O Teaching and learning clinical skills and medical competences

O ensino médico de graduação deve visar o aprendizado não só de conhecimentos mas de habilidades e atitudes Para a formação de um profissional medico mais completo devem ser incorporadas ao ensino algumas tendências da Medicina Contemporânea, como o treinamento em ambulatório, a necessidade de levar em conta os custos nas decisões clínicas, a participação do paciente nas decisões que são tomadas a seu respeito, a abordagem multiprofissional do tratamento de saúde, o papel do médico na manutenção da saúde e prevenção das doenças, a importância dos conhecimentos de Epidemiologia à prática clínica e a valorização dos aspectos psicológicos, sociais e culturais, nas doenças e nos doentes. Existem várias estratégias para o ensino do raciocínio clínico, sendo que uma combinação do reconhecimento de padrões e do raciocínio hipotético-dedutivo tem sido considerada mais adequada para o treinamento dos alunos de Medicina, para sua prática futura como médicos. Uma reflexão sobre essas estratégias tem levado a mudanças no curso de Semiologia Clínica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, e elas são descritas neste artigo. Os autores comentam, ainda, a importância de algumas recomendações atuais, como o contato precoce dos estudantes com pacientes, o ensino em pequenos grupos, o aprendizado baseado em solução de problemas, o desenvolvimento da capacidade de buscar o conhecimento de forma autônoma, e a prática da Medicina baseada em evidências fornecidas pela investigação científica. Discutem também o papel do professor de Medicina que deve ser, ao mesmo tempo, médico competente, supervisor eficiente, provedor de informações, promotor do aprendizado e modelo adequado de atitudes e posturas, frente ao paciente e seus familiares e em relação a outros profissionais.Undergraduate medical educations have to cover not only cognitive aspects but also skills and attitudes. In order to fulfill this objective, new trends have been incorporated into teaching, including training in outpatient clinics, notions of cost-efficiency analysis in clinical decision-making, multiprofessional team approach, the physicians role in health maintenance and prevention of disease, notions of clinical epidemiology and an increased value on psychosocial and cultural aspects related to diseases and patient’s life. There are a number of ways to teach clinical reasoning, including a combination of thought and pattern recognition. These strategies have been taken into consideration to the introduction of changes in the teaching of basic clinical skills at the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine, which are briefly described in this paper. The authors also comment on the importance of some current recommendations, such as early student exposition to real patients, small group teaching, problem-based learning and self-learning skills and the practice of evidence-based Medicine. It is particularly stressed the role of medical teachers, who must be competent physicians, efficient supervisors, learning facilitators as well as suitable role models regarding positive attitudes towards the patient, his/her family and colleagues and other members of the health team

Detection of cognitive impairment in the elderly by general internists in Brazil

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment, from mild forms to dementia, is an important social and health concern, principally among older individuals. Elderly patients are usually followed by general internists, who may overlook this condition. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine whether cognitive impairment diagnosed by specialists had been previously detected by general internists. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 248 elderly individuals randomly selected from a list of outpatients seen by general internists in a public university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated by a geriatrician. Patients were then classified as having probable cognitive impairment or not, based on their performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly. Cases of probable impairment were submitted to routine laboratory investigation, brain computed tomography, and neuropsychological evaluation. The final diagnoses were established by a consensus panel comprising two neurologists and the geriatrician who evaluated the patients using all available data. General internists' files for all cognitively impaired cases and for a selected sample of individuals without cognitive impairment were checked for any record of cognitive complaints or decline. RESULTS: Forty-three patients were classified as demented (n = 21) or as cognitively impaired but not demented (n = 22). The evaluation of the general internists' files revealed that information on cognitive complaints or decline was recorded for seven (16.3%) of the 43 patients with dementia or cognitive impairment without dementia. CONCLUSIONS: General internists seldom detected cognitive decline in elderly patients in Brazil. Further studies should be conducted to elucidate the reasons for this low rate of detection

Risk of osteoporotic fracture in women using the FRAX tool with and without bone mineral density score in patients followed at a tertiary outpatient clinic ‒ An observational study

Objectives: Fragility fractures increase morbidity and mortality. Adding assessment of clinical risk factors independently or as a previous step to Bone Densitometry (BD) should provide better accuracy in fracture risk prediction. FRAX tool might be used to stratify patients in order to rationalize the need for BD and risk classification. The primary objective of this study is to describe and perform comparisons between the estimated risk of fractures in 10 years using the FRAX calculator based on clinical factors with and without BD results for women aged 40 or more with clinical diseases monitored in tertiary care service in internal medicine. Methods: Cross-sectional. Women over 40 years with BD in the previous year. After medical chart review, identification of risk factors and risk estimations using FRAX-BRAZIL with (FRAX BDI) and without (FRAX BDNI) the inclusion of T-score. Results: 239 women. Age 65 ± 10.35 years. BMI 29.68 ± 6.27kg/m2. Risk factors: 32(13.4%) previous fractures; 23 (9.6%) current smoking; 78 (32.6%) corticosteroids use; 44 (18.4%) rheumatoid arthritis; 38 (15.9%) secondary causes; FRAX scores were higher when BD was not included. Spearman correlation coefficients between FRAX BDNI and FRAX BDI for major fractures r = 0.793 (95% CI 0.7388‒0.836). For hip fractures r = 0.6922 (95% CI 0.6174‒0.75446) Conclusion: Using FRAX to estimate 10-year fracture risk without BD data might be a reliable tool for screening, even for patients with a high prevalence of risk factors, improving accessibility and equity in health systems. The present study's data suggest an overestimation of fracture risk with FRAX BDNI, suggesting that it is safe to be widely used as a screening tool

Subjective memory complaints in the elderly: a sign of cognitive impairment?

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive impairment in the elderly is frequently overlooked by general practitioners. The use of subjective memory complaints as a sign of cognitive impairment by the general practice is controversial. METHODS: Elderly individuals (N = 248) were asked whether they had memory complaints and underwent a cognitive impairment screening. Subjects classified as exhibiting “probable cognitive impairment” underwent a complete cognitive evaluation, and the final diagnoses were established by expert consensus. RESULTS: A total of 147 patients presented with subjective memory complaints, and 43 were further classified as demented or “cognitively impaired not demented”. Subjective memory complaints presented a sensitivity of 100% and a negative predictive value of 100%. CONCLUSION: Subjective memory complaints are an indicator for cognitive impairment screening

Effects of overinflation on procollagen type III expression in experimental acute lung injury

Abstract Introduction In acute lung injury (ALI), elevation of procollagen type III (PC III) occurs early and has an adverse impact on outcome. We examined whether different high-inflation strategies of mechanical ventilation (MV) in oleic acid (OA) ALI alter regional expression of PC III. Methods We designed an experimental, randomized, and controlled protocol in which rats were allocated to two control groups (no injury, recruited [alveolar recruitment maneuver after tracheotomy without MV; n = 4 rats] and control [n = 5 rats]) or four injured groups (one exposed to OA only [n = 10 rats] and three OA-injured and ventilated). The three OA-injured groups were ventilated for 1 hour according to the following strategies: LVHP-S (low volume-high positive end-expiratory pressure [PEEP], supine; n = 10 rats, tidal volume [VT] = 8 ml/kg, PEEP = 12 cm H2O), HVLP-S (high volume-low PEEP, supine; n = 10 rats, VT = 20 ml/kg, PEEP = 5 cm H2O), and HVLP-P (high volume-low PEEP, prone; n = 10 rats). Northern blot analysis for PC III and interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) and polymorphonuclear infiltration index (PMI) counting were performed in nondependent and dependent regions. Regional differences between groups were assessed by two-way analysis of variance after logarithmic transformation and post hoc tests. Results A significant interaction for group and region effects was observed for PC III (p = 0.012) with higher expression in the nondependent region for HVLP-S and LVHP-S, intermediate for OA and HVLP-P, and lower for control (group effect, p < 0.00001, partial η2 = 0.767; region effect, p = 0.0007, partial η2 = 0.091). We found high expression of IL-1β (group effect, p < 0.00001, partial η2 = 0.944) in the OA, HVLP-S, and HVLP-P groups without regional differences (p = 0.16). PMI behaved similarly (group effect, p < 0.00001, partial η2 = 0.832). Conclusion PC III expression is higher in nondependent regions and in ventilatory strategies that caused overdistension. This response was partially attenuated by prone positioning

A randomized, controlled, crossover study in patients with mild and moderate asthma undergoing treatment with traditional Chinese acupuncture

OBJECTIVES:This study sought to verify the effects of acupuncture as an adjuvant treatment for the control of asthma.METHODS:This was a randomized, controlled, crossover trial conducted at the Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. A total of 74 patients with mild/moderate, persistent asthma were randomized into two therapeutic groups: Group A - 31 patients underwent 10 real weekly acupuncture sessions, followed by a 3-week washout period and 10 sham weekly acupuncture sessions; and Group B - 43 patients underwent 10 sham weekly acupuncture sessions, followed by a 3-week washout period and 10 real weekly acupuncture sessions. Patients used short- and long-acting β-2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids when necessary. Prior to treatment and after each period of 10 treatment sessions, the patients were evaluated for spirometry, induced sputum cell count, exhaled nitric oxide (NO) and with the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Questionnaire on Quality of Life-Asthma (QQLA) questionnaires. Daily peak flow and symptom diaries were registered. The level of significance adopted was 5% (α=0.05).RESULTS:In Group B, after real acupuncture, there was a decrease in eosinophils (p=0.035) and neutrophils (p=0.047), an increase in macrophages (p=0.001) and an improvement in peak flow (p=0.01). After sham acupuncture treatment, patients experienced less coughing (p=0.037), wheezing (p=0.013) and dyspnea (p=0.014); similarly, after real acupuncture, patients reported less coughing (p=0.040), wheezing (p=0.012), dyspnea (

Venous thromboembolism risk assessment in hospitalised patients: A new proposal

OBJECTIVE: Cross-sectional studies have been conducted to evaluate the adequacy of prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism. However, these studies often evaluate prophylaxis on the data collection day, without analysing the prophylactic dose or duration and without reference to inappropriate use in patients without risk. A prospective, observational study was performed to assess the adequacy of prophylaxis in a general medicine ward of a university hospital. METHOD: In the analysis, the use of the proper prophylactic dose at the correct time, the use in patients with contraindications, and the misuse in patients without risk of venous thromboembolism were considered. RESULTS: A total of 245 patients were evaluated. Of these patients, 104 (42.4%) were considered to be at risk, and 82.7% either received adequate prophylaxis (i.e., the correct dose at the right time) or did not receive prophylaxis because it was contraindicated. Among the 141 patients who were not at risk, 81 (57.4%) incorrectly received prophylaxis, the majority (61/81) of whom presented with risk factors but did not demonstrate reduced mobility. Among the entire group, only 59.6% of patients were properly treated. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of prophylaxis adequacy should consider not only whether the correct dose is administered at the correct time but also whether it is used in patients with contraindications and whether it is inappropriately administered to patients who are not at risk

Students' perception of learning possibilities and their role in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 imposed unexpected changes in educational practices, which involved the emergency transition of courses traditionally offered in the modality of face-to-face teaching to remote online teaching. This study aimed to know the perception of Brazilian occupational therapy students about the possibilities of learning and their role in the fields of professional practice during the pandemic. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted through the application of an online questionnaire. Participants were 236 students of public and private undergraduate courses in Occupational Therapy. The participants agreed to the implementation of remote education during the pandemic, but argued that training be fully developed in person after the end of this emergency. Most said that their emotional state in the pandemic impaired learning. The students recognized the relevance of their performance in the fields of practice but they felt unprepared to provide assistance to the population in the format of telehealth practices. It is expected that this study will contribute to the planning and improvements in the courses as long as it is necessary to maintain remote education, as well as to evaluate the training in occupational therapy during and after the pandemic.O advento da pandemia da COVID-19 em 2020 impôs mudanças inesperadas nas práticas educacionais, o que implicou na transição emergencial dos cursos tradicionalmente oferecidos na modalidade de ensino presencial para o ensino remoto online. Este estudo teve como objetivo conhecer a percepção dos estudantes brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional sobre as possibilidades de aprendizado e seu papel nos campos de prática profissional durante a pandemia. Foi realizado um estudo quantitativo transversal por meio da aplicação de um questionário online. Participaram 236 estudantes de cursos públicos e privados de graduação em Terapia Ocupacional. Os participantes concordaram com a implementação do ensino remoto durante a pandemia, mas defenderam que a formação seja desenvolvida integralmente de modo presencial após o término dessa emergência. A maioria afirmou que seu estado emocional na pandemia prejudicava o aprendizado. Os estudantes reconheceram a relevância de sua atuação nos campos de prática e em maioria sentiam-se despreparados para prestar assistência à população no formato de teleatendimento. Espera-se que esse estudo contribua com o planejamento e melhorias nos cursos enquanto for necessário manter o ensino remoto, assim como, para avaliações da formação em terapia ocupacional durante e após a pandemia