Getting physical with medical education:Exercise based virtual anatomy review classes for medical students

The benefits of regular physical activity are well known.Yet,few studies have examined the effectiveness of integrating physical activity(PA)into curricula within a post-secondary setting.To investigate the incorporation of PA into medical curriculum,we developed a series of optional exercise-based review sessions designed to reinforce musculoskeletal(MSK)anatomy course material.These synchronous sessions were co-taught by a group fitness instructor and an anatomy instructor.The fitness instructor would lead students through both strength and yoga style exercises,while the anatomy instructor asked questions about relevant anatomical structures related to course material previously covered.After the sessions,participants were asked to evaluate the classes on their self-reported exam preparedness in improving MSK anatomy knowledge,PA levels,and mental wellbeing.Thirty participants completed surveys;a majority agreed that the classes increased understanding of MSK concepts(90.0%)and activity levels(97.7%).Many(70.0%)felt that the classes helped reduce stress.The majority of respondents(90.0%)agreed that the classes contributed to increased feelings of social connectedness.Overall,medical students saw benefit in PA based interventions to supplement MSK course concepts.Along with increasing activity levels and promoting health behaviours,integrating PA into medical curriculum may improve comprehension of learning material,alleviate stress and foster social connectivity among medical students.

Flexner's legacy and the future of medical education:Embracing challenge and opportunity

This editorial comments on the article by Alzerwi.We focus on the development course,present challenges,and future perspectives of medical education.Modern medical education is gradually undergoing significant and profound changes worldwide.The emergence of new ideas,methodologies,and techniques has created opportunities for medical education developments and brought new concerns and challenges,ultimately promoting virtuous progress in medical education reform.The sustainable development of medical education needs joint efforts and support from governments,medical colleges,hospitals,researchers,administrators,and educators.

Mindfulness training in medical education as a means to improve resilience,empathy,and mental health in the medical profession

The high rates of depression,burnout,and increased risk of suicide among medical students,residents,and physicians in comparison with other careers signal a mental health crisis within our profession.We contend that this crisis coupled with the inadequate acquisition of interpersonal skills during medical education results from the interaction between a challenging environment and the mental capital of individuals.Additionally,we posit that mindfulness-based practices are instrumental for the development of major components of mental capital,such as resilience,flexibility of mind,and learning skills,while also serving as a pathway to enhance empathy,compassion,self-awareness,conflict resolution,and relational abilities.Importantly,the evidence base supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions has been increasing over the years,and a growing number of medical schools have already integrated mindfulness into their curricula.While we acknowledge that mindfulness is not a panacea for all educational and mental health problems in this field,we argue that there is currently an unprecedented opportunity to gather momentum,spread and study mindfulness-based programs in medical schools around the world as a way to address some longstanding shortcomings of the medical profession and the health and educational systems upon which it is rooted.

3D image system improves the learning curve and contributes to medical education of rhinoplasty

Background: Rhinoplasty is a complex surgical procedure that requires critical analysis and precise design before surgery, making it a challenging operation for both the surgical team and medical educators. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of 3D design involvement on learning curves and to establish a more effective method for rhinoplasty education.Methods: Surgeons who participated in an educational program were divided into two groups. The experimental group was involved in the 3D design before the operation, and the control group was asked to review the rhinoplasty atlas. A self-assessment questionnaire was used to evaluate the learning curve of the eight rhinoplasty procedures for each surgeon, and the overall satisfaction rate data were also collected.Results: The self-assessment scores in both groups showed an increasing trend from the first to the eighth operation. The mean scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group at the fifth operation(P=0.01). The satisfaction rate of the experimental group(91.7%) was higher than that of the control group(54.5%).Conclusion: The 3D imaging system can improve the learning curve and satisfaction rate of rhinoplasty education,proving that it is an easy and effective tool for medical education.

Analysis of the Necessity and Modalities of Imparting Death Education to Medical Students Undergoing Training in Oncology Departments

Patients with advanced-stage tumors may experience various psychological problems that can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of cancer treatment and the quality of their survival.Therefore,it is crucial for oncologists to prioritize addressing the psychological issues that patients encounter throughout the diagnosis and treatment process.As future frontline healthcare professionals,oncology medical students should receive education on end-of-life care early on in their training.This will enable them to develop a profound appreciation for the value of life,deliver improved medical services,and contribute to the humanization of medicine.Furthermore,they will be able to provide terminal patients and their families with effective professional guidance,assisting patients in finding peaceful endings with minimal pain and helping families come to terms with the inevitable realities they face.Moreover,this education can effectively enhance their sense of responsibility toward life and cultivate a positive and optimistic attitude toward their own lives.

Financial Sustainability of the Japanese Medical Payment System: Analysis of the Japanese Medical Expenditure for Educational Hospitalization of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Japanese medical expenditures have increased rapidly in recent years and are predicted to continue rising. Indeed, it remains uncertain whether the current Japanese medical system can be sustained. In this paper, we analyzed the medical expenditures for educational hospitalization of patients with type 2 diabetes. A dataset of 6173 patients from 36 hospitals was used in the analysis. The sample period was from July 2008 to March 2012. We analyzed the medical expenditures in two ways. First, we analyzed the length of hospital stay (LOS). Next, we analyzed the daily expenditure per patient. The Box-Cox transformation model was used in the first analysis and the ordinary least squares method in the second. Comorbidities and complications prolonged LOS and increased daily expenditures. The LOS was significantly different among hospitals. On the other hand, the differences in daily expenditures among hospitals were relatively small, such that LOS was the main determinant of medical expenditures. Previous studies suggested that LOS could be shortened without degradation of medical quality. Moreover, LOS could be controlled by introducing proper critical paths and improving and standardizing educational programs. Hence, it would be possible to control the medical expenditures for this disease.

Evaluation of Length of Hospital Stay Joining Educational Programs for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: Can We Control Medical Costs in Japan?

Diabetes has become a growing concern in Japan, both medically and financially. The medical cost of diabetes was estimated at 1215 billion yen for fiscal year 2011. We analyzed the length of stay (LOS) in a hospital for type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who participated in educational programs to determine factors affecting LOS. Data on 991 patients obtained from 28 Red Cross hospitals in 2008 were used. For the analysis, we used the Box-Cox transformation model and Hausman test. The results revealed that patients aged 75 years and above and those with comorbidities and complications were prone to longer LOS. The analysis also revealed significant differences in LOS across the hospitals, even after controlling for patient characteristics. Finally, we applied the least squares method to determine the effects of hospital and regional factors and revealed that patients’ LOS was affected by the region’s average LOS. Regional corporations and networks appeared to be important in improving educational programs.

Chinese medical service and medical education in urgent need of reform in the context of public welfare-based medical reform

After six years＇medical reform,about 7.8 billion person-times of medical service has been achieved by2014,and the number of persons covered by basic medical insurance for urban employees,basic medical insurance for urban residents,and new rural cooperative medical insurance exceeded 1.3 billion,of which the coverage ratio reached as high as over 95%,establishing the largest basic medical security network in the world.

Maxillofacial Surgery Education: Where Is It Heading?

Oral and maxillofacial surgery have a long history dating back to ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians. Since then, surgeons have treated craniofacial trauma and alveolodental fractures. In 1846, Hullihen performed a mandibular body osteotomy to correct prognathism, marking a significant milestone in the field. Over time, the specialty has evolved significantly. The field of craniofacial surgery has undergone several phases, including its involvement in conflicts during world wars and the treatment of craniofacial fractures and discrepancies. The process of learning and teaching specialties has evolved differently in various countries throughout the 20th century. Currently, there is no uniformity in the training and registration of specialized professionals, resulting in distinct scenarios. Considering the accessibility of scientific knowledge through technology and globalization, it is crucial to provide an objective overview of the current state of education in the field. This paper focuses on effective professional training as the primary subject of residency courses in this specialty. A proposal is presented for education, emphasizing the significance of providing quality professional training that is tailored to the specific legislation of each country.

Virtual reality:The bridge between medical education and clinical practice

After perusing the paper by Kim et al,I discovered that this is an interesting manuscript and a successful study.Virtual reality(VR)is an emerging and promising technology employed in the domain of medical practice and medical education over the past decade.In the era of big data,VR is constantly progressing in the fields of medical education and clinical diagnosis and treatment.As a novel scientific and technological tool,VR not only overcomes multiple limitations of the traditional medical teaching mode but also reduces the reliance on personnel and equipment.VR can simulate the real clinical situation,stimulate the enthusiasm of young doctors and nurses for clinical study,and simultaneously safeguard and promote medical safety and doctor-patient harmony.Favorable outcomes have been attained in clinical teaching and diagnosis and treatment activities.While enhancing the training conditions of medical cosmetics and elevating the level of clinical practice and teaching,the risks resulting from improper clinical diagnosis and treatment have been circumvented.All of this is evident and comprehensible.

Assessment Methods Used during Clinical Years of Undergraduate Medical Education at Moi University School of Medicine, Kenya

Background: Assessment is the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken to improve teaching and learning. It ensures quality in training programmes, motivates, and directs students’ learning. Assessment is also used for verification of achievement of objectives of training, feedback to students, licencing, certification, and screening of students for advanced training. It is guided by several principles, including the aims of the assessment (why assess), who to assess, timing (when to assess), what to assess, methods (how to assess), and the criteria for determining the usefulness of the assessment. Objective: To describe the assessment methods used during clinical years of the undergraduate programme at Moi University School of Medicine (MUSOM) and determine the student’s perspectives concerning the comprehensiveness, relevance, objectivity of various assessment methods and challenges faced. Methodology: The study was carried out at MUSOM and a cross-sectional study design was employed. Ten study participants were studied using convenience sampling. Data were collected using an interview guide and was analyzed using content analysis. An informed consent was obtained from the study participants. Results: The methods used during clinical years at MUSOM for assessing knowledge and its applications include multiple-choice questions (MCQ), short answer questions (SAQ), modified essay questions (MEQ), long essay questions (LEQ), and oral exam. Whereas the methods for assessing clinical competence include long case, short cases, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE), and logbook. Students felt that MCQs were comprehensive, objective, and relevant to the curriculum content. They reported that feedback was not provided after assessments. Conclusion: The assessment methods used at MUSOM during clinical years include MCQ, SAQ, MEQ, LEQ, Short cases, long cases, and OSCE. Students reported varied perceptions of the different assessment methods but favored MCQ and OSCE over other formats for assessing knowledge and clinical skills respectively.

Evaluation of Clinician Training in Autism Screening, Care Management, and Patient Education

Objective: The demand for pediatric developmental evaluations has far exceeded the workforce available to perform them, which creates long significant wait times for services. A year-long clinician training using the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO®) model with monthly meetings was conducted and evaluated for its impact on primary care clinicians’ self-reported self-efficacy, ability to administer autism screening and counsel families, professional fulfillment, and burnout. Methods: Participants represented six community health centers and a hospital-based practice. Data collection was informed by participant feedback and the Normalization Process Theory via online surveys and focus groups/interviews. Twelve virtual monthly trainings were delivered between November 2020 and October 2021. Results: 30 clinicians participated in data collection. Matched analyses (n = 9) indicated statistically significant increase in self-rated ability to counsel families about autism (Pre-test Mean = 3.00, Post-test Mean = 3.89, p = 0.0313), manage autistic patients’ care (Pre-test Mean = 2.56, Post-test Mean = 4.11, p = 0.0078), empathy toward patients (Pre-test Mean = 2.11, Post-test Mean = 1.22, p = 0.0156) and colleagues (Pre-test Mean = 2.33, Post-test Mean = 1.22, respectively, p = 0.0391). Unmatched analysis revealed increases in participants confident about educating patients about autism (70.59%, post-test n = 12 vs. 3.33%, pre-test n = 1, p = 0.0019). Focus groups found increased confidence in using the term “autism”. Conclusion: Participants reported increases in ability and confidence to care for autistic patients, as well as empathy toward patients and colleagues. Future research should explore long-term outcomes in participants’ knowledge retention, confidence in practice, and improvements to autism evaluations and care.

Application status and development of big data in medical education in China

With the development of information technology, big data has been widely used in medical education in China. Through the analysis of the definition, characteristics and development process of big data, summarized the transformation of domestic big data medical education mode compared with the traditional medical education mode in the teaching mode reform, research method innovation, teaching courses optimization, teaching key extension and the teaching quality monitoring. Based on this, this paper expounds the impact and challenge of big data on medical education, and makes an outlook on its development prospect, indicating that the future development of big data will be open, popular and trending. At the same time, some suggestions on further optimization direction of China's big data medical education are put forward.

Potential and limitations of ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence in medical safety education

The primary objectives of medical safety education are to provide the public with essential knowledge about medications and to foster a scientific approach to drug usage.The era of using artificial intelligence to revolutionize medical safety education has already dawned,and ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence models have immense potential in this domain.Notably,they offer a wealth of knowledge,anonymity,continuous availability,and personalized services.However,the practical implementation of generative artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT in medical safety education still faces several challenges,including concerns about the accuracy of information,legal responsibilities,and ethical obligations.Moving forward,it is crucial to intelligently upgrade ChatGPT by leveraging the strengths of existing medical practices.This task involves further integrating the model with real-life scenarios and proactively addressing ethical and security issues with the ultimate goal of providing the public with comprehensive,convenient,efficient,and personalized medical services.

Continuing professional development:progress beyond continuing medical education

Continuing medical education(CME)is rapidly evolving into competency-based continuing professional development(CPD)and this is driving change in self-directed CPD programs undertaken by individual practitioners as well as CPD programs or frameworks offered by CPD educators.This progression is being led by many factors including the rapid change in medical knowledge and medical practitioners along with changes in patients and society,healthcare systems,regulators and the political environment.We describe our experiences primarily concerning low-resource environments,in creating the International Council of Ophthalmology(ICO)Guide to Effective CPD/CME and in developing a CPD program for the Cambodian Ophthalmological Society(COS)twinned with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists(RANZCO).At the conclusion of the project,47(100%)Cambodian practicing ophthalmologists were registered in the CPD program and 21(45%)were actively participating in the online COS-CPD program recording.We discuss challenges in CPD,propose solutions to overcome them and recommend developing research in CPD as needed to effectively enhance educational activities with impact in public health.

Reform and Implementation of Teaching Management for Medical Graduate Students

With the expansion of medical graduate enrollment, there are some problems in graduate teaching management, such as shortage of faculty, insufficient funding, and single assessment management. This can be solved by improving the quality of enrollment, strengthening process management and quality monitoring, enhancing the quality of mentors, and building a management team. This provides theoretical support and practical guidance for the management of graduate education in medical colleges, which helps to improve the quality of graduate education and cultivate more high-quality medical talents for the national healthcare industry.

Research on Application of Digital Art and Virtual Reality in Animal Medical Education

With the development of social science and technology,digital technology has been widely used in all walks of life.Especially in the field of medical education,the rational application of digital technology will create a simulated learning environment for students,which has a key impact on the improvement of medical education.This article is an analysis of the application of art and virtual reality in animal medical education.I hope that this analysis can play a certain role in improving the effect of today’s animal medical education,and provide a certain reference value for the reasonable application of digital technology and virtual reality technology in today’s animal medical education.

Current Status of Key Competencies among Medical Students: A Latent Profile Analysis

The purpose of this study was to understand the overall level of key competencies of medical students and explore the potential profile of key competencies, promoting quality education, and improving the quality talent cultivation in medical colleges. A stratified random sampling method selected 734 medical students from four medical colleges in Chongqing Province of China. A general information questionnaire and a key competencies survey questionnaire were used to conduct the survey. The overall score and scores of each dimension of key competencies were analyzed. Latent profile analysis was conducted to classify the key competencies of medical students and compare the distribution differences of demographic variables among different categories. The results showed that 26% of medical students have never heard of the concept of key competencies, and 59% of them are not familiar with the content related to key competencies. The score of key competencies is 3.66 ± 0.60, with the highest score in the dimension of responsibility and the lowest score in the dimension of humanistic accomplishment. The latent profile analysis classified them into three categories: “low key competencies group (14.71%)”, “medium key competencies group (36.79%)”, and “high key competencies group (48.50%)”. The R3STEP regression analysis results showed statistically significant differences in educational level and whether they served as student cadres among different key competencies categories of medical students. This paper discusses three different potential key competencies categories among medical students, and the overall level of key competencies is relatively good. However, medical students lack a comprehensive and systematic understanding of key competencies. Humanistic accomplishment, healthy living, and practical innovation are the three dimensions with lower scores and should be given more attention. Medical colleges should integrate the concept of key competencies into teaching and implement it in medical practice to cultivate more high-quality medical talents for society.

Compliance to Medication Management and Mental Health Status of Elderly Hypertensive Patients: Basis of Educational Health Program

Objective:The study aimed to assess medication management compliance and mental health in elderly patients with hypertension.Method:The study evaluated medication compliance and mental health status of elderly hypertensive patients in China using simple random sampling.Data was collected using the Morisky Medication Compliance Questionnaire,Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale,and a checklist.Ethical practices were strictly observed.Results:A study of 100 elderly hypertensive patients found poor drug management compliance,with female patients showing worse compliance.Female patients were more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.The study also found no significant association between gender,age,education level,marital status,living standards,and medication compliance.Barriers to medication management included food and daily necessities,lack of awareness about the importance of drug treatment,and basic family needs.The lowest-ranked barriers were lack of support from government health clinics,low income,and lack of family support.Conclusion:Based on the results,the study proposes an educational plan for elderly hypertensive patients and their families,to be evaluated and implemented by the hospital and township community service center.The plan aims to improve medication management and lifestyle modification compliance,encourage active participation,and provide access to medical and mental health clinics,support groups,and counseling services.

A Survey on the Continuing Education Status and Demand of Nurses in Chongqing Grass-Root Medical Institutions

Background: With the increased aging of population, the continuous increase in the morbidity of chronic diseases, and the issuance of universal two-child policy, the grass-root medical teams become more and more important. Objective: To investigate the continuing education status and demand of nurses in the grass-root medical institutions and thus provide a reference for optimizing the continuing education plan. Methods: From October 2018 to May 2019, a survey of 270 nurses from 28 grass-root medical institutions in Tongliang District of Chongqing was performed using a self-designed questionnaire. Results: In the grass-root medical institutions, the major continuing education pattern of nurses was hospital training and distance education;the continuing education focused on new basic theoretical knowledge and new nursing techniques, and its satisfaction was 67.8%. About 20.6% questionnaire answerers never had received continuing nursing education. As shown by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and binary logistic regression analysis, the following factors were associated with the continuing education participation in the past three years: work unit, organizational affiliation, age, professional title and hospital policies. There were 93.0% questionnaire answerers reflecting that it was necessary to participate in the continuing education and wishing the conformance between the pattern and contents of continuing nursing education and the actual implementation status. Conclusion: The continuing education demand of nurses in the grass-root medical institutions is basic but diverse, and the organizations shall provide effective policy support for continuing education and make the diversified training plan by combining Internet technology, so as to realize the maximization of continuing education participation and keep improving the overall service quality of gross-root nurses.