Ann Acad Med Singap
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Dec 2008
A systems approach to teach core topics across graduate medical education programmes.
Core curricula including Ethics, Medico-legal issues, Socioeconomics, and Quality Improvement (QI) are relevant and significant for graduate medical education programmes, regardless of specialty. A lack of faculty expertise in these content areas is a frequently cited concern among specialty programmes in graduate medical education. We report the results of an institutional systems-approach to assist this challenge. Our institution has 86 post-graduate residency and fellowship training programmes serving 1068 learners. Directors of these programmes expressed the need for a centralised approach to teach learners about insurance systems and the basics of QI. ⋯ Systems-wide didactic sessions for learners of different residencies has several advantages including the efficient use of content experts, prevention of resource burnout, and cost effectiveness. This strategy may also assist programmes directors in meeting external accreditation requirements.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Dec 2008
Does team learning motivate students' engagement in an evidence-based medicine course?
Small group-based instructional methods such as team learning have been shown to produce positive educational outcomes. To motivate students' learning in an evidence-based medicine course, we explore team learning as a teaching strategy, and describe students' engagement and preference for this mode of learning. ⋯ Team learning is the preferred mode of learning by Year 2 students attending the evidence-based medicine course. It promoted a high level of students' engagement and interaction in class.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Nov 2008
Comparative StudyPrevalence of refractive error in malay primary school children in suburban area of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Refractive error remains one of the primary causes of visual impairment in children worldwide, and the prevalence of refractive error varies widely. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of refractive error and study the possible associated factors inducing refractive error among primary school children of Malay ethnicity in the suburban area of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. ⋯ The ethnicity-specific prevalence rate of myopia was the lowest among Malays in Kota Bharu, followed by Kuala Lumpur, and is the highest among Singaporean Malays. Better socio-economic factors could have contributed to higher myopia rates in the cities, since the genetic background of these ethnic Malays are similar.