The Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) Questionnaire Identifies Quality of Instruction as a Key Factor Predicting Academic Achievement

OBJECTIVE: This study analyzes the reliability of the PHEEM questionnaire translated into Portuguese. We present the results of PHEEM following distribution to doctors in three different medical residency programs at a university hospital in Brazil. INTRODUCTION: Efforts to understand environmental factors that foster effective learning resulted in the development of a questionnaire to measure medical residents' perceptions of the level of autonomy, teaching quality and social support in their programs. METHODS: The questionnaire was translated using the modified Brislin back-translation technique. Cronbach's alpha test was used to ensure good reliability and ANOVA was used to compare PHEEM results among residents from the Surgery, Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine departments. The Kappa coefficient was used as a measure of agreement, and factor analysis was employed to evaluate the construct strength of the three domains suggested by the original PHEEM questionnaire. RESULTS: The PHEEM survey was completed by 306 medical residents and the resulting Cronbach's alpha was 0.899. The weighted Kappa was showed excellent reliability. Autonomy was rated most highly by Internal Medicine residents (63.7% ± 13.6%). Teaching was rated highest in Anesthesiology (66.7% ± 15.4%). Residents across the three areas had similar perceptions of social support (59.0% ± 13.3% for Surgery; 60.5% ± 13.6% for Internal Medicine; 61.4% ± 14.4% for Anesthesiology). Factor analysis suggested that nine factors explained 58.9% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that PHEEM is a reliable instrument for measuring the quality of medical residency programs at a Brazilian teaching hospital. The results suggest that quality of teaching was the best indicator of overall response to the questionnaire

The background of professors in health fields that use simulation as a teaching strategy

Neste trabalho, relata-se os resultados obtidos no primeiro momento de uma pesquisa que objetiva conhecer o perfil e a formação de professores da área da saúde que usam a simulação como estratégia didática no Laboratório de Habilidades (LabHab) da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Com previsão de dois anos, a pesquisa busca contribuir para uma proposta de formação docente que observe as prioridades e a relevância da simulação nas suas atividades didáticas. A ideia é analisar como esse profissional recria seus conhecimentos em grupo para trabalhar a simulação na atuação clínica e observar como ele percebe o alcance dos processos de simulação aprimorados pela tecnologia e pelas propostas de inovação educativa.This article reports the results of the first stage of a study aimed at evaluating the profile and training of professors from the health fields that use simulation as a learning strategy in Laboratory Skills (LabHab) at the University of São Paulo School of Medicine. Scheduled to last two years, the study seeks to contribute to a proposal for teacher training that meets the priorities and relevance of simulation in teaching activities based on an analysis of how medical professors recreate their knowledge to work with simulation in clinical practice and how they perceive the scope of technology-enhanced simulation processes and proposals for educational innovations

Proteína C-reativa não é um marcador útil de infecção em unidade de terapia intensiva cirúrgica

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: C-reactive protein (CRP) is commonly used as a marker for inflammatory states and for early identification of infection. This study aimed to investigate CRP as a marker for infection in patients with postoperative septic shock. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective, single-center study, developed in a surgical intensive care unit at Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. METHODS: This study evaluated 54 patients in the postoperative period, of whom 29 had septic shock (SS group) and 25 had systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS group). All of the patients were monitored over a seven-day period using the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and daily CRP and lactate measurements. RESULTS: The daily CRP measurements did not differ between the groups. There was no correlation between CRP and lactate levels and the SOFA score in the groups. We observed that the plasma CRP concentrations were high in almost all of the patients. The patients presented an inflammatory state postoperatively in response to surgical aggression. This could explain the elevated CRP measurements, regardless of whether the patient was infected or not. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not show any correlation between CRP and infection among patients with SIRS and septic shock during the early postoperative period.CONTEXTO E OBJETIVO: A proteína C reativa (PCR) é muito usada como marcador de estados inflamatórios e na identificação precoce de infecção. Este estudo teve como proposta investigar a PCR como marcadora de infecção em pacientes em choque séptico no período pós-operatório. TIPO DE ESTUDO E LOCAL: Estudo prospectivo, monocêntrico, desenvolvido numa unidade de terapia intensiva pós-operatória do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 54 pacientes no pós-operatório, sendo 29 deles com choque séptico (grupo SS) e 25 com síndrome da resposta inflamatória sistêmica (grupo SI). Todos os pacientes foram acompanhados durante sete dias pelo escore SOFA (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) e com dosagens diárias de PCR e lactato. RESULTADOS: As dosagens de PCR não diferiram entre os grupos. Não foi observada correlação entre dosagem de PCR e lactato ou escore SOFA nos grupos estudados. Observamos que as concentrações plasmáticas de PCR estavam elevadas em quase todos os pacientes avaliados. Os pacientes no pós-operatório apresentam estado inflamatório em resposta à agressão cirúrgica, sendo este fato capaz de explicar as dosagens de PCR elevadas, independentemente de o paciente estar ou não infectado. CONCLUSÕES: Este estudo não evidenciou correlação entre PCR e infecção nos pacientes com síndrome da resposta inflamatória sistêmica e choque séptico no período pós-operatório precoce

Faculty recruitment and development for innovative curricula in undergraduate health courses

A expansão do número de vagas no ensino superior, especialmente na área da saúde, deu-se principalmente às custas do setor privado e sob as recomendações das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais. A formação de profissionais de saúde demanda um novo perfil de competências para a docência no ensino superior. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os Projetos Político-Pedagógicos (PPPs) dos novos cursos de graduação na área da saúde que incorporam metodologias ativas de ensino-aprendizagem e observar a coerência entre a proposta pedagógica e a forma de recrutamento, contratação e capacitação do corpo docente. O estudo é descritivo. Foram analisados os processos de recrutamento e capacitação de professores em novos cursos da área da saúde que expressam uma concepção inovadora no período de 2000 a 2008. Foram observadas sete instituições públicas e sete particulares. Apenas dois cursos entre os 19 analisados organizam os currículos por disciplinas e não por módulos integrados. As instituições privadas realizaram o mesmo processo de recrutamento e capacitação de docentes, com a seleção ocorrendo em meio à capacitação. As públicas realizaram capacitação após a definição do concurso público, com os docentes já contratados. Este estudo propõe a necessidade de redimensionar a formação docente na universidade, resgatando o papel da competência pedagógica como construção contínua de saberes.The expansion in university enrollment in Brazil, especially in the health fields, has occurred mainly in the private sector and in compliance with the National Curriculum Guidelines. Training Brazilian health professionals requires a new set of teaching skills in higher education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the teaching policy plans in new undergraduate courses in health that incorporate active teaching-learning processes, and to observe the consistency between the pedagogical approach and the policies for faculty recruiting, hiring, and training. This descriptive study analyzed the recruitment and training of professors in recently inaugurated courses (2000 to 2008) in the health field that express an innovative design. The study sample included seven public (government) and seven private institutions of higher learning, with a total of 19 courses. Only two of the 19 courses organize the curriculum by disciplines and not within integrated modules. The private institutions used the same faculty recruiting and training approach, with selection occurring during the training process. Public institutions provided their training after the public admissions and hiring process. The article concludes by emphasizing the need to reevaluate faculty training by reclaiming the role of teaching skills for knowledge-building

Medical Education at the University of São Paulo Medical School

The University of São Paulo Medical School (FMUSP) started in 2015 a new undergraduate medical curriculum. This model reduces the time allotted to lectures and increases the time devoted to tutored discussions and to clinical reasoning, without neglecting the need to acquire information and scientific foundations that guide the practice of medicine, always grounded by the best evidence. The proposal is anchored in principles resulting from Medical Education research, and as a result of large and numerous meetings with teachers and students, besides international experts support.[...

Medical education at the University of São Paulo Medical School

Medical education at the University of São Paulo Medical Schoo

Locoregional Anesthesia for Dental Treatment in Cardiac Patients: A Comparative Study of 2% Plain Lidocaine and 2% Lidocaine with Epinephrine (1:100,000)

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzes hemodynamic changes in patients with cardiac valvular diseases submitted to dental treatment under local anesthesia containing epinephrine. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was performed at the Dental Division of the Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil). Patients were separated into two groups with the help of an aleatory number table: 2% plain lidocaine (PL, n= 31) and 2% lidocaine with epinephrine (1:100,000) (LE, n= 28). Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygenation and electrocardiogram data were all recorded throughout the procedure. State and trait anxiety levels were measured. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were selected for the LE group (n=28), with an average age of 40.3 ± 10.9, or for the PL group (n=31), age 42.2 ± 10.3. No differences were shown in blood pressure, heart rate and pulse oximetry values before, during and after local anesthesia injection between the two groups. State and trait anxiety levels were not different. Arrhythmias observed before dental anesthesia did not change in shape or magnitude after treatment. Complaints of pain during the dental procedure were more frequent within the PL group, which received a higher amount of local anesthesia. CONCLUSION: Lidocaine with epinephrine (1:100,000) provided effective local anesthesia. This treatment did not cause an increase in heart rate or blood pressure and did not cause any arrhythmic changes in patients with cardiac valvular diseases

Avaliação do clube de revista de anestesiologia por meio de mudanças semânticas

ResumoJustificativa e objetivosa abordagem interativa de um clube de revista foi descrita na literatura de ensino médico. O objetivo desta investigação é apresentar uma avaliação do clube de revista como uma ferramenta para discutir a questão da leitura crítica entre os residentes.Métodoseste estudo relata o desempenho dos médicos residentes de anestesiologia do Hospital das Clínicas – Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Todos os médicos residentes foram convidados a responder a cinco perguntas derivadas de artigos discutidos. A folha de resposta consistia em uma declaração afirmativa com uma escala do tipo Likert (discordo totalmente, discordo, não tenho certeza, concordo, concordo totalmente), cada declaração relacionada a um dos artigos escolhidos. Os resultados foram avaliados por meio da análise de itens – índice de dificuldade e poder de discriminação.Resultadosos residentes completaram 173 avaliações nos meses de dezembro de 2011 (n=51), julho de 2012 (n=66) e dezembro de 2012 (n=56). O primeiro teste apresentou todos os itens com declaração direta e o segundo e terceiro testes apresentaram itens mistos. Separar “concordo totalmente” de “concordo” aumentou os índices de dificuldade, mas não melhorou o poder de discriminação.Conclusõeso uso de uma avaliação do clube revista com declarações diretas e inversas e com o uso de uma escala de cinco pontos para acordo mostrou aumentar a dificuldade do item e o poder de discriminação. Isso pode refletir o envolvimento com a leitura ou com a discussão durante as reuniões do clube.AbstractBackground and objectivesThe interactive approach of a journal club has been described in the medical education literature. The aim of this investigation is to present an assessment of journal club as a tool to address the question whether residents read more and critically.MethodsThis study reports the performance of medical residents in anesthesiology from the Clinics Hospital – University of São Paulo Medical School. All medical residents were invited to answer five questions derived from discussed papers. The answer sheet consisted of an affirmative statement with a Likert type scale (totally disagree–disagree–not sure–agree–totally agree), each related to one of the chosen articles. The results were evaluated by means of item analysis – difficulty index and discrimination power.ResultsResidents filled one hundred and seventy three evaluations in the months of December 2011 (n=51), July 2012 (n=66) and December 2012 (n=56). The first exam presented all items with straight statement, second and third exams presented mixed items. Separating “totally agree” from “agree” increased the difficulty indices, but did not improve the discrimination power.ConclusionsThe use of a journal club assessment with straight and inverted statements and by means of five points scale for agreement has been shown to increase its item difficulty and discrimination power. This may reflect involvement either with the reading or the discussion during the journal meeting