January 2007 describing interventions targeting drug use conducted in the US managed care setting. We categorized studies by intervention type and adequacy of research design using commonly accepted criteria. We summarized the outcomes of well-controlled strategies and documented the significance and magnitude of effects for key study outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 164 papers published during the six-year period. Predominant strategies were: educational interventions (n = 20, including dissemination of educational materials, and group or one-to-one educational outreach); monitoring and feedback (n = 22, including audit/feedback and computerized monitoring); formulary interventions (n = 66, including tiered formulary and patient copayment); collaborative care involving pharmacists (n = 15); and disease management with pharmacotherapy as a primary focus (n = 41, including care for depression, asthma, and peptic ulcer disease). Overall, 51 studies met minimum criteria for methodological adequacy. Effective interventions included one-to-one academic detailing, computerized alerts and reminders, pharmacist-led collaborative care, and multifaceted disease management. Further, changes in formulary tier-design and related increases in copayments were associated with reductions in medication use and increased out-of-pocket spending by patients. The dissemination of educational materials alone had little or no impact, while the impact of group education was inconclusive.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is good evidence for the effectiveness of several strategies in changing drug use in the managed care environment. However, little is known about the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. Computerized alerts showed promise in improving short-term outcomes but little is known about longer-term outcomes. Few well-designed, published studies have assessed the potential negative clinical effects of formulary-related interventions despite their widespread use. However, some evidence suggests increases in cost sharing reduce access to essential medicines for chronic illness.</p

O papel da oxigenação hiperbárica na estrutura do fígado e baço após ligadura das veias hepáticas: estudo em ratos The role of hyperbaric oxygenation in the liver and spleen structure after hepatic vein ligation: study in rats

OBJETIVO: Avaliação morfológica do fígado e baço de ratos submetidos à oxigenoterapia hiperbárica após a ligadura das veias hepáticas. MÉTODO: Foram utilizados 30 animais machos adultos da espécie Holtzman, distribuídos aleatoriamente em dois grupos de 15 animais cada, assim designados: grupo 1 - ligadura das veias hepáticas; grupo 2 - ligadura das veias hepáticas associada à oxigenoterapia hiperbárica. Todos os animais foram submetidos à anestesia geral por meio de solução contendo cloridrato de cetamina (40 mg/ml) e cloridrato de meperidina (10 mg/ml) na dose de 50 mg/kg/peso, laparotomia mediana e ligadura das veias hepáticas. A oxigenoterapia hiperbárica foi aplicada nos animais do grupo 2, a partir da oitava hora do pós-operatório, por 120 minutos, sendo 90 minutos sob pressão de 2,5 atmosferas e 15 minutos no início e final da terapêutica, para promover a compressão e descompressão gradativa no período de 20 dias consecutivos. No 21&deg; dia de pós-operatório, os animais foram mortos por inalação de éter e submetidos à laparotomia e extirpação dos fígados e baços para exame histológico. Foram comparados os resultados da histologia hepática e esplênica aplicando-se o teste exato de Fisher, considerando-se a diferença significante de P < 0,05. RESULTADOS: Os exames histológicos dos fígados e baços dos animais dos grupos 1 e 2 mostraram as seguintes alterações: presença de trombose nas veias hepática, porta e centro-lobular em cinco (33,3%) animais do grupo 1 e ausência no grupo 2; presença de necrose dos hepatócitos caracterizada como acentuada em sete animais (46,7%) e leve em oito (53,3%) animais do grupo 1, enquanto que, em todos os animais do grupo 2, esta alteração foi caracterizada como leve; presença de células de Kupffer muito proeminentes e hipertrofiadas em 14 (93,3%) animais do grupo 1 e pouco proeminentes e hipertrofiadas em todos os animais do grupo 2; congestão da polpa vermelha considerada acentuada em seis (40%) e moderada em nove (60%) animais do grupo 1 e em todos os animais do grupo 2; hemossiderose moderada ou acentuada em 14 (93,3%) animais do grupo 1 e leve em todos os animais do grupo 2. As análises estatísticas realizadas entre os dois grupos mostraram diferenças significativas em todas a variáveis estudadas (P < 0,05). CONCLUSÕES: A oxigenoterapia hiperbárica em ratos submetidos à ligadura das veias hepáticas atenuou os efeitos deletérios e precoces sobre o fígado e o baço, analisada pela histologia destes órgãos.<br>OBJECTIVE: Liver and spleen morphologic evaluation of rats submitted to hyperbaric oxygen therapy after hepatic vein ligation. METHOD: Thirty Holtzman adult male rats were used, distributed into two groups of 15 animals: group 1 - hepatic vein ligation; group 2 - hepatic vein ligation associated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. All animals received general anesthesia by a solution composed of ketamine chloride (40 mg/ml) and meperidine chloride (10 mg/ml) in a dose of 50/mg/weight, and were submitted to median laparotomy and hepatic vein ligation. Group 2 animals were submitted to hyperbaric oxygen therapy, 8 hours after the operation, 90 minutes at 2.5 atmosphere pressure and 15 minutes at the onset and end of the therapy, in a total of 120 minutes, in order to promote the gradual compression and decompression in 20 consecutive days. On the 21st preoperative day, the animals were sacrificed by ether inhalation and submitted to laparotomy and stripping of liver and spleen for histological study. The results of the histological study of livers and spleens were compared using Fisher's exact test. Statistically significant difference was considered when P < 0.05. RESULTS: The histological studies made in the livers and spleens of animals from both groups showed the following alterations: presence of thrombosis of hepatic, portal and central lobular veins in five (33.3%) group 1 animals and absence in group 2 animals; very extensive necrosis of liver cells in seven (46.7%) group 1 animals, and light in eight (53.3%), whereas for all group 2 animals such alteration was considered light; Kupffer cells developed and hypertrophied in 14 (93.3%) group 1 animals and slightly developed and hypertrophied in all group 2 animals; high congestion of the spleen purple in six (40%) and moderate in nine (60%) group 1 animals, whereas all group 2 animals had moderate congestion; moderate or severe hemosiderosis in 14 (93.3%) group 1 animals and mild hemosiderosis in all group 2 animals. The statistical analyses performed between both groups showed significant differences (P < 0.05) for all variables. CONCLUSIONS: The hyperbaric oxygen therapy applied in rats submitted to hepatic vein ligation mitigated its early deleterious effects on the liver and spleen, which was confirmed by the histological study