Faculty Development Program in Dokuz Eylül School of Medicine: In the process of curriculum change from traditional to PBL

Introduction: In Dokuz Eylül School of Medicine (DESM) a faculty development program is being carried out by the "Trainers' Training Committee". DESM made a fundamental change in its curriculum from traditional to Problem-based Learning (PBL) in 1997. This was the first implementation of a PBL curriculum in Turkey. Faculty development activities were initiated in the same year. This paper describes the faculty development activities with a special emphasis on PBL courses. Program description: Between 1997-2000 27 four-day long PBL courses were held for 343 participants. The curriculum consisted of PBL philosophy, PBL steps, role of the tutor and students in PBL process, effective case design, assessment principles and group dynamics. PBL simulations enabled the participants to play the roles of both tutors and students. Process evaluation: At the end of the program most of the participants stated that length of the program, content, training methods and the course organization was appropriate. The majority of the participants (89.5%) found the program very useful. PBL steps, PBL practices and PBL philosophy were found as the most useful sessions. Discussion: These courses gave medical staff the opportunity to develop their understanding of PBL methodology and theory. PBL courses and continuous educational activities such as weekly tutor meetings are being held and new courses on advanced tutoring skills are being planned for the near future in DESM

Evaluation of the effect of obesity on fibromyalgia in premenopausal female patients

Obesity is a chronic disease whose prevalence is increasing all over the world. The relationship between obesity and some rheumatic diseases such as Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) has recently attracted attention. In this study, we investigated the effect of obesity on FMS in premenopausal female patients. Anamnesis, physical examination and laboratory data obtained from 103 female patients who were divided into two groups as obese and non-obese according to body mass index (BMI) were statistically analyzed in terms of FMS. 25.2% of the women participating in the study were diagnosed with FMS, and the mean age of the cases was 33.42 (± 10.41), the mean weight was 79.65 (± 19.91), and the mean BMI was 30.52 (± 7.75). The mean age of the obese was higher 38.48 (± 8.95) and the incidence of obesity was significantly higher with age (p ˂ 0.001). The frequency of FMS (p = 0.001), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire results (p = 0.001) and tender point numbers in the Widespread Pain Index Scale (p ˂ 0.001) were significantly higher in the obese group. There was no statistically significant difference between the obese and non-obese groups in terms of marital status, occupation, smoking history and education levels. Obesity prevalence is increasing all over the world and the results of the present study reveal FMS complications are getting worse by obesity. Therefore, prevention and medical treatment of obesity, can positively affect many parameters in the body and reduce the incidence of FMS. [Med-Science 2022; 11(1.000): 387-93

Role of Landscape Character Analysis in Evaluation Interaction Between Rural Settlement and Protected Area: Kapisuyu Basin Sample

Protected areas are valuable in terms of the sustainability of biodiversity and their contribution to local economy. The interaction of protected areas with the settlements in the surrounding area plays a significant role in the continuity of their properties. It is mostly rural areas and rural settlements around the protected areas. Most of the rural settlements are villages. While protected areas have a potential to effect the economic structure of the villages positively; villages have a potential to negatively impact the biological diversity in the protected areas. Therefore, it is necessary to identify, monitor and restore the interaction of protected areas with the villages around these areas. Starting from this statement, this study aims to identify the interaction of protected areas in Turkey with the villages in their surroundings using landscape character analysis technique. The spatial order of the settlements and their distance to forest areas are considered in classifying rural settlements in Turkey. However, these criteria are insufficient in measuring the interaction of these settlements with forest areas and protected areas. Considering this fact, an original methodology aiming to determine the effect of rural settlements on the biological diversity of protected areas is suggested. In the classification within the scope of the methodology and in developing the methodology, the studies concerning the village classification in Turkey and in the world as well as the landscape character analysis approach are based upon. The study was carried out in the villages within the Kapisuyu Basin in the Kastamonu-Bartin Kure Mountains National Park Planning Area. In accordance with the character identified for each village, the contribution and effect of the villages to the national park were assessed. In this study, it is determined that the most important criterion identifying interaction between village and national park is location. Location criterion affected land pattern and settlement patter and brought about scattered structure

How Turkish radiology residents access information related to their profession in this social media and smartphone era

Purpose: To evaluate the frequency of mobile technology and social media usage among radiology residents and their access to professional information. Materials and methods: A questionnaire consisting of 24 questions prepared using Google Drive was sent via e-mail to 550 radiology residents throughout the country. Of the 176 participating residents, 74 completed the survey via the internet, and 102 completed it at three different national radiology meetings. Response rates and its relationship with responses given to different questions were assessed. Results: Hundred two male and 74 female residents participated in the survey. 141 (81.3%) residents thought that they had appropriate internet access in their department. The number of residents using a smartphone was 153 (86.9%). The android operating system (70, 45.8%) was the preferred operating system of respondants. Only 24 (15.7%) of the smartphone users thought that there were enough radiology related applications. “Radiology assistant” (18.9%), “Radiopedia” (7.8%) and “Radiographics” (7.8%) were the most utilized applications. Of the smartphone users, 87(56.9%) stated that they used cell phones in order to find radiological information, and the most used web pages were Google (165, 93.8%), Radiopaedia.org (129, 73.3%), Radiologyassistant.nl (135, 76.7%), and Pubmed (114, 64.8%). Social media usages were as follows: None (10, 5.7%), Facebook (139, 79%), Twitter (55, 31.3%), Google + (51, 29%) and YouTube (44, 25%). Conclusion: While smartphone usage rates among the residents were high, the use of radiology specific applications was not common. Social media usage was very common among residents

Scientific papers presented at the 2000-2001 European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) meetings: publication rates during the period 2000-2004

The aim of this study was to investigate the rate at which abstracts orally presented at the ESGAR 2000 and 2001 meetings were published between 2000-2004, and to identify predictive factors of publication. The abstracts of ESGAR meeting presentations were reviewed and classified according to organ, modality, type of design, country of origin of the studies and basic categories of diagnostic or interventional. The presentations were searched for publication in Medline-indexed journals using the PubMed server. The publication rates of the presentations, the time period between the presentation and publication, and the journal in which the article had appeared were investigated. An overall number of 109 publications were found originating from 276 presentations (39.5%). The median and inter-quartile range [IQR] between the abstract presentation and subsequently full publication was 18 months [1.0 -53.0]. The journal with the highest number of derived articles from abstract presentation was European Radiology (n=21, 19.2%). Retrospective studies were found to be more frequently published than prospective studies (p=0.001). The publication rate did not show any statistically significant difference between groups of other classifications. The publication rate of studies orally presented at ESGAR meetings was 39.5%. No specific variable other than the type of design of the studies appeared to influence the publication rate

Towards a Web-Based Decision Support Tool for Selecting Appropriate Statistical Test in Medical and Biological Sciences

25th European Medical Informatics Conference (MIE) -- AUG 31-SEP 03, 2014 -- Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 000454226100010PubMed ID: 25160143Statistical hypothesis testing is an essential component of biological and medical studies for making inferences and estimations from the collected data in the study; however, the misuse of statistical tests is widely common. In order to prevent possible errors in convenient statistical test selection, it is currently possible to consult available test selection algorithms developed for various purposes. However, the lack of an algorithm presenting the most common statistical tests used in biomedical research in a single flowchart causes several problems such as shifting users among the algorithms, poor decision support in test selection and lack of satisfaction of potential users. Herein, we demonstrated a unified flowchart; covers mostly used statistical tests in biomedical domain, to provide decision aid to non-statistician users while choosing the appropriate statistical test for testing their hypothesis. We also discuss some of the findings while we are integrating the flowcharts into each other to develop a single but more comprehensive decision algorithm

Trends in diagnostic imaging utilization in a university hospital in Turkey.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate utilization trends of the diagnostic imaging examinations during the past decade in a university hospital in Turkey