4 research outputs found
LEARN: A multi-centre, cross-sectional evaluation of Urology teaching in UK medical schools
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the status of UK undergraduate urology teaching against the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) Undergraduate Syllabus for Urology. Secondary objectives included evaluating the type and quantity of teaching provided, the reported performance rate of General Medical Council (GMC)-mandated urological procedures, and the proportion of undergraduates considering urology as a career. MATERIALS AND METHODS: LEARN was a national multicentre cross-sectional study. Year 2 to Year 5 medical students and FY1 doctors were invited to complete a survey between 3rd October and 20th December 2020, retrospectively assessing the urology teaching received to date. Results are reported according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). RESULTS: 7,063/8,346 (84.6%) responses from all 39 UK medical schools were included; 1,127/7,063 (16.0%) were from Foundation Year (FY) 1 doctors, who reported that the most frequently taught topics in undergraduate training were on urinary tract infection (96.5%), acute kidney injury (95.9%) and haematuria (94.4%). The most infrequently taught topics were male urinary incontinence (59.4%), male infertility (52.4%) and erectile dysfunction (43.8%). Male and female catheterisation on patients as undergraduates was performed by 92.1% and 73.0% of FY1 doctors respectively, and 16.9% had considered a career in urology. Theory based teaching was mainly prevalent in the early years of medical school, with clinical skills teaching, and clinical placements in the later years of medical school. 20.1% of FY1 doctors reported no undergraduate clinical attachment in urology. CONCLUSION: LEARN is the largest ever evaluation of undergraduate urology teaching. In the UK, teaching seemed satisfactory as evaluated by the BAUS undergraduate syllabus. However, many students report having no clinical attachments in Urology and some newly qualified doctors report never having inserted a catheter, which is a GMC mandated requirement. We recommend a greater emphasis on undergraduate clinical exposure to urology and stricter adherence to GMC mandated procedures
Fabrication of Ag/PDMS-TiO2 flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor
In this study, TiO2 nanorods are grown on a flexible Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate using the hydrothermal technique. The morphological, structural, compositional, optical properties and pressure sensing are investigated in detail by FESEM, XRD, EDX, UV-visible spectrophotometer, and piezoelectric studies. XRD demonstrates the pure rutile phase with a tetragonal structure is formed from deposited TiO2 thin film. FESEM images confirm the TiO2 nanorods with average dimensions length similar to 620 nm and diameter similar to 97 nm whereas the optical spectrum shows the strong light absorption in the UV region with bandgap 3.54 eV. The voltage is measured as a response to the applied mechanical load and the sensitivity of the pressure sensor is obtained as 2.56 x 10(-5) V/N. The flexible pressure sensors (Ag/PDMS-TiO2) senses over a large pressure range and shows a linear response because of the adjustments in the volume of dielectric that makes the pressure inside the dielectric cavity to vary