Advances in medical education and practice
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A review of the literature was conducted to analyze the impact of simulation-based training for direct and video laryngoscopy (VL) skills for health care professionals and health care students. ⋯ This review suggests that simulation-based training is one effective way to teach VL skills. VL allows for a higher success rate, faster response time, and a decrease in the number of attempts by health care students and health care professionals under the conditions based on the eleven studies reviewed.
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Review
Clinical performance feedback and quality improvement opportunities for perioperative physicians.
Clinical performance feedback is an important component of the ongoing development and education of health care practitioners. For physicians, feedback about their clinical practice and outcomes is central to developing both confidence and competence at all stages of their medical careers. Cultural and financial infrastructures need to be in place, and the concept of feedback needs to be readily embraced and encouraged by clinical leadership and other stakeholders. ⋯ Anesthesiologists and other perioperative physicians are identifying specialty-specific indicators that can be used when creating a broader quality improvement agenda. Placing a more immediate formal feedback strategy that focuses on goal-oriented behavior is rapidly becoming a mainstay. Physicians may use their individual feedback reports for reflection and designing personal development plans as lifelong learners and leaders in improving patient care.
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The open access University of Texas Dermatology Interest Group blog was established in 2004 for the purposes of increasing communication and collaboration between medical students and dermatology faculty, residents, and alumni, as well as to promote educational opportunities and the missions for which the interest group was created. This blog is unique because of its longevity and continuous postings directed toward the educational and professional needs of medical students and residents. ⋯ Statistical analyses of the responses demonstrated that the utilization of web-based tools and the blog were valuable resources for students, especially for blog subscribers, those more involved in an interest group, and those reading the blog for a longer period of time. The usefulness and impact of this method of communication and dissemination of information in medical education may encourage other student groups, faculty advisors, and educators to implement similar educational tools at their institutions.
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For years, undivided attention during the presurgical "timeout" has been utilized as a precaution to ensure patient safety. The information relayed during the timeout is presented in a confirmatory nature rather than a delegation of new information. However, it is a standard of practice in which all members of the operating theater provide their full and undivided attention. Standards of patient care should be contiguous throughout the preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative stages of surgery. In this manner, it is expected that the same undivided attention afforded during the timeout should be maintained when transferring the patient to the postanesthesia care unit. ⋯ Focus is on the quantity of information that can be recalled by the transferring nurse, and whether or not undivided attention affects the outcome. Analysis focuses on suggestions to better improve patient safety and recovery when being transferred in an anesthetic setting. The practice of patient handover should be standardized to better improve the safety and quality of medical care.
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This study explores the most influential factors affecting Saudi medical students and interns' choice of specialty at the University of Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ⋯ Saudi medical students and interns at the University of Dammam were influenced mostly by lifestyle when they considered their future specialty. Internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, and emergency medicine were the preferred specialties.