Yoxas/statistical_literacy huggingface dataset:
Medical students value the opportunity to learn from patients as a supplement to traditional faculty-led education; however, long-term follow-up to understand the educational impact of these experiences is lacking. We surveyed medical students who conducted non-medical virtual encounters with transplant recipients or living donors to understand the impact on students' patient care approach after 1-2 y. Students who completed their surgery clerkship from July 2020 to September 2021 were surveyed about this nonmedical patient encounter in January 2023. Quantitative and qualitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive thematic analysis, respectively. Of the 27 respondents (46% response rate), 44.4% completed the experience 1 y ago and 55.6% completed the experience 2 y ago. Nearly all respondents (96.3%) agreed that this experience was an effective way to learn about organ donation and transplantation and that learning from patients was beneficial to their development as a doctor. Over 50% felt this experience changed how they provide care to patients. Qualitatively, students reported that this activity cultivated their empathy for patients, provided unique insight into patients' illness experiences, and enhanced their understanding of the longitudinal patient-surgeon relationship. Utilizing patients as teachers in transplant surgery not only taught medical students more about organ donation and transplantation but also built empathy and highlighted unique, non-clinical aspects of the patient experience that persisted over time. This is one of the first studies to evaluate patient-led teaching of this type over a year later and assess its unique influence on medical student development.
Medical students view clinical workplace placements as an inspiring and motivating learning environment where active student participation is pivotal to development of students' identity. The progress from pre-clerkship to clerkship education harbors many challenges which consist of experiential learning, adjusting to the clinical environment, and understanding roles & responsibilities. Workplace learning is underpinned by various adult learning theories including social theories,constructivism, supported participation and legitimate peripheral participation. Workplace learning course was recently initiated for pre-clerkship students at a medical university in UAE, which will enable their smooth entry into the clerkship phase of the curriculum. The research aims to explore students' perceptions of various domains of their clinical learning environment (CLE), highlight the challenges they face, and extract valuable feedback to improve their environment. This study was conducted qualitatively by using focus groups method in order to explore students' perceptions of the clinical learning environment. Two focus group discussions were conducted (n = 8 +/-10) to determine the common challenges of workplace learning and its potential solutions. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The approach used to carry out this study was phenomenology, as it helps to understand the learning and behavior of these students who are undergoing this pre-clerkship training in order to transition smoothly to the clerkship phase. The focus groups helped to deeply explore the perceptions of students about their clinical learning environment. It helped to reveal the challenges encountered by the students including the significance of proper orientation of staff and students, language barrier, availability of learning opportunities, and supervision quality. The focus groups provided worthwhile suggestions to improve the learning opportunities in the clinical learning environment which include orientation of the staff and students what to expect, improved supervision, mentoring and providing learning opportunities to encourage participation. This study attempted to identify the pre-clerkship students' perception of their clinical learning environment and the challenges they face over there. Possible suggestions by the students included a formal orientation for the staff and students to be carried out at the beginning. Efforts should be made by clerkship directors to provide students with learning opportunities by increasing patient exposure, encouraging participation, and providing high-quality supervision.
Medical students' empathy toward patients with Alzheimer's is rarely found in formal medical curricula. Based on Vygotsky's theory, watching films and reflection can be considered as effective methods to improve empathy. The present study aimed to explore medical students' perceptions of empathy toward patients with Alzheimer after participating in an educational program by using interactive video based on Vygotsky's theory. This qualitative study was conducted at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2022. The population included all 40 medical students. Firstly, the Still Alice movie which is about the feelings of a professor who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease was shown to the students. Secondly, the students reflected on their experiences of watching the movie. Thirdly, a session was held for group discussion on the subject of the movie, the patient's feelings, the doctor's attitude, the social environment surrounding the patient shown in the movie, and the necessity of empathy toward patients with Alzheimer's disease. The reflection papers were analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis method. After analyzing 216 codes from 38 reflection papers, four categories, including communication with a patient with Alzheimer's, understanding the patient with Alzheimer's as a whole, medical science development, and the student's individual ideology, were extracted. Reflection and group discussion after watching movie by providing opportunities for social interaction about personal interpretations will lead to active role in enhancing empathy. Based on the perceptions of the medical students, they gained a perspective to consider the patient as a whole and pay attention to establishing a proper relationship with the patient.
Medical students' longitudinal care of patients supports clinical learning and promotes patient-centredness. The literature presents little empirically derived guidance for faculty to facilitate students' longitudinal learning and care. Informed by the conceptual framework of relational learning, this study investigated faculty perspectives about longitudinal teaching, their strategies for facilitating students' longitudinal learning and perceived barriers and enablers. Using a convergent mixed-methods approach at a single academic medical centre, the authors conducted a survey and two focus groups in 2018-2019 with faculty members teaching in three longitudinal clinical courses. Quantitative analyses included descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Qualitative content analysis described deductive categories and identified inductive themes. Forty-three eligible faculty (69%) completed the survey. Ninety-one percent (n = 39) reported that teaching in a longitudinal model enhanced their experience as preceptors. Faculty described activities students performed to provide longitudinal care: spending time with patients independently (n = 38, 88%), making follow-up phone calls (n = 35; 81%) and participating in home- and community-based visits (n = 20, 47%), among others. Twelve faculty participated in two focus groups. Deductive analysis characterised strategies for facilitating students' longitudinal learning and barriers and enablers. Strategies included "encouraging students to follow patients," "faculty adaptability," "offering guidance and setting expectations," and "careful patient selection." Barriers included scheduling limitations, and enablers included student initiative. Inductive analysis identified two themes: faculty goals for students and faculty benefits from teaching. Goals included meaningful engagement with patients and their illness over time. Benefits from teaching included personal gratification, mentorship, and holistic student assessment. Our survey and focus group findings demonstrated positive faculty attitudes and experiences, characterised faculty goals and approaches, and identified elements of the educational context that hindered or facilitated longitudinal teaching and learning. This study's faculty perspectives build upon prior investigations of students' and patients' perspectives, offer teaching strategies, and may guide faculty development.
Medical trainees (medical students, residents, and fellows) are playing an active role in the development of new curricular initiatives; however, examinations of their advocacy efforts are rarely reported. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of trainees advocating for improved medical education on the care of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. In 2022-23, the authors conducted an explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study using a constructivist paradigm to analyze the experiences of trainee advocates. They used descriptive statistics to analyze quantitative data collected through surveys. Participant interviews then yielded qualitative data that they examined using team-based deductive and inductive thematic analysis. The authors applied Kern's six-step approach to curriculum development as a framework for analyzing and reporting results. A total of 24 participants completed the surveys, of whom 12 volunteered to be interviewed. Most survey participants were medical students who reported successful advocacy efforts despite administrative challenges. Several themes were identified that mapped to Steps 2, 4, and 5 of the Kern framework: "Utilizing Trainee Feedback" related to Needs Assessment of Targeted Learners (Kern Step 2); "Inclusion" related to Educational Strategies (Kern Step 4); and "Obstacles", "Catalysts", and "Sustainability" related to Curriculum Implementation (Kern Step 5). Trainee advocates are influencing the development and implementation of medical education related to the care of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Their successes are influenced by engaged mentors, patient partners, and receptive institutions and their experiences provide a novel insight into the process of trainee-driven curriculum advocacy.
Medical trainees do not have many opportunities to develop communication skills with patients. We established the voluntary "My Life, My Story" (MLMS) program at the Clement J. Zablocki VAMC in Milwaukee, WI, to determine if this pilot narrative medicine program enhanced trainee interpersonal skills and improved patient-centered care. Trainees at the Medical College of Wisconsin conducted in-person or virtual interviews of Veterans receiving care at the Milwaukee VAMC about their meaningful life experiences. Post-interview, trainees wrote a short first-person narrative in the Veteran's voice, which, after the Veteran's approval, was added to the electronic medical record and made available to the patient's care team. Trainees, Veterans, and health professionals completed post-interview surveys, from which we conducted descriptive statistics and qualitatively analyzed the text-based feedback. Between 2020 and 2021, 24 medical trainees participated in our pilot implementation of the MLMS program, conducting a total of 32 interviews. All trainees reported a meaningful personal impact and found the pilot to be "valuable" and "rewarding." Both trainees and health professionals believed that the MLMS program improved "rapport building" with Veterans. Nearly all Veterans (n = 25, 93%) believed that their medical care team would be able to provide better care after reading their life story. Narrative medicine initiatives like the MLMS program may enable value-added education for trainees. Future research will allow us to better understand and maximize specific educational gains, while further enhancing patient care. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-023-01854-4.
Medical training embraces simulation-based education. One important topic that has recently been added to the simulation curriculum at the University of Toronto is unconscious bias. This educational innovation project evaluates a simulation that could be used as a novel instructional design strategy to teach unconscious bias. The simulation involved two resuscitation scenarios with a similar clinical trajectory. Each resuscitation was led by standardized physicians of different binary genders, followed by a debrief with highly trained facilitators. Tangible educational takeaways on team dynamic variation between different gendered team leaders were discussed following the simulation, highlighting its benefit to resident education on bias awareness and response. Limitations include inevitable unconscious bias in facilitators and unequal gender representation in the learner participants, which may impact simulation effectiveness. The findings support translating this simulation to other forms of bias education in future simulation development.
Medical undergraduate students receive limited education on scholarly publishing. However, publishing experiences during this phase are known to influence study and career paths. The medical bachelor Honours Program (HP) at Utrecht University initiated a hands-on writing and publishing course, which resulted in nine reviews published in internationally peer reviewed academic journals. We wanted to share the project set-up, explore the academic development of the participating students and determine the impact of the reviews on the scientific community. Thirty-one out of 50 alumni completed a digital retrospective questionnaire on for example, development of skills and benefit for their studies and career. Publication metrics of the HP review papers were retrieved from Web of Science. This hands-on project provides a clear teaching method on academic writing and scholarly publishing in the bachelor medical curriculum. Participants were able to obtain and improve writing and publishing skills. The output yielded well-recognized scientific papers and valuable learning experiences. 71% of the participating students published at least one additional paper following this project, and 55% of the students indicated the project influenced their academic study and/or career path. Nine manuscripts were published in journals with an average impact factor of 3.56 and cited on average 3.73 times per year. This course might inspire other medical educators to incorporate similar projects successfully into their curriculum. To this end, a number of recommendations with regard to supervision, time investment and group size are given.
Medical undergraduates at St George's, University of London (SGUL) study a weekly clinical case during their clinical science years. Audit of the human stories demonstrated lack of diversity, mono-professionalism, and objectification of some patients. A collaborative partnership with staff, student and patient representation implemented curriculum change, including an inclusive case-writing initiative. We explored whether the reformed written cases supported the development of positive attitudes by sampling perceptions of the cases amongst students. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted (Feb-November 2022) with first year medical students. We applied an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Verbatim transcripts were coded and analysed to elucidate themes. Four themes were identified: (i) effective learning, (ii) clinical authenticity, (iii) authentic human stories, and (iv) opportunity for rehearsing the role of a doctor. Students perceived the cases as an effective, contextual learning method, with a high degree of clinical authenticity, allowing mentalisation of doctor attitudes and behaviours in relation to patient-centredness, multidisciplinary team working and diversity. The results suggest the reformed cases created positive attitudinal change amongst students and supported transition to clinical roles. Memorable human stories had the greatest impact. Dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative case writing initiatives which integrate realism, diversity and multi-professionalism may help to foster positive experiences in students undertaking CBL sessions.
Medically underserved communities have limited access to effective disease management resources in the U.S. Mobile health applications (mHealth apps) offer patients a cost-effective way to monitor and self-manage their condition and to communicate with providers; however, current diabetes self-management apps have rarely included end-users from underserved communities in the design process. This research documents key stakeholder-driven design requirements for a diabetes self-management app for medically underserved patients. Semi-structured survey interviews were carried out on 97 patients with diabetes and 11 healthcare providers from medically underserved counties in South Texas, to elicit perspectives and preferences regarding a diabetes self-management app, and their beliefs regarding such an app's usage and utility. Patients emphasized the need for accessible educational content and for quick access to guidance on regulating blood sugar, diet, and exercise and physical activity using multimedia rather than textual forms. Healthcare providers indicated that glucose monitoring, educational content, and the graphical visualization of diabetes data were among the top-rated app features. These findings suggest that specific design requirements for the underserved can improve the adoption, usability, and sustainability of such interventions. Designers should consider health literacy and numeracy, linguistic barriers, data visualization, data entry complexity, and information exchange capabilities.
Medication adherence and the management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are crucial to the efficacy of antitumor drugs. A WeChat applet, also known as a "Mini Program," is similar to the app but has marked advantages. The development and use of a WeChat applet makes follow-up convenient for patients with cancer. This study aimed to assess the usability and utility of a newly developed WeChat applet, "DolphinCare," among patients with cancer in Shanghai. A qualitative methodology was used to obtain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of patients with cancer when using DolphinCare from the usability and utility aspects. The development phase consisted of 2 parts: alpha and beta testing. Alpha testing combined the theory of the Fogg Behavior Model and the usability model. Alpha testing also involved testing the design of DolphinCare using a conceptual framework, which included factors that could affect medication adherence and ADRs. Beta testing was conducted using in-depth interviews. In-depth interviews allowed us to assist the patients in using DolphinCare and understand whether they liked or disliked DolphinCare and found it useful. We included participants who had an eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) score of ≥50%, and a total of 20 participants were interviewed consecutively. The key positive motivators described by interviewers were to be reminded to take their medications and to alleviate their ADRs. The majority of the patients were able to activate and use DolphinCare by themselves. Most patients indicated that their trigger to follow-up DolphinCare was the recommendation of their known and trusted health care professionals. All participants found that labels containing the generic names of their medication and the medication reminders were useful, including timed pop-up push notifications and text alerts. The applet presented the corresponding information collection forms of ADRs to the patient to fill out. The web-based consultation system enables patients to consult pharmacists or physicians in time when they have doubts about medications or have ADRs. The applet had usabilities and utilities that could improve medication adherence and the management of ADRs among patients with cancer. This study provides preliminary evidence regarding the usability and utility of this type of WeChat applet among patients with cancer, which is expected to be promoted for managing follow-up among other patients with other chronic disease.
Medication adherence as a healthcare issue has preoccupied researchers and clinicians for several decades. Sustained investigation is justified given the extent and consequences of non-adherence. While quantitative methodologies conducted predominately from a healthcare professionals' perspective have generated numerous relevant factors involved in adhering to medical regimens, patients' perspectives are required for a more comprehensive appreciation of patient priorities in medication-taking. The aim of this study was to gain a dynamic understanding of the perspectives of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) on the factors relating to medication-taking. A qualitative, descriptive research design was adopted. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted over a three month period and analysed using content analysis techniques. Three key dimensions to medication-taking were identified: "Keeping track"-ways of taking tablets; Reasoning about medications and Social/Professional influences on medication-taking. Research results add to the existing body of knowledge on patients' perspectives on medication-taking. They provide clinicians with an insight into the different dimensions and complex interactions involved.
Medication adherence is essential for optimal treatment outcomes in patients with chronic diseases. Medication nonadherence compromises patient clinical outcomes and patient safety as well as leading to an increase in unnecessary direct and indirect medical costs. Therefore, early identification of non-adherence by healthcare professionals using medication adherence scales should help in preventing poor clinical outcomes among patients with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension. Unfortunately, there are very few validated medication adherence assessment scales in Arabic. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate a newly translated Arabic version of the Self-Efficacy for Appropriate Medication Use Scale (SEAMS) among patients with chronic diseases. In this single-center cross-sectional study that was conducted between March 2019 and March 2021 at the primary care clinics of King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the English version of SEAMS was translated to Arabic using the forward-backward method and piloted among 22 adults (≥18 yrs.) with chronic diseases. The reliability of the newly translated scale was examined using the test-retest and Cronbach's alpha methods. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the construct validity of the Arabic version of SEAMS. The number of patients who consented to participate and filled out the questionnaire was 202. Most of the participants were males (69.9%), aged ≥50 years (65.2%), and had diabetes (96.53%). The 13-item Arabic-translated SEAMS mean score was 32.37 ± 5.31, and the scale showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.886) and reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.98). Total variance of the 13-item Arabic-SEAMS could be explained by two factors as confirmed by the factor analysis. The Arabic version of SEAMS should help in detecting poor self-efficacy for medication adherence among Arabic-speaking patient populations with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension. Future studies should examine its validity among more diverse patient populations in different Arabic-speaking countries.