Medical teacher
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In response to a change in health and societal need, the system of medical education in Japan has undergone major reform within the last two decades. Although the general health status of Japanese citizens ranks amongst the highest in the world, a rapidly increasingly elderly population, a social insurance system in crisis and a decrease in the number of practicing physicians is severely affecting this enviable position. ⋯ In order to produce a new breed of future doctors, Japanese medical education has undergone major reform: problem-based learning and clinical skills development has been instituted in most medical schools, more rigid assessment methods, ensuring competency and fitness to practice have been introduced, and there has been an increase in purposeful clinical attachments with a hands-on approach rather than a traditional observation model. A new postgraduate residency programme, introduced in 2004, hopes to improve general competency levels, while medical schools throughout the country are paying attention to modern medical education and faculty development.
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"Web 2.0" describes a collection of web-based technologies which share a user-focused approach to design and functionality, where users actively participate in content creation and editing through open collaboration between members of communities of practice. The current generation of students in medical school made Web 2.0 websites such as Facebook and MySpace some of the most popular on the Internet. ⋯ Health science schools have begun experimenting with wikis, blogs and other Web 2.0 applications and have identified both advantages and potential problems with these relatively open, student-focused communication tools. This paper reviews the unique features of Web 2.0 technologies, addresses questions regarding potential pitfalls and suggests valuable applications in health science education.
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Paediatric residency programs rarely prepare trainees to assume resuscitation team leadership roles despite the recognized need for these skills by specialty accreditation organizations. We conducted a needs-assessment survey of all residents in the McGill Pediatric Residency Program, which demonstrated that most residents had minimal or no experience at leading resuscitation events and felt unprepared to assume this role in the future. ⋯ Residents acquired resuscitation team leadership skills following an educational intervention as shown by both observational checklist scores and self-reported survey. The six-month follow-up evaluation demonstrated skill retention beyond the initial intervention. A control group suggested that these results were due to completion of the first workshop.
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Incorporating the teaching and assessment of professionalism in an undergraduate medical curriculum is a challenging process. There are two components that require attention: the cognitive and the experiential. This article outlines how the School of Medicine at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa is addressing the teaching and assessment of professionalism. ⋯ Our way forward is to expand the teaching and assessment of professionalism in the experiential component. We want to facilitate faculty to develop a charter on professionalism. The principles and commitments of the charter will underlie a white coat ceremony for undergraduates. These principles will also provide guidelines for role models in their supervision of experiential learning and can inform criteria for assessment. An assessment strategy to assess professionalism in the experiential component needs to be developed and implemented.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A comparison of teaching methods: interactive lecture versus game playing.
We compared an interactive lecture with a game based on charades as a means of teaching child development to fifth year medical students. ⋯ Neither group had any difference in long term performance in this subject following the interventions.