Medical teacher
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Portfolios are increasingly being used to stimulate teachers' reflections. Frameworks for reflection on teaching often emphasize competencies and behaviours. However, other aspects of teacher functioning are also important, such as the teaching environment and individual teachers' beliefs, professional identity and mission. ⋯ This study might help teachers and their trainers and coaches to recognize different aspects of teacher functioning when discussing portfolios for professional development purposes. However, further development of assignments and other methods to stimulate reflections on beliefs, identity and mission are needed. Furthermore, apart from the content of teachers' reflections, teachers' reflection processes should be researched, as well as the effects of portfolio meetings with peers and coaches.
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We report the impact of a monthly educational exercise for residents that emphasized practical skills and equipment usage rather than knowledge of advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) protocols. Residents were divided into groups of approximately four that rotated through three stations. Each station included several objectives, most of which related to specific types of equipment. ⋯ Exercises, such as the one presented here, will reduce anxiety by specifically addressing this skill. We conclude that residents benefit from additional teaching and practice in actual performance of basic skills used during cardiac arrests. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that comfort levels among house officers increase when they are given the opportunity to practice these skills.
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Effectiveness of medical education programs is most meaningfully measured as performance of its graduates. ⋯ There is a need for a more consistent and systematic approach to studies of the effectiveness of undergraduate assessment systems and tools and their predictive value. Although existing tools do appear to have low to moderate correlation with postgraduate training performance, little is known about their relationship to longer-term practice patterns and outcomes.
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Although the Basic Life Support (BLS) ability of a medical student is a crucial competence, poor BLS training programs have been documented worldwide. Better training designs are needed. This study aims to share detailed descriptions and the test results of two cognitive-constructivist training models for the BLS skills in the first year of medical curriculum. ⋯ In the first year of the medical curriculum, a competence-based or cognitive apprenticeship model using cognitive-constructivist designs of skills training with 9 hours theoretical and 12-20 hours long practical sessions took place in groups of 12-17 students; medical students reached a degree of competence to sufficiently perform BLS skills on the manikins and their peers. The cognitive-constructivist designs for skills training are associated with high student satisfaction. However, the lack of controls limits the extrapolation of this conclusion.