Ultrasound cardiography examinations detect victims' long-term realized and potential consequences after major disasters: a case-control study

BACKGROUND@#An increase in cardiovascular diseases has been reported following major disasters. Previous work has shown that ultrasonographic findings from ultrasound cardiography examination (UCG) increased until the 44th month after the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The present study conducted UCG among victims in the tsunami disaster area and investigated the frequency of disaster-related cardiovascular diseases and changes over time until the 55th month after the disaster.@*METHODS@#The subjects were residents of temporary housing complexes and neighboring housing in Watari-gun, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There were 207 subjects in the 18th month, 125 in the 30th month, 121 in the 44th month, and 106 in the 55th month after the disaster. Data were collected through UCG and self-report questionnaire.@*RESULTS@#Significant changes were observed among subjects with clinical findings from the UCG, which increased over the study period-from 42.0 to 60.8, 72.7, and 73.6% beginning in the 18th month after the disaster (p < 0.0001).@*CONCLUSIONS@#It is possible that the UCG can become a useful examination to visualize the potential impact of a major disaster on the cardiac function of victims. Victims with clinical findings continued increasing not only during the acute phase after a disaster but also in the long term. We therefore need to keep this in mind, and note that it is important to establish a support system to control cardiovascular diseases from the early stage of disaster.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION@#UMIN; ID000029802. R000034050 . 2 November 2017.

Clinical Reasoning Web-based Prototypic Module for Tutors Teaching 5^th Grade Medical Students : A Pilot Randomized Study / General Medicine

<b>Background: </b>At present clinical reasoning skills are not systematically taught in Japanese medical universities. We developed a prototypic preliminary module for clinical tutors to introduce clinical reasoning to Japanese medical students. We hypothesized that tutored medical students would outperform self-study students.<br><b>Method: </b>Using the web-based Sequential Question and Answer test that rewarded history and differential diagnosis as proxies for clinical reasoning, we compared the pre and posttest scores of 12 randomized fifth grade tutored students at two universities during four tutor-led 1.5-hour web-based seminars using a structured syllabus to 12 randomized self-study students.<br><b>Results: </b>The tutored and self-study groups’ pretest scores were statistically similar at about 40 out of 100 weighted correct points. The tutored students’ posttest scores were 62 points, significantly greater (p = 0.007) than the pretest mean 42 points, compared to the self-study students’ posttest scores of 52 points, significantly greater (p = 0.012) than pretest mean 40 points. The difference between the two posttest groups was of borderline statistical significance (p = 0.08).<br><b>Conclusions: </b>We successfully assessed a prototypic module for tutors to introduce clinical reasoning to Japanese medical students. The tutored students achieved higher scores than the self-study students. Further research is needed to exploit the potential of our modular clinical reasoning system.

Medical Students’ Opinion of a Web-based Module to Teach Clinical Reasoning and Knowledge / General Medicine

<b>Background: </b>Japanese medical student education lacks emphasis on teaching clinical reasoning skills. To partially remedy this situation, we developed a prototypic web-based module for tutors to teach clinical reasoning. We report the medical students’ opinions of this module.<br><b>Methods: </b>Twenty-four students from two Japanese medical universities were randomly assigned to the two tutored virtual classrooms, each classroom with six students, or to the self-study group, 12 students, after taking the Internet-based Sequential Question and Answer pretest. After four weeks, each of the 24 students took the Sequential Question and Answer posttest. The entire 24 students answered a questionnaire about the Sequential Question and Answer tests; all 12 tutored students answered a questionnaire about the web-based tutored module.<br><b>Results: </b>Although both tutored and self-study Sequential Question and Answer posttest scores increased, the increases of the tutored group’s posttest compared to the self-study posttest group were not statistically significant (p = 0.066). Ninety-two percent of the students rated the Sequential Question and Answer tests as an improved way to learn case presentation and clinical reasoning. Moreover, 79% of students felt that the Sequential Question and Answer tests were an effective way to learn clinical information. The tutored students rated the web-based tutored seminars as an ‘excellent to fair’ method to learn clinical reasoning using a five-point ‘excellent to poor’ scale.<br><b>Conclusions: </b>We developed a prototypic web-based module for tutors to teach clinical reasoning to medical students. The students’ opinion supported the modular components of the web-based seminar format, Sequential Question and Answer test, and the tutoring syllabus as an effective way to improve learning clinical reasoning, case presentation, and medical information. Students also suggested refinements of the prototypic module.

Factors Required by Japanese Residents in Postgraduate Clinical Training / 医学教育

1)The factors Japanese residents consider most important in postgraduate clinical training are: "relationship with supervising physicians," "well-developed training programs," and "guidance of supervising physicians."2)Items showing a large discrepancy between their importance to residents and residents' satisfaction were: "well-developed training program," "experiencing a large number of cases,""guidance of supervising physicians," and "guidance of senior residents."3)Multiple regression analysis showed that factors significantly influencing residents' satisfaction with training were "quality of the medical service" (r=0.59) and "consideration for accepted residents" (r=0.42).