Abstract Many genetic/genomic educational opportunities are available to assist nursing faculty in their knowledge and understanding of genetic/genomics. This study was conducted to assess advance practice nursing faculty members' current knowledge of medical genetics/genomics, their integration of genetics/genomics content into advance practice nursing curricula, any prior formal training/education in genetics/genomics, and their comfort level in teaching genetics/genomic content. A secondary aim was to conduct a comparative analysis of the 2010 data to a previous study conducted in 2005, to determine changes that have taken place during that time period. During a national nurse practitioner faculty conference, 85 nurse practitioner faculty voluntarily completed surveys. Approximately 70% of the 2010 faculty felt comfortable teaching basic genetic/genomic concepts compared to 50% in 2005. However, there continue to be education gaps in the genetic/genomic content taught to advance practice nursing students. If nurses are going to be a crucial member of the health-care team, they must achieve the requisite competencies to deliver the increasingly complex care patients require.
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Erratum In: Int J Nurs Educ Scholarsh. 2013;10: doi/10.1515/ijnes-2013-0094
Nursing care of families continues to be a challenge within complex and demanding health-care systems. Educational strategies to bridge the theory-practice gap, connecting classroom learning with clinical experiences in undergraduate nursing education, enable students to develop the skills required to form meaningful partnerships with families. This article describes how undergraduate nursing students complete a 15-Minute Family Interview in a clinical practice setting, and document the interview process in a reflective major paper. Students integrate research and theory and identify ways to improve the care of families in the clinical setting while building communication skills and confidence in interacting with families in everyday practice. The implementation of the assignment and the evaluation of the process, including quotes from 10 student papers and 2 clinical faculty members, are discussed. Implications for education and ongoing research are offered.
Research in the context of the dental school has traditionally been focused on institutional/faculty accomplishments and generating new knowledge to benefit the profession. Only recently have significant efforts been made to expand the overall research programming into the formal dental curriculum, to provide students with a baseline exposure to the research and critical thinking processes, encourage evidence-based decision-making, and stimulate interest in academic/research careers. Various approaches to curriculum reform and the establishment of multiple levels of student research opportunities are now part of the educational fabric of many dental schools worldwide. Many of the preliminary reports regarding the success and vitality of these programs have used outcomes measures and metrics that emphasize cultural changes within institutions, student research productivity, and student career preferences after graduation. However, there have not been any reports from long-standing programs (a minimum of 25 years of cumulative data) that describe dental school graduates who have had the benefit of research/training experiences during their dental education. The University of Manitoba Faculty of Dentistry initiated a BSc Dent program in 1980 that awarded a formal degree for significant research experiences taking place within the laboratories of the Faculty-based researchers and has continued to develop and expand this program. The success of the program has been demonstrated by the continued and increasing demands for entry, the academic achievements of the graduates, and the numbers of graduates who have completed advanced education/training programs or returned to the Faculty as instructors. Analysis of our long-term data validates many recent hypotheses and short-term observations regarding the benefits of dental student research programs. This information may be useful in the design and implementation of dental student research programs at other dental schools.
The ability to detect mental disorders varies greatly among general practitioners in primary health care. The aim of this study was to determine the factors underlying the differences between general practitioners in the ability to recognize mental disorders in Finnish patient populations. The group studied consisted of 1000 randomly selected adult patients of primary care facilities in the city of Turku. The Symptom Checklist (SCL-25) was used as the reference method in the identification of psychiatric cases. According to the SCL-25, one fourth of the sample had mental disorders. A good recognition ability was associated with postgraduate psychiatric training and qualification as a specialist in general practice. Surprisingly, Balint group training, which is a method intended to improve the ability of general practitioners to manage their patients' mental health problems, was associated rather with poor than good detection ability.
The article considers main problems conditioned demand of development of model of professional training of roentgenologists for working on magnetic resonance tomographic scanner in conditions of non-public medical diagnostic center in accordance with the concept of continuous medical education. The developed model is presented in graphic form i.e. folded in the form of generic structure and unfolded in the form of algorithmic and structural models of separate blocks. The detailed description of components of model and their functional designation are presented.
Genetic testing for a variety of diseases is becoming more available to primary care physicians, but it is unclear how useful physicians perceive these tests to be. We examined academic family physicians' perception of and experiences with clinical genetic testing and direct-to-consumer genetic testing.
This study is an analysis of a survey conducted as part of the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA). Academic family physicians in the United States and Canada were queried about their perception of genetic testing's utility, how frequently patients ask about genetic testing, and the importance of genetic testing in future practice and education of students and residents.
The overall survey had a response rate of 45.1% (1,404/3,112). A majority (54.4%) of respondents felt that they were not knowledgeable about available genetic tests. Respondents perceived greater utility of genetic tests for breast cancer (94.9%) and hemochromatosis (74.9%) than for Alzheimer's disease (30.3%), heart disease (25.4%), or diabetes (25.2%). Individuals with greater self-perceived knowledge of genetic tests were more likely to feel that genetic testing would have a significant impact on their future practice (23.1%) than those with less knowledge (13.4%). Respondents had little exposure to direct-to-consumer genetic tests, but a majority felt that they were more likely to cause harm than benefit.
Academic family physicians acknowledge their lack of knowledge about genetic tests. Educational initiatives may be useful in helping them incorporate genetic testing into practice and in teaching these skills to medical students and residents.
The aim was to study achieved competences in temporomandibular disorders (TMD)/orofacial pain (OP) at two universities by comparing student's knowledge and understanding, satisfaction with their education and confidence in their clinical competences of TMD/OP.
The study was conducted in collaboration between Malmö University, Sweden—which uses problem-based learning—and the University of Naples Federico II, Italy—which uses traditional educational methods. Final-semester dental students responded to a self-report questionnaire regarding their knowledge and understanding, interpretation of cases histories, clinical experience, satisfaction and confidence in clinical examination, management and treatment evaluation.
No significant difference was found between the students regarding knowledge and understanding. Eighty-seven per cent of the Malmö students and 96% of the Naples students met the criterion on achieved competence. Malmö students had a higher per cent of correct diagnoses than Naples students in the interpretation of case histories. Overall, Malmö students reported most clinical experience and higher confidence than Naple students.
The main findings were that students from Malmö and Naples were, similar in knowledge and understanding of TMD/OP and in satisfaction with their clinical competences. However, Malmö students perceived more confidence in clinical management of patients with TMD/OP. This may reflect that, besides the theoretical part of the programme, a sufficient level of clinical exposure to patients with TMD/OP is essential to gain competences in TMD/OP.
