Implications of motivation differences in preclinical-clinical transition of dental students:A one-year follow-up study

Background Patient contact and clinical-based learning have been suggested as positive determinants of student motivation. However, few studies have been conducted on how this impacts dental student motivation. Based on the self-determination theory, this study aims to explore differences in the quality of motivation of dental student transition from preclinical (no previous patient contact) to clinical courses. Methods A longitudinal study was conducted with 95 Chilean students who completed the Academic Motivation Scale in two iterations over a one-year period. Results Paired t-test showed a significant increase in relative autonomous motivation as well as in amotivation. Discussions This suggests that while clinical contact supports student self-determination, an abrupt transition might be associated with maladjustment, which could lead to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. Future research could usefully explore if early and gradual clinical experiences enhance student adaptation to the clinical context, thus increasing relative autonomous motivation and decreasing amotivation in the time

Binary pulsars as probes of a Galactic dark matter disk

As a binary pulsar moves through a wind of dark matter particles, the resulting dynamical friction modifies the binary's orbit. We study this effect for the double disk dark matter (DDDM) scenario, where a fraction of the dark matter is dissipative and settles into a thin disk. For binaries within the dark disk, this effect is enhanced due to the higher dark matter density and lower velocity dispersion of the dark disk, and due to its co-rotation with the baryonic disk.We estimate the effect and compare it with observations for two different limits in the Knudsen number ($Kn$). First, in the case where DDDM is effectively collisionless within the characteristic scale of the binary ($Kn\gg1$) and ignoring the possible interaction between the pair of dark matter wakes. Second, in the fully collisional case ($Kn\ll1$), where a fluid description can be adopted and the interaction of the pair of wakes is taken into account. We find that the change in the orbital period is of the same order of magnitude in both limits. A comparison with observations reveals good prospects to probe currently allowed DDDM models with timing data from binary pulsars in the near future. We finally comment on the possibility of extending the analysis to the intermediate (rarefied gas) case with $Kn\sim1$.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Few comments and references added, version accepted for publication in Physics of the Dark Universe (PDU

Scholarship is not just research : Nurturing scholarship in health professions education

Peer reviewe

How should we do equity, diversity and inclusion work in health professions education?

This is an editorial for the special collection on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for MedEdPublish. In this article, the guest advisors of this collection first reflect on the paradoxes in EDI in health professions education (HPE), then on the importance of recognising the existence of multiple authenticities on the basis of different contexts and settings, and finally encourage authors and readers to reflect on their position on the continuum of EDI work. They conclude the editorial by outlining the direction they wish to set for articles in the collection

Effects of age, gender and educational background on strength of motivation for medical school

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of selection, educational background, age and gender on strength of motivation to attend and pursue medical school. Graduate entry (GE) medical students (having Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences or related field) and Non-Graduate Entry (NGE) medical students (having only completed high school), were asked to fill out the Strength of Motivation for Medical School (SMMS) questionnaire at the start of medical school. The questionnaire measures the willingness of the medical students to pursue medical education even in the face of difficulty and sacrifice. GE students (59.64 ± 7.30) had higher strength of motivation as compared to NGE students (55.26 ± 8.33), so did females (57.05 ± 8.28) as compared to males (54.30 ± 8.08). 7.9% of the variance in the SMMS scores could be explained with the help of a linear regression model with age, gender and educational background/selection as predictor variables. Age was the single largest predictor. Maturity, taking developmental differences between sexes into account, was used as a predictor to correct for differences in the maturation of males and females. Still, the gender differences prevailed, though they were reduced. Pre-entrance educational background and selection also predicted the strength of motivation, but the effect of the two was confounded. Strength of motivation appears to be a dynamic entity, changing primarily with age and maturity and to a small extent with gender and experience

"As an ethnic minority, you just have to work twice as hard." Experiences and motivation of ethnic minority students in medical education

INTRODUCTION: Adequate representation of ethnic minority groups in the medical workforce is crucial for ensuring equitable healthcare to diverse patient groups. This requires recruiting ethnic minority medical students and taking measures that enable them to complete their medical studies successfully. Grounded in self-determination theory and intersectionality, this paper explores the experiences of ethnic minority medical students across intersections with gender and other categories of difference and how these relate to students’ motivation. METHODS: An explorative, qualitative study was designed. Six focus groups were conducted with 26 ethnic minority students between December 2016 and May 2017. Thematic analysis was performed to identify, analyse and report themes within the data. RESULTS: The findings were categorized into three main themes: the role of autonomy in the formation of motivation, including students’ own study choice and the role of their family; interactions/‘othering’ in the learning environment, including feelings of not belonging; and intersection of ethnic minority background and gender with being ‘the other’, based on ethnicity. DISCUSSION: Ethnic minority students generally do not have a prior medical network and need role models to whom they can relate. Ensuring or even appointing more ethnic minority role models throughout the medical educational continuum—for example, specialists from ethnic minorities in teaching and/or mentoring roles in the education—and making them more visible to students is recommended. Moreover, a culture needs to be created in the educational environment in which students and staff can discuss their ethnicity-related differences. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (10.1007/s40037-021-00679-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Synthesis and Characterisation of Diaryl Furoxans

The paper discusses the synthesis, characterisation, and performance evaluation of diarylfuroxans namely, bis-phenyl-3,4-furoxan (5) and bis-(4’-nitrophenyl)-3,4-furoxan (6). Themolecules have been synthesised on the lines of reported method by cyclodimerisation of thenitrile oxides generated from benzaldoxime and p-nitro benzaldoxime, respectively. The synthesisedfuroxans (5 ) and (6) were characterised by the elemental analysis, UV, IR, and 1H NMRspectroscopy. The hazard characteristics (impact and friction sensitivity) confirm that thecompounds are safe to handle. The oxygen balance, velocity of detonation and detonationpressure have been computed. The detonation velocity and pressure along with oxygen balanceincreased with the substitution of nitro group in the benzene ring, as expected. Thethermogravimetric studies on promising compound (6) brings out that maximum weight lossoccurs at decomposition temperature of 259–260 °C