Evaluation of the integration of social accountability values into medical education using a problem-based learning curriculum

Background: Medical schools have the obligation to direct their education toward addressing the priority health concerns of the societies that they serve. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the concepts and values of social accountability into the case scenarios that are used in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at a medical school in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: A validated “social accountability inventory for PBL” was used for examining 70 case scenarios in a problem-based learning (PBL) medical curriculum. Results: The findings of the study showed that patient gender and age were included in all the 70 case scenarios. Vast majority of the case scenarios had successfully integrated the social accountably values in addressing the following: the major health problems or social health concerns of the UAE (73%), the social determinants of health (70%), the contextual integration of medical professionalism (87%), the evolving roles of doctors in the health system (79%), the healthcare referral system based on the case complexity (73%), the involvement of different stakeholders in healthcare (87%), psychosocial issues rather than only the disease-oriented issues (80%) and the values of health promotion/prevention (59%) cases. On the other hand, the case scenarios were deficient in integrating other social accountability values that related to the importance of treatment cost-effectiveness (91%), consideration of the underserved, disadvantaged or vulnerable populations in the society (89%), patient’s ethnicity (77%), multidisciplinary approach to patient management (67%), the socioeconomic statuses of patients (53%), the issues regarding the management of the health system (39%) respectively. There was variability in integrating the social accountability values in case scenarios across different units which are based on organ system. Conclusion: Medical educators and healthcare leaders can use this valuable data to calibrate the curriculum content, especially when using a problem-based learning curriculum to integrate the values of social accountability such as relevance, quality, equity and cost-effectiveness to train the future generation of healthcare providers to be ready to address the ever-changing and diverse needs of the societies

Gut microbiota of <i>H</i>. <i>pylori</i> infected subjects show higher level of complexity.

Evaluation of the alpha-diversity in the 60 analyzed samples. Outlined reports the average rarefaction curves based on the Chao1 and Shannon index at increasing sequencing depth of H. pylori infected and healthy samples. H. pylori infected and healthy datasets are colored in blue and red, respectively.</p

Evaluation of the integration of social accountability values into medical education using a problem-based learning curriculum

Background: Medical schools have the obligation to direct their education toward addressing the priority health concerns of the societies that they serve. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the concepts and values of social accountability into the case scenarios that are used in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at a medical school in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: A validated “social accountability inventory for PBL” was used for examining 70 case scenarios in a problem-based learning (PBL) medical curriculum. Results: The findings of the study showed that patient gender and age were included in all the 70 case scenarios. Vast majority of the case scenarios had successfully integrated the social accountably values in addressing the following: the major health problems or social health concerns of the UAE (73%), the social determinants of health (70%), the contextual integration of medical professionalism (87%), the evolving roles of doctors in the health system (79%), the healthcare referral system based on the case complexity (73%), the involvement of different stakeholders in healthcare (87%), psychosocial issues rather than only the disease-oriented issues (80%) and the values of health promotion/prevention (59%) cases. On the other hand, the case scenarios were deficient in integrating other social accountability values that related to the importance of treatment cost-effectiveness (91%), consideration of the underserved, disadvantaged or vulnerable populations in the society (89%), patient’s ethnicity (77%), multidisciplinary approach to patient management (67%), the socioeconomic statuses of patients (53%), the issues regarding the management of the health system (39%) respectively. There was variability in integrating the social accountability values in case scenarios across different units which are based on organ system. Conclusion: Medical educators and healthcare leaders can use this valuable data to calibrate the curriculum content, especially when using a problem-based learning curriculum to integrate the values of social accountability such as relevance, quality, equity and cost-effectiveness to train the future generation of healthcare providers to be ready to address the ever-changing and diverse needs of the societies

Exploration of the bacterial diversity in <i>H</i>. <i>pylori</i> infected and healthy subjects.

(A)The bar plot reports only genera with an absolute percentage difference between H. pylori infected and healthy averages >0.1% and a p-value < 0.05, evaluated by means of ANOVA statistical analysis. (B) The table indicates the bacterial genera, the relative abundance and the prevalence of each group, the relative percentage difference and the p-value.</p

Evaluation of the beta-diversity in the 60 analyzed samples.

Panel shows the predicted Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA). Healthy and H. Pylori data points and corresponding clusters are colored in green and orange respectively.</p

Exploration of the fungal diversity in <i>H</i>. <i>pylori</i> infected and healthy subjects.

(A) The bar plot reports only genera with an absolute percentage difference between H. pylori infected and healthy averages >0.1% and a p-value < 0.05, evaluated by means of ANOVA statistical analysis. (B) The table indicates the fungal genera, the relative abundance and the prevalence of each group, the relative percentage difference and the p-value.</p

Table_1_Expression and Clinical Implications of Cysteine Cathepsins in Gallbladder Carcinoma.DOC

Background: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) exhibits poor prognosis due to its detection at an advanced stage. Upregulation of lysosomal cysteine proteases cathepsin L (CTSL) and cathepsin B (CTSB) has been implicated in several tumorigenic processes. However, no such information in GBC was available. Therefore, the present study was planned to investigate the expression and clinical significance of these cathepsins in GBC.Methods: Activities of CTSL and CTSB were assayed in the gallbladder (GB) tissues obtained from GBC patients (n = 43) and control subjects (n = 69). Protein and mRNA levels were quantified using immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR (qPCR), respectively. Finally, serum levels of CTSL and CTSB were estimated by ELISA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used for the assessment of sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of these cysteine cathepsins in GBC. The association of combined CTSL and CTSB activity with overall survival was assessed using Kaplan Meier survival analysis.Results: The expression and activity of both CTSL and CTSB were significantly increased (p Conclusion: This study, for the first time, demonstrates the clinical significance of CTSL and CTSB overexpression in GBC. Our findings may help improve the clinical management of this carcinoma.</p

Additional file 1 of The educational use of social networking sites among medical and health sciences students: a cross campus interventional study

Additional file 1: Appendix I. The SNSME questionnaire. Appendix II. Pre and post workshop questionnaire

Data_Sheet_1_Altered Composition of the Oral Microbiota in Depression Among Cigarette Smokers: A Pilot Study.PDF

Alterations in the oral microbiota composition may influence mental health. However, linkages between compositional changes in the oral microbiota and their role in mental health among cigarette smokers remain largely unknown. In this study, we used shotgun metagenomics data for the oral microbiome of 105 participants. The data showed Bacteroidota, Fusobacteriota, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria to be the most abundant phyla; Streptococcus, Haemophilus D, and Veillonella are the most abundant genera. Then, we clustered our subjects into avoidance and activation groups based on the behavioral activation for depression scale (BADS). Interestingly, the avoidance group exhibited a higher oral microbiome richness and diversity (alpha diversity). Differential abundance testing between BADS avoidance and activation groups showed the phyla Bacteroidota (effect size 0.5047, q = 0.0037), Campylobacterota (effect size 0.4012, q = 0.0276), Firmicutes A (effect size 0.3646, q = 0.0128), Firmicutes I (effect size 0.3581, q = 0.0268), and Fusobacteriota (effect size 0.6055, q = 0.0018) to be significantly increased in the avoidance group, but Verrucomicrobiota (effect size−0.6544, q = 0.0401), was found to be significantly decreased in the avoidance risk group. Network analysis of the 50 genera displaying the highest variation between both groups identified Campylobacter B, Centipeda, and Veillonella as hub nodes in the avoidance group. In contrast, Haemophilus and Streptococcus were identified as hub nodes in the activation group. Next, we investigated functional profiles of the oral microbiota based on BADS avoidance and activation groups and found Lysine degradations pathway was significantly enriched between both groups (ANCOM-BC, q = 0.0692). Altogether, we provide evidence for the presence of depression-related changes in the oral microbiota of smokers and possible functional contribution. The identified differences provide new information to enrich our understanding of oral microbiota-brain axis interplay and their potential impact on mental health.</p

List of selected gene targets with a four-fold or more change in expression in <i>ppg1</i> Δ/Δ strain.

List of selected gene targets with a four-fold or more change in expression in ppg1 Δ/Δ strain.</p