Perceived stress among staff in Saudi Arabian dental colleges before and after an accreditation process: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Accreditation processes are extensively employed to guarantee the quality of higher education institutions.However,this process can potentially generate a stressful atmosphere for staff,thus impacting their ability to perform optimally under pressure.AIM To examine the knowledge of the National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation(NCAAA)and its effects on perceived stress among dental college staff before and after the program accreditation process.METHODS The present cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 300 employees from three dental colleges.The same employees had to fill out the questionnaire 1 mo after the NCAAA process.RESULTS Approximately 51.33%of the included employees believed that NCAAA is essential to attract quality students to join the program before and after the program.A total of 44.67%felt that their stress was high before,and 31.33%had low stress levels before and after NCAAA.These findings were statistically significant(P≤0.05).CONCLUSION NCAAA raised the prestige of the institution and specific programmes and increased prospects to attract better students,staff,and money,according to the employees.In addition to their needed teaching,research,and other service responsibilities,this work requires a tremendous amount of faculty effort and may cause them stress.

Advancement of Pharmacy Accreditation in the Field of Chinese Higher Education

Background: The last two decades have witnessed the advancement of accreditation of Chinese higher education, with pharmacy programs being one of the most important. The purpose of this research was to review and elucidate the evolution of the pharmacy accreditation system in China. Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane databases and Google Scholar and CKNI databases, the website of the Working Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Education, and related university websites. Search terms used with each database were “accreditation” AND “pharmacy” AND “China”. The search strategy was designed to identify studies that report pharmacy program accreditation in China. Results: The primary outcomes indicate that the timeline of current Chinese pharmacy accreditation can be divided into four distinct chronological periods. Conclusion: After two decades of evolution, the qualification of the pharmaceutical program in China has significantly advanced its committees, criteria, methods, and systems, though with areas for refinement. As China embarks upon the process of pharmacy accreditation, it is simultaneously drawing upon lessons from the developed world, as well as infusing the process with its own distinct cultural identity. To effectively tackle current issues in the field of pharmacy accreditation, a commitment to continual quality advancement is required.

Improvement of Teaching Management Mechanism for Engineering Education Accreditation

In the context of engineering education accreditation,the teaching management mechanism should be student-centered and continuously improved.Therefore,the work of teaching secretaries and teaching supervisors also needs to be adjusted accordingly,in order to improve work efficiency and quality.This paper discusses the main contents and significance of engineering education accreditation,analyzes the relationship between teaching supervision,teaching secretary,and engineering education accreditation,applies the concept of engineering education accreditation to the work management of teaching secretary and teaching supervision,and proposes countermeasures to improve the work effect of teaching supervision and teaching secretary under the concept of engineering education accreditation.

Research on the Teaching Reform of Radio-Frequency Identification Course Based on the Educational Philosophy of Outcome-Based Education

In order to improve the teaching effect and quality of the course Radio-Frequency Identification,we investigated the characteristics of the course and problems in its teaching practice.Based on the educational philosophy of outcome-based education(OBE),we carried out teaching reforms,which included the use of flipped classroom,the organic combination of theoretical and practical teaching,school-enterprise cooperation and collaborative education,as well as other measures.The results showed that the improved teaching method can effectively stimulate students’interest in learning,enhance students’learning initiative,improve students’ability to solve complex engineering problems in the field of radio-frequency identification,cultivate the spirit of teamwork among students,and nurture their innovative practical ability.

A review of advanced practice nursing in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), China

This paper provides an overview of Advanced Practice Nursing(APN)in the USA,Canada,Australia and Hong Kong.It is based upon documents presented to the China Medical Board(CMB)China Nursing Network(CNN)as background for discussions held by the CNN in Shanghai.It discusses the APN role in these countries and regions according to topics identified by the CNN.These are APN educational preparation;role legitimacy;capacity requirements;scope of practice,domains of activities and limited rights for prescription and referral;professional promotion ladder;accreditation system;and,perfor-mance evaluation system.Both Canada and Australia have adapted many aspects of the USA model of APN to fit their specific legislative requirements and local conditions.Hong Kong has taken a different path which may be of interest in the Chinese context.

Master’s Degree, a New Requirement to Become an RDN by 2024: A Comparison of Nutrition Graduate Programs Offered in the USA

Background: The registered dietetic four-year degree educational structure has been intact since 1926. Master level nutrition programs exist in the U.S., but are not standardized or accredited unlike four-year degrees. Academic requirements for nutrition graduate programs vary regionally across the nation. Objective: To 1) quantify and describe the availability of Master level nutrition programs regionally;and 2) examine the current M.A. and M.S. program requirements for a nutrition graduate degree in the U.S. Methods: Nutrition graduate programs (n = 201) were analyzed and compared by geographical region. Data were collected between August 2017 and May 2018. Inclusion criteria were defined as: nutrition graduate programs listed in the American Society of Nutrition (ASN) database that had a nutrition graduate program website. Descriptive statistical analysis measured evaluated variables. Results: A total of 201 nutrition graduate programs in the U.S. were identified. The title of the programs was categorized into 29 main themes. The most common nutrition graduate program title was a M.S. in Nutrition, 55 institutions (27.4%). A total of 181 institutions offered a M.S. with a required thesis, whereas 95 offered a M.S. with a non-thesis option, and only eight offered a M.A. Region 3-South offered the highest number of nutrition graduate programs (66), followed by region 2-Midwest with 49 programs, region 1-Northeast offered a total of 46 programs, and 37 programs were offered in region 4-West. Conclusion: In 2024, as part of the RD eligibility criteria, it will be required that students possess a master’s degree. To date, only one master’s program in the U.S. is accredited, which assures the student a measure of confidence of program rigor and accountability. Dietitians’ three major professional concerns: respect, recognition and rewards are predicated on rigorous educational programs that meet ACEND standards. It is unlikely that all U.S. master level programs will be accredited by 2024.

A Comparative Study of ISO/IEC 17065:2012 Standards, Accreditation Processes Implemented in Turkey Regarding Turkish Organic Agriculture Legislations

In this study, the ISO 17065:2012 Conformity Assessment—through comparisons between the required standards for organizations that provide certifications towards products, processes, and services, and the programs regarding the certification of organic agricultural practices in Turkey that are regulated by Turkish Regulations on Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture, some recommendations are developed for applications in similar countries, by investigating the similar or contradictory issues surrounding the conformity assessment activities with the regulations published in this field. To contribute to the management and improvement of the certification and accreditation processes of the conformity assessment bodies carrying out the certification activities of the agricultural certification programs within the scope of the ISO 17065:2012 standard, the degree of compliance has been identified by comparing the requirements of the Regulations on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture. The compatibility of these documents and the absence of conflict in these practices will provide a sense of confidence for all relevant parties, including consumers benefiting from the organic market. According to the conclusions of this evaluation, comparison results were interpreted, taking into account the degrees of compliance from the perspectives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Turkey that carries out the provisions of the Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture, the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK) that carries out accreditation activities according to the Regulation, and the certification bodies that are the implementers of the standards mentioned above and regulations, the problem areas were determined, and recommendations have been developed. The national problems in this context have been specified, and recommendations were developed based on observations and examinations of ISO 17065:2012 international standard.

Evaluation and Analysis of Hospital Disaster Preparedness in Jeddah

Introduction: Disaster damage to health systems is a human and health tragedy, results in huge economic losses, deals devastating blows to development goals, and shakes social confidence. Hospital disaster preparedness presents complex clinical operation. It is difficult philosophical challenge. It is difficult to determine how much time, money, and effort should be spent in preparing for an event that may not occur. Health facilities whether hospitals or rural health clinics, should be a source of strength during emergencies and disasters. They should be ready to save lives and to continue providing essential emergencies and disasters. Jeddah has relatively a level of disaster risk which is attributable to its geographical location, climate variability, topography, etc. This study investigates the hospital disaster preparedness (HDP) in Jeddah. Methods: Questionnaire was designed according to five Likert scales. It was divided into eight fields of 33 indicators: structure, architectural and furnishings, lifeline facilities’ safety, hospital location, utilities maintenance, surge capacity, emergency and disaster plan, and control of communication and coordination. Sample of six hospitals participated in the study and rated to the extent of disaster preparedness for each hospital disaster preparedness indicators. Two hazard tools were used to find out the hazards for each hospital. An assessment tool was designed to monitor progress and effectiveness of the hospitals’ improvement. Weakness was found in HDP level in the surveyed hospitals. Disaster mitigation needs more action including: risk assessment, structural and non-structural prevention, and preparedness for contingency planning and warning and evacuation. Conclusion: The finding shows that hospitals included in this study have tools and indicators in hospital preparedness but with lack of training and management during disaster. So the research shed light on hospital disaster preparedness. Considering the importance of preparedness in disaster, it is necessary for hospitals to understand that most of hospital disaster preparedness is built in the hospital system.

Credentialing in radiology:Current practice and future challenges

Radiology has changed significantly in recent years. The volume of work has increased dramatically as has its complexity. Future radiologists need an adequate training and expertise in conventional practice as well as new techniques. This comes at a time when other stakeholders outside of radiology are voicing their own concerns. The rightly justified increasing focus on patient safety has placed even more emphasis on the demonstration of competent practice by all health care professionals. Credentialing has been put forward as a way to ensure a doctor is competent in specific areas. Credentialing may be an alien concept to many radiology trainees but moves are afoot in the United Kingdom to bring it to the forefront of its postgraduate medical training. Credentialing began in 20 th century North America where it was linked to the process of privileging. It subsequently garnered a strong patient safety focus and has become a part of the international healthcare agenda. Not everyone agrees with credentialing, it has many criticisms including the risk of speciality "turf wars" and the stifling of medical excellence to name just a couple. Is credentialing in radiology here to stay or will it pass by quietly? This paper reviews the global credentialing movement and discusses how this may impact on future radiology training, using the United Kingdom as its case example.

Is the ‘driving test’ a robust quality indicator of colonoscopy performance?

Colorectal cancer is a major cause of death in the western world and is currently the second commonest cause of death from malignant disease in the UK.Recently a "driving test" for colonoscopists wishing to take part in the National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening Program has been introduced,with the aim of improving quality in colonoscopy.We describe the accreditation process and have reviewed the published evidence for its use.We compared this method of assessment to what occurs in other developed countries.To the authors' knowledge no other countries have similar methods of assessment of practicing colonoscopists,and instead use critical evaluation of key quality criteria.The UK appears to have one of the most rigorous accreditation processes,although this still has flaws.The published evidence suggests that the written part of the accreditation is not a good discriminating test and it needs to be improved or abandoned.Further work is needed on the best methods of assessing polypectomy skills.Rigorous systems need to be in place for the colonoscopist who fails the assessment.

Education Training Improvement of Built Environment and Energy Application Engineering in Line with the ABET Criteria

Built Environment and Energy Application Engineering(BEEAE),namely Heating,Ventilating,Air Conditioning and Refrigerating(HVAC&R),is one of the international accreditation programs.Its knowledge system of professional theory and professional education in accredited engineering academic programs must meet the requirements of the relevant international engineering certification.In view of professional engineers and technicians training of BEEAE,the professional training programs and the knowledge system are compared and explored in line with the international certification criteria.This study compares the items and requirements of different international certification criteria,and summarizes the experienced methods of education training.The undergraduate education and training programs are then improved in accordance with the requirements from international certification criteria.The BEEAE education training schemes should combine the knowledge system of the national professional guidance standards with the items from international certification criteria.

Introduction of creep-rupture testing capability and proficiency at Baosteel

To characterize the long-term service performance and predict the lifetime of heat-resistant steel applications,more than 300 test pieces can be loaded simultaneously at Baosteel to determine the relationship between stress and rupture duration at specific temperatures. In addition, versatile testing methods have been established that evaluate creep-rupture, stress-relaxation, and creep-fatigue, as well as state-of-the-art tensile testing at hyper-high temperatures exceeding 2 100 ~2. Based on the Larson-Miller method, according to API 530, the accumulation of large volumes of data with respect to stress, temperature, and rupture time of actually tested steels ensures the reliability of predicting the allowable working stress over 100 000 h at any given temperature. For examples ,the stress tendencies against rupture time of T/P91 and T/P92 steel tubes, as obtained by Baosteel, are consistent with those from NIMS and ECCC. As an accredited provider of the Proficiency Testing schemes in ISO/ IEC 17025 and ISO/IEC 17043, Baosteel has periodically organized national proficiency testing with respect to creep and rupture, thereby providing an efficient way for all parties to assess their technical competence when performing uniaxial creep testing by the methods in ISO 204 and ASTM E139.

Accreditation Maternity and Obstetric Services (MOS), Based on the Accreditation Standards of the Joint Commission International (JCI)

Background: In recent years various standards have been proposed for assessment and supervision of healthcare systems. One of the most popular of them in health care area is Joint Commission International (JCI) standards of US. This study has been conducted to investigate executive potentials related Accreditation Standards of Maternity and birth services of this commission in hospitals providing maternity and birth services in Ardebil Province. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study conducted as cross-sectional on 232 employees of three hospitals in Ardebil including Alavi, Arta and Sabalan who were randomly chosen. This is a multi-stage study that in stage 1, an accreditation tool for maternity and birth services was designed based on JCI standards. Validity and reliability of questionnaire was measured by Alpha Cronbach. In stage 2, score of different dimension of Accreditation Standards of MOS was calculated using data obtained from questionnaires distributed among a sample of 232 hospitals personnel;all of them were working in maternity and birth field. Statistical tests used are one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), dunnets post hoc and correlation test that all of them were calculated by SPSS V. 18. Results: Result showed that all of the MOS accreditation standards components were capable in selected hospitals. Arta hospital earned the highest score of standards (mean = 149/4) and Alavi hospital received the lowest score (mean = 128/04) of the maximum attainable score (186). Also, significant difference was observed between selected hospitals in total score of MOS standards (F = 50/432, p < 0/00). Conclusion: Based on study findings, there is an inequality between Ardebils hospital in field of MOS accreditation standards. Public hospitals are in more difficult situation compared to private hospitals, therefore Health Care System policy makers must pay attention systematically and specially to implementation of international standards in order to improve health care impacts in public hospitals.

The Impact of Hospital Accreditation System: Perspective of Organizational Learning

Objectives: Organizational learning is used to being a very important topic about hospital management and even is identified as the source of a hospital’s competitive strength. The study tries to explore the correlation between organizational learning and hospital accreditation awareness from the medical institution operation management’s point of view. Methods: We designed the questionnaire based on the cross-section survey, which included a total of 498 hospitals through-out Taiwan as the subjects (1922 copies of questionnaire were distributed, 4 copies per hospital). As a result, 306 returned the questionnaire (995 copies of valid questionnaire), a valid response rate was 49.94%. Then, we conducted the multiple regression analysis. Results: The factors critical to the operations management accreditation awareness include age, hospital ownership, hospital lever and team learning (p < 0.001). The factors critical to the medical care accreditation awareness include age, education level and team learning (p < 0.001). The team learning will produce positive effect to the hospital accreditation awareness. Conclusions: The organizational continuous learning may enhance the team learning through hospital accreditation operations to ensure that the medical treatment system may provide safe, valid and reliable healthcare and found the hospitals’ competitive strength.

A Classroom Teaching Quality Evaluation System for the Master of Software Engineering in China Based on Engineering Education Accreditation

Classroom teaching is a vital part of postgraduate education. The deficiencies of traditional classroom teaching quality evaluation methods for the postgraduate education of Master of Software Engineering in China are analyzed. The Engineering Education Accreditation and its education quality evaluation methods are introduced briefly, and the strengths of applying these methods for the classroom teaching quality evaluation are discussed. Based on the ideas and evaluation framework of Engineering Education Accreditation, adopting the merits of the traditional methods, a student-centered classroom teaching quality evaluation system is proposed to evaluate and continually improve the classroom teaching quality of Master of Software Engineering. The quality evaluation system covers teaching goals, teacher performance, student performance, teaching effect, supporting conditions and continual improvement totally six aspects. The advanced concepts and ideas of Engineering Education Accreditation and the merits of the traditional classroom teaching quality evaluation methods are both adopted in the proposed classroom teaching quality evaluation system.

Evaluating the average access to care and continuity of care patients in Tehran teaching hospitals

Background: Standards of Joint Commission International emphasize on the organizational performance level in basic functional domains including patient right, patient care, medical safety and infection control. These standards are focused on two principles: expectations of the actual organizational performance and assessment of organizational capabilities to provide high quality and safe health care services. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of improvement in Access to Care and Continuity of Care for patients (ACC) in teaching hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2012. Data collection was performed using author-designed questionnaire of “Access to Care and Continuity of Care patients” based on JCI standards (2013). A total of 171 questionnaires were sent to 26 hospitals and 154 (90%) questionnaires were successfully completed and used for data analysis. The questionnaire was reviewed by experts and the Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to be 0.967. The effects of the two variables of hospital type (general, specialty) and the number of beds on mean scores of ACC standards and each of its domains were analyzed using T-test or Mann-Whitney test depending on the distribution due to Kolmogorov-Smirnov test result. Results: In general, the mean of ACC standards was found comprehendible and applicable by 82.3 (SD = 11) of the respondents. The highest and lowest mean scores of ACC questions belonged to hospitals H21 (90 ± 6) and H14 (67 ± 12), respectively. There were not any significant effects of hospital type and the number of beds on the ACC scores. Conclusion: There was not any important effect of hospital type and bed numbers on ACC, although there was a 9%-15% possibility of improvement in accreditation scores of ACC standards in hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. A complete accreditation score in this domain didn’t seem achievable in these hospitals. However, it is proposed that future managerial planning of the studied hospitals lead to a complete accreditation score.

Short Text Mining for Classifying Educational Objectives and Outcomes

Most of the international accreditation bodies in engineering education(e.g.,ABET)and outcome-based educational systems have based their assess-ments on learning outcomes and program educational objectives.However,map-ping program educational objectives(PEOs)to student outcomes(SOs)is a challenging and time-consuming task,especially for a new program which is applying for ABET-EAC(American Board for Engineering and Technology the American Board for Engineering and Technology—Engineering Accreditation Commission)accreditation.In addition,ABET needs to automatically ensure that the mapping(classification)is reasonable and correct.The classification also plays a vital role in the assessment of students’learning.Since the PEOs are expressed as short text,they do not contain enough semantic meaning and information,and consequently they suffer from high sparseness,multidimensionality and the curse of dimensionality.In this work,a novel associative short text classification tech-nique is proposed to map PEOs to SOs.The datasets are extracted from 152 self-study reports(SSRs)that were produced in operational settings in an engineering program accredited by ABET-EAC.The datasets are processed and transformed into a representational form appropriate for association rule mining.The extracted rules are utilized as delegate classifiers to map PEOs to SOs.The proposed asso-ciative classification of the mapping of PEOs to SOs has shown promising results,which can simplify the classification of short text and avoid many problems caused by enriching short text based on external resources that are not related or relevant to the dataset.

NAA Algerian Laboratory Evaluation Processed by WEPAL and IAEA during 2011-2012

Participation in inter-comparison programs is an important process to enhance the accuracy and precision of the analytical techniques used in the laboratories. At Es-Salam Research Reactor, our laboratory uses two functional analytical techniques such as INAA and k0-INAA in the research projects and for the completion of the service works. Recently, our laboratory has participated in two inter-comparison tests organized by IAEA within the framework of the AFRA project to assess the analytical performance of eighteen (18) African analytical laboratories participating in the RAF/4/ 022 project, Enhancement of Research Reactor Utilization and Safety by taking part in analytical proficiency testing IAEA in conjunction with WEPAL, the Wageningen Evaluating Programs for Analytical Laboratories. The Proficiency Testing tests related to the determination of major, minor and trace elements in materials of the International Soil and Plant Analytical Exchange (Wepal codes ISE, IPE), were held in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, respectively. Concentrations of thirty (30) elements such as Al, As, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Ga, K, La, Mg, Mo, Mn, Na, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sr, Th, Ti, U, V, W, Zn, Zr were determined in ISE and IPE samples. All results were evaluated and reported in this paper.

Dermatology Resident Generated Textbook Questions as a Resident-Centered Educational Strategy

Background: Textbook conferences are widely used by dermatology residency programs in the United States to provide educational exposure to the specialty. Typically an entire textbook is reviewed each academic year. However, residents may be uncertain about mastery of the assigned readings. Since most dermatology textbooks do not provide questions about the material presented at the end of each chapter, an innovative senior resident from our program wrote questions about each chapter and offered them to the other residents prior to scheduled discussions of the assigned materials. Methods: A pilot study for resident generated quizzes about assigned textbook reading in general dermatology was developed, implemented, and assessed by anonymous completion of a Likert Scale by participants. Results: Participants indicated that quizzes better prepared them for the annual dermatology in-service examination and they thought that the additional creation of quiz materials in the subspecialty areas of dermatopathology and dermatologic surgery would be useful. Conclusion: Resident generated quizzes are a novel approach to the learning environment during dermatology residency for residency programs and may be useful for other residency programs that utilize textbook conferences. Additional research is needed.

Exploration of New Engineering Upgrading Path from Perspective of Professional Certification--A Case Study of Telecommunication Major of Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences

From the perspective of professional accreditation,starting with the mode of education based on outcomes based education(OBE),this paper puts forward the idea of insisting on the principal role of university collaboration,and taking the road of building new specialties of electronic information science and technology through collaborative innovation such as school administration,school-enterprise,production and teaching.This paper combines"new subject construction-result orientation-professional certification"into a whole,and probes into the orientation of talent training objectives,the construction of curriculum system,the construction of teaching staff,and the cooperation of educational models.A basic path for upgrading of new electronic engineering majors is explored.