Afterword [to the Special Issue: Doctoral Seminar 2017 – An International Journey]

All the contributors to this special issue offered their insights on the impact of the International Doctoral Seminar (IDS) in their journey as doctoral students. More than this, their collaborative work demonstrates how the participants attained the primary interest of the seminar, which is to promote research collaborations by engaging in collaborative, interdisciplinary, scholarly activities. Reading the manuscripts in this Special Issue, we were honoured to be participants ourselves. We witnessed how authors selected essential details of their transcultural experience and perspectives, reflected on them, and gave them an order to thereby make meaning of what constitutes their international journey. Beyond what these manuscripts tell us about transculturalism, the importance lies in the multiple ways in which they worked through dialogue and collaborative work. Undoubtedly, papers presented in this Special Issue have helped to shed light on the positive impact this seminar has for doctoral students

Foreword [to the Special Issue: Doctoral Seminar 2017 – An International Journey]

[Extract:] Welcome readers to the Emerging Perspectives Special Issue on the International Doctoral Seminar. The International Doctoral Seminar (IDS) is a collaborative project involving three universities, one each in Australia (Queensland University of Technology—QUT), Canada (University of Calgary—UC), and China (Beijing Normal University—BNU). This Special Issue idea began serendipitously on a beautiful evening in Brisbane after a meal of delicious Vietnamese and Chinese food, shared amongst the doctoral seminar participants during the 2017 cycle, at which I was a student participant. We were standing outside the restaurant chatting and saying goodnight when one of the faculty mentors and one of the student participants approached me. They told me that they had been discussing publishing opportunities for international graduate students. The faculty mentor knew I was one of the editors of EPIGREP and exclaimed, “wouldn’t it be neat to publish a Special Issue of our IDS 2017 experience?” We continued to talk about the possibility and let it sit. The next day, we headed to a market and beach. While we were loading the bus, the faculty mentor asked me to pick up the microphone and introduce EPIGREP to everyone, where I asked if they would be interested in collaborating for a Special Issue. Thinking back, the ride was bumpy, and I had to think organically to represent our journal positively. There were some questions and excitement in the air, despite it being a long and somewhat tiring day already

Reflections on Creating a Student-Run Journal: A Duo-ethnography

Literature regarding graduate student training suggests that graduate students struggle to become involved in academic publishing. Once involved in the publication process, however, graduate students are able to transform their learning, as well as develop knowledge and skills for their future careers. To help further foster student involvement in the publication process at the Werklund School of Education (WSE), the University of Calgary, seven graduate students from educational research and psychology decided to launch a student-run, peer-reviewed research journal called Emerging Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research in Education and Psychology (EPIGREP). Using Norris and Sawyer’s (2012) duo-ethnographic approach, this article focused on  the editorial team members’ shared reflections and experiences as they answered questions regarding the identified gaps that EPIGREP would fill in terms of graduate student training, the challenges and barriers faced during the inaugural year, and the ways in which participation in the journal could empower journal users to engage in the publication process. Finally we noted implications and future directions regarding establishing EPIGREP as a graduate student initiative to foster research participation

Introducing Anki, a Spaced-Repetition Program, as a Study Tool for First Year Medical Students

Description of Innovation Anki is a free flashcard program that can be downloaded from the internet onto electronic devices. Unlike other flashcard programs, it uses a learning technique called “spaced repetition” whereby Anki uses an algorithm to automatically test students with newer and more difficult flashcards more frequently than older and less difficult ones. To use Anki to study for exams, students may make their own flashcards in the form of “decks” (sets of flashcards divided by subject) and/or download “decks” from the internet made by peers from other medical schools. Evaluation of Innovation In the past several years, Anki gained popularity among medical students from both allopathic and osteopathic schools (Rana et al., 2020) after it was shown that students who used Anki performed better on the USMLE Step 1 than students who did not use Anki (Deng et al., 2016). Anki was introduced to JABSOM students when JABSOM’s ℅ 2023 made Anki decks which covered material on JABSOM’s MD2 (Cardiology and Pulmonology) unit. These decks were then shared with students from the ℅ 2024, the majority of whom reported success with using Anki to study for MD2 exams (Koshi et al., 2021). Context During the start of medical school, most first year students (MS1s) have difficulty identifying study habits that best suit their individual learning styles. This project introduced Anki to MS1s during JABSOM’s MD1 (Health and Illness) unit in hopes of easing the ℅ 2025’s transition to medical school and expanding upon the findings of Koshi et al., which were limited to JABSOM’s MD2 unit. The distributed Anki decks came with certain limitations. First, they only covered material related to MD1 PBL cases. Second, they were released one at a time after students finished their corresponding PBL cases so as to not interfere with the PBL process. Lastly, decks from PBL cases 5 and 7 were omitted to encourage students to practice making their own flashcards. This project also consisted of online workshops that taught students how to use Anki and “AnKing,” the most commonly used premade Anki deck for the USMLE Step 1 and 2. Students’ comfort with and utilization of Anki were monitored throughout the unit via weekly surveys. Objectives Made and shared Anki decks covering most MD1 PBL material with the ℅ 2025 to introduce and transition them to using Anki. Hosted workshops to teach the ℅ 2025 how to use efficiently Anki and AnKing as well as how to make their own flashcards and decks. Discussion The JABSOM ℅ 2025 (n=77) were emailed 9 Anki decks out of a total possible 11 PBL cases. An average of 66.14 students (85.9% of the class) used the PBL decks. At the beginning of this project, 30.8% of respondents felt somewhat or very comfortable with creating new Anki cards. At the conclusion of this project, this percentage increased to 65.7%. The final survey showed that all 67 respondents would recommend Anki as a study resource to future students. All but one respondent planned to continue using Anki as a study resource. Conclusion Most students gave positive feedback about the Anki decks, reporting they were helpful study tools. Furthermore, most students reported that this project eased their transition into medical school and would continue to use Anki to supplement their studying in future units. Target Audience The intended audience of this presentation includes health professionals, and medical school faculty, educators, and students. References 1. Deng F, Gluckstein JA, Larsen DP. Student-directed retrieval practice is a predictor of medical licensing examination performance [published correction appears in Perspect Med Educ. 2016 Nov 18;:]. Perspect Med Educ. 2015;4(6):308-313. doi:10.1007/s40037-015-0220-x 2. Koshi E, Nielsen T, Fujiuchi B, Walter M, Kuniyoshi C, Sakai D. Qualitative Assessment of Anki as a Tool for Medical Education. Health Professions Education Conference (HPEC). 2021. hdl.handle.net/10125/73407 3. Rana T, Laoteppitaks C, Zhang G, Troutman G, Chandra S. An Investigation of Anki Flashcards as a Study Tool Among First Year Medical Students Learning Anatomy. The FASEB journal. 2020;34(S1):1-1. doi:10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.0973

Do you trust me? Driver responses to automated evasive maneuvers

An increasing number of Conditionally Automated Driving (CAD) systems are being developed by major automotive manufacturers. In a CAD system, the automated system is in control of the vehicle within its operational design domain. Therefore, in CAD the vehicle is capable of tactical control of the vehicle and needs to be able to maneuver evasively by braking or steering to avoid objects. During these evasive maneuvers, the driver may attempt to take back control of the vehicle by intervening. A driver interrupting a CAD vehicle while properly performing an evasive maneuver presents a potential safety risk. To investigate this issue, 36 participants were recruited to participate in a Wizard-of-Oz research study. The participants experienced one of two evasive maneuvers of moderate intensity on a test track. The evasive maneuver required the CAD system to brake or steer to avoid the box placed in the lane of travel of the test vehicle. Drivers glanced toward the obstacle but did not intervene or prepare to intervene in response to the evasive maneuver. Importantly, the drivers who chose to intervene did so safely. These findings suggest that after experiencing a CAD vehicle for a brief period, most participants trusted the system enough to not intervene during a system-initiated evasive maneuver

Lessons Learned from the Point-of-Care Use of a Facial Analysis Technology

Purpose We aimed to evaluate the utility of facial analysis technology for genetic diagnoses in a typical pediatric genetic clinic. Methods A retrospective review identified children (aged <18 years) who had not previously received a definitive genetic diagnosis and underwent a comprehensive genetic evaluation. Their photographs and relevant clinical non-facial features were uploaded to the CLINIC application of the Face2Gene web interface, and the resulting analysis was accessed and correlated to the molecular diagnosis. Results Of the 23 children included, the overall diagnostic yield in this study was 60.9% (14/23). In total, 64.3% of patients had the correct condition suggested in the top 10 differential diagnoses. The gestalt similarity was only 55.6%, but the phenotypic features added by the clinician showed a similarity of more than the medium level in all patients. Conclusion Our data underscore the usefulness of facial analysis technology as an auxiliary point-of-care tool in pediatric genetic clinics, and we also present some considerations to increase accuracy