BMC medical education
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Learning styles and approaches to learning among medical undergraduates and postgraduates.
The challenge of imparting a large amount of knowledge within a limited time period in a way it is retained, remembered and effectively interpreted by a student is considerable. This has resulted in crucial changes in the field of medical education, with a shift from didactic teacher centered and subject based teaching to the use of interactive, problem based, student centered learning. This study tested the hypothesis that learning styles (visual, auditory, read/write and kinesthetic) and approaches to learning (deep, strategic and superficial) differ among first and final year undergraduate medical students, and postgraduates medical trainees. ⋯ The learning approaches suggest a positive shift towards deep and strategic learning in postgraduate students. However a similar difference was not observed in undergraduate students from first year to final year, suggesting that their curriculum may not have influenced learning methodology over a five year period.
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Attitudes towards homeless people among emergency department teachers and learners: a cross-sectional study of medical students and emergency physicians.
Medical students' attitudes and beliefs about homeless people may be shaped by the attitudes of their teachers and one of the most common sites for learning about homeless patients is the emergency department. The objective of this study was to determine if medical students in the preclinical and clinical years and emergency medicine faculty and residents have different attitudes and beliefs about homeless people. ⋯ This study revealed divergences in attitudes, interests and beliefs among medical students and emergency medicine physicians and residents. We offer strategies for training interventions and systemic support of emergency faculty. Emergency medicine physicians can examine their role in the development of medical students through both formal and informal teaching in the emergency department.
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialA protocol for evaluating progressive levels of simulation fidelity in the development of technical skills, integrated performance and woman centred clinical assessment skills in undergraduate midwifery students.
Simulation as a pedagogical approach has been used in health professional education to address the need to safely develop effective clinical skills prior to undertaking clinical practice. However, evidence for the use of simulation in midwifery is largely anecdotal, and research evaluating the effectiveness of different levels of simulation fidelity are lacking.Woman centred care is a core premise of the midwifery profession and describes the behaviours of an individual midwife who demonstrates safe and effective care of the individual woman. Woman centred care occurs when the midwife modifies the care to ensure the needs of each individual woman are respected and addressed. However, a review of the literature demonstrates an absence of a valid and reliable tool to measure the development of woman centred care behaviours. This study aims to determine which level of fidelity in simulated learning experiences provides the most effective learning outcomes in the development of woman centred clinical assessment behaviors and skills in student midwives. ⋯ This project aims to enhance knowledge in relation to the appropriate levels of fidelity in simulation that yield the best educational outcomes for the development of woman centred clinical assessment in student midwives. The outcomes of this project may contribute to improved woman centred clinical assessment for student midwives, and more broadly influence decision making regarding education resource allocation for maternity simulation.
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BMC medical education · Jan 2013
Characteristic profiles among students and junior doctors with specific career preferences.
Factors influencing specialty choice have been studied in an attempt to find incentives to enhance the workforce in certain specialties. The notion of "controllable lifestyle (CL) specialties," defined by work hours and income, is gaining in popularity. As a result, many reports advocate providing a 'lifestyle-friendly' work environment to attract medical graduates. However, little has been documented about the priority in choosing specialties across the diverse career opportunities.This nationwide study was conducted in Japan with the aim of identifying factors that influence specialty choice. It looked for characteristic profiles among senior students and junior doctors who were choosing between different specialties. ⋯ What is valued in deciding a career varies between specialties. Emphasis on lifestyle issues, albeit important, might dissuade students and junior doctors who are more interested in bioscientific aspects of the specialty or have strong personal reasons to pursue the career choice. In order to secure balanced workforce across the specialties, enrolling students with varied background and beliefs should be considered in the student selection process.
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In recent years, Australia has developed a National Junior Doctor Curriculum Framework that sets out the expected standards and describes areas of performance for junior doctors and through this has allowed a national approach to junior doctor assessment to develop. Given the significance of the judgments made, in terms of patient safety, development of junior doctors, and preventing progression of junior doctors moving to the next stage of training, it is essential to develop and validate assessment tools as rigorously as possible. This paper reports on a validation study of the Junior Doctor Assessment Tool as used for PGY1 doctors to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument and to explore the effect of length of experience as a PGY1 on assessment scores. ⋯ Now that the components of the tool have been analysed it will be more meaningful and potentially more influential to consider these factors on the potential educational impact of this assessment process for monitoring junior doctor development and progression.