Letter to the editor from Col Alfred R Skolfield, chief of the Maine State Pol

Letter to the editor from Col Alfred R Skolfield, chief of the Maine State Police, on the use of radar detectors by Maine motorists -- Col Skolfield says a total ban on radar detectors would result in fewer accidents on Maine\u27s highway

Physician shadowing by college students: what do patients think?

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to determine patients\u27 perceptions of physician shadowing by college students. METHODS: Thirty-two patients who agreed to have a college student shadow their physician participated in semi-structured interviews during July and August 2013 at two outpatient family medicine centers. Qualitative techniques were utilized to analyze the transcripts of the patient interviews and identify common themes. RESULTS: The majority of patients (78.1%) felt the college student had a neutral effect on their visit and denied having concerns about confidentiality (87.5%). No patient felt that having the college student present affected their ability to maintain a trusting relationship with their physician. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: benefits to students, willing participation and sensitive issues. Most patients (78.5%) recognized that the student was in college or was a premedical student. The overwhelming majority of patients stated that they would have a college student shadow their physician again in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Despite concerns raised by other authors about the possible negative effects of physician shadowing by college students, this study shows that patients feel the impact to be primarily neutral and that there are many perceived benefits to both student and patient

A systematic review of the use and effectiveness of the Objective Structured Teaching Encounter.

BACKGROUND: The Objective Structured Teaching Encounter (OSTE) has been proposed as a means of promoting and assessing the teaching skills of medical faculty. AIMS: To describe the uses of the OSTE and the evidence supporting its effectiveness. METHOD: MEDLINE (January 1966 through February 2010) was searched for English-language studies detailing the use of an OSTE for any educational purpose. Reference lists from relevant review articles and identified studies were also searched. Of the 354 papers initially identified, 22 were included in the review. RESULTS: The OSTE has been used to assess and improve teaching performance and to assess the impact of other means of faculty development. Although qualitative results have been generally positive, there is little quantitative data to support using the OSTE as a means of improving teaching performance. There is moderate evidence suggesting the OSTE is a reliable and valid means of assessing teaching, although few ratings instruments have been adequately studied. CONCLUSIONS: The OSTE is a promising innovation with potential application to assessing and promoting the teaching skills of medical faculty. Further study is required to determine the most effective OSTE design

Data from: Fruit flies diversify their offspring in response to parasite infection

The evolution of sexual reproduction is often explained by Red Queen dynamics: Organisms must continually evolve to maintain fitness relative to interacting organisms, such as parasites. Recombination accompanies sexual reproduction and helps diversify an organism’s offspring, so that parasites cannot exploit static host genotypes. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster plastically increases the production of recombinant offspring after infection. The response is consistent across genetic backgrounds, developmental stages, and parasite types but is not induced after sterile wounding. Furthermore, the response appears to be driven by transmission distortion rather than increased recombination. Our study extends the Red Queen model to include the increased production of recombinant offspring and uncovers a remarkable ability of hosts to actively distort their recombination fraction in rapid response to environmental cues