Le sfide della pedagogia medica oggi. Un’analisi SWOT della SIPeM

In modern times, the Italian Society of Medical Pedagogy (SIPeM) faces greater complexity. Over the last decades, great changes of the SIPeM goals and instruments there has been. Therefore it is necessary today a reflection on the goals reached, on the difficulties encountered and on future challenges. Procedure: a SWOT analysis of SIPeM was conducted with the members of the Direct Board and the Heads of the Local Sections. Results: 23 conceptual units were identified and divided into strength elements (5), weakness (7), opportunity (6) and risk (5). Conclusions: the analysis confirms some strategic choices made by SIPeM, such as the Green Line Project and underlines the need to define their own future goals in order to plan the resources distribution

Le sfide della pedagogia medica oggi. Un’analisi SWOT della SIPeM

In modern times, the Italian Society of Medical Pedagogy (SIPeM) faces greater complexity. Over the last decades, great changes of the SIPeM goals and instruments there has been. Therefore it is necessary today a reflection on the goals reached, on the difficulties encountered and on future challenges. Procedure: a SWOT analysis of SIPeM was conducted with the members of the Direct Board and the Heads of the Local Sections. Results: 23 conceptual units were identified and divided into strength elements (5), weakness (7), opportunity (6) and risk (5). Conclusions: the analysis confirms some strategic choices made by SIPeM, such as the Green Line Project and underlines the need to define their own future goals in order to plan the resources distribution

La formazione in psicoterapia: Un dipinto in chiaroscuro

La formazione in psicoterapia rappresenta oggi per molti psicologi clinici una tappa importante e quasi obbligata per completare la propria professionalità; a fronte di questa richiesta crescente sono nate numerose scuole di formazione private, riconosciute dal Ministero dell'Università, che si affiancano alle tradizionali scuole pubbliche. Per orientarsi in un panorama così complesso, uno strumento di accesso alle informazioni delle scuole dei diversi orientamenti dato dai siti web di ciascuna di esse, cui si affiancano richieste telefoniche, e-mail e il colloquio di ammissione fatto dalla scuola. La domanda che guida il presente lavoro se gli studenti-futuri utenti abbiano gli strumenti adeguati per fare una scelta consapevole, anche in ragione del grosso impegno di tempo e denaro che questa richiede. Il lavoro ha analizzato i siti web di 201 sedi principali delle scuole di specializzazione riconosciute dal MIUR, valutando la presenza di alcuni dati relativi alle caratteristiche della scuola. I siti risultano sufficientemente aggiornati; tuttavia, alcune informazioni critiche (costi, analisi personale, supervisione) sono poco chiare, rendendo spesso problematica la scelta da parte degli studenti

Social capital and willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials: an Italian case-control study

Background: What leads healthy people to enter in a volunteer register for clinical trials? This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the decision to volunteer in clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine and social capital, in a sample of healthy volunteers in Italy. Since social capital is characterized by trust, reciprocity, and social and political participation, we claim that it is key in leading individuals to actively take action to protect public health, and to take a risk for the (potential) beneft not only of themselves but for the entire community. Methods: This study was conducted through the administration of a questionnaire to healthy volunteers registered for a phase 1 clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine in the Unit Research Centre of ASST-Monza, in September 2020. The primary purpose of a phase 1 study is to evaluate the safety of a new drug candidate before it proceeds to further clinical studies. To approximate a case–control study, we randomly matched the 318 respondents to healthy volunteers (cases) with 318 people randomly selected by Round 9 of the European Social Survey (controls), using three variables, which we considered to be associated with the decision to volunteer: gender, age, and education level. To execute this matching procedure, we used the “ccmatch” module in STATA. Results: The fndings highlight the positive impact of social capital in the choice of healthy individuals to volunteer in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. Controlling for possible confounding factors, some exemplary results show that people with a high level of general trust have a greater likelihood of volunteering compared to people with low trust (OR=2.75, CI=1.58–4.77); we also found that it is more probable that volunteers are people who have actively taken action to improve things compared with people who have not (for individuals who did three or more actions: OR=7.54, CI=4.10–13.86). People who reported voting (OR=3.91, CI=1.70–8.99) and participating in social activities more than other people of their age (OR=2.89, CI=1.82–4.60) showed a higher probability to volunteer. Conclusions: Together with the adoption of urgent health measures in response to COVID-19, government policymakers should also promote social capital initiatives to encourage individuals to actively engage in actions aimed at protecting collective health. Our fndings make an empirical contribution to the research on vaccines and its intersection with social behaviour, and they provide useful insights for policymakers to manage current and future disease outbreaks and to enhance the enrolment in vaccine trials

Effects of eHealth interventions on stress reduction and mental health promotion in healthcare professionals: a systematic review

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of eHealth interventions to reduce stress and promote mental health in healthcare professionals, and to compare the efficacy of different types of programs (guided vs. self-guided; ‘third-wave’ psychotherapies vs. other types). Background: Healthcare workers present high levels of stress, which constitutes a risk factor for developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. eHealth interventions have been designed to reduce these professional's stress considering that the characteristics of this delivery method make it a cost-effective and very appealing alternative because of its fast and easy access. Design: A systematic review of quantitative studies. Methods: A comprehensive database search for quantitative studies was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane (until 1 April 2022). The systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA and SWiM reporting guidelines. The quality of the studies was assessed using the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute tools. Results: The abstracts of 6349 articles were assessed and 60 underwent in-depth review, with 27 fulfilling the inclusion criteria. The interventions were classified according to their format (self-guided vs. guided) and contents (‘third-wave’ psychotherapies vs. others). Twenty-two interventions emerged, 13 of which produced significant posttreatment reductions in stress levels of health professionals (9 self-guided, 8 ‘third wave’ psychotherapies). Significant effects in improving depressive symptomatology, anxiety, burnout, resilience and mindfulness, amongst others, were also found. Conclusion: The evidence gathered in this review highlights the heterogeneity of the eHealth interventions that have been studied; self-guided and ‘third-wave’ psychotherapy programs are the most common, often with promising results, although the methodological shortcomings of most studies hinder the extraction of sound conclusions

Training in communication and emotion handling skills for students attending medical school: Relationship with empathy, emotional intelligence, and attachment style

Objective: To describe the Emoty-Com training, its impact on medical students' attitudes towards doctors' emotions and to explore the association between students' empathy, emotional intelligence (EI), and attachment style (AS) with post-training performance scores. Methods: The 16-hour Emoty-Com training was delivered to all second-year medical students of Verona and Milan (Italy) Universities. At pre-training, students filled out three questionnaires assessing empathy, AS and EI and responded to three questions on attitudes towards doctors' emotions in the doctor-patient encounter. The same three questions and a final evaluation test were proposed at post-training. Results: 264 students participated in the study. The training reduced students' worry about managing emotions during doctor-patient relationships. Gender was associated with specific subscales of empathy, EI, and AS. Final performance scores were associated with students' attitudes towards emotions but not with empathy, EI, and AS. Conclusion: The Emoty-Com training increased students' self-efficacy in handling their own emotions during consultations. Students' performance scores were related to their attitude towards doctors' emotions in clinical encounters. Practice implications: The Emoty-Com training suggests ways to teach and evaluate emotion-handling skills for medical students. Possible links between empathy, EI, AS, and the attitudes towards doctors' emotions during the years of education are highlighted

Emotional intelligence as a mediator between attachment security and empathy in pre-clinical medical students: A multi-center cross-sectional study

Objective: To explore the association of emotional intelligence (EI) and attachment security (AS) with empathy dimensions in medical students by examining the mediating role of EI. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ), and demographic questions were administrated to second-year medical students of two medical schools in Northern Italy. Results: 253 medical students (56.13% female), aged 19-29, participated in this study. AS positively correlated to Empathic Concern (r = 0.17, p = 0.008) and Perspective Taking (r = 0.24, p < 0.001), and negatively to Personal Distress (r = -0.33, p < 0.001). Individuals with the same level of AS and a higher score on EQ-i had a higher score (β = 0.072, p = 0.033) on empathy latent factor (at the basis of Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking) and a lower score (β = -0.290, p < 0.001) on Personal Distress than those with a lower EQ-i score. Conclusion: This study shows that EI completely mediated the relationship between AS and empathy dimensions among medical students. Practice implications: EI training and workshop should be considered when designing educational interventions and programs to enhance empathy and decrease interpersonal distress in medical students

Association between relational attitudes and a training in communication and emotion handling skills

Background: The Emoty-Com training is a 16 hours-course based on interactive teaching to increase communication and emotion- handling skills for medical students. The study aimed to describe the Emoty-Com training impact on medical students’ attitudes towards patients’ emotions and to explore the association between students’ empathy, emotional intelligence (EI), attachment style (AS) and at- titudes with post-training performance scores. Methods: The Emoty-Com training was delivered to all second- year students of Medicine and Surgery Schools in Verona and Milan (Italy) Universities. Empathy, AS and EI were assessed at pre- training; attitudes towards emotions in the doctor-patient encounter were assessed at pre-training and post-training; at post-training, a final test evaluating the knowledge acquired during the training was administered. Findings: The Emoty-Com training increased the relevance at- tributed to doctor emotional involvement, at least by male students, and students’ perception of self-efficacy in handling their own emotions during a consultation. Students with higher final test scores were those with less perceived self-efficacy in dealing with patients’ emotions before the training, while students with lower final scores were those who tended to give scarce importance to doctors' emotions in the clinical encounter after the training. Discussion: In contrast with previous literature, the relationship between AS, EI, empathy, and communication skills measured by the final test was not confirmed. Students' acquired knowledge resulted related to their attitude towards emotions, which should be con- sidered in adapting future training to the specific needs of medical students