Designing for digital transformation of residency education - a post-pandemic pedagogical response.

BACKGROUND: The forced transition to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted health professions education worldwide. In Sweden, the need for alternative solutions for the training of junior doctors became urgent, as many of the mandatory onsite courses required for residents to qualify as specialists were canceled. The purpose of this study was to understand course leaders' perceptions and experiences of using digital technologies, such as video conferencing, to teach medical residents (ST) during the pandemic and beyond. METHODS: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with seven course leaders responsible for residency courses during the first year of the pandemic to capture their perceptions and experiences. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis, drawing on the technology affordances and constraints theory (TACT) as a framework to explore pedagogical strategies and new teaching practices emerging from the forced use of digital technologies for remote teaching. RESULTS: The data analysis revealed affordances of, as well as constraints to, teaching specialist medical training during the pandemic. The findings show that the use of digital conference technologies for ERT can both enable and inhibit social interactions, the interactive learning environment and the utilization of technological features, depending on the individual course leaders' goals of using the technology and the situated context of the teaching. CONCLUSIONS: The study reflects the course leaders' pedagogical response to the pandemic, as remote teaching became the only way to provide residency education. Initially, the sudden shift was perceived as constraining, but over time they found new affordances through the enforced use of digital technology that helped them not only to cope with the transition but also to innovate their pedagogical methods. After a rapid, forced shift from on-site to digital courses, it is crucial to utilize experiences to create better preconditions for digital technology to facilitate learning in the future.

VARK preference and perception of online versus offline professional development training of medical laboratory technologists.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand the learning preferences and perception of medical laboratory technologists on sudden shift from offline to online training sessions during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Microsoft form containing twenty-four questions was circulated to the twenty-five laboratory technologists after 1 year of online continuous professional development training. VARK questionnaire was circulated to understand the learning style. RESULTS: Provision of recording lectures, significant reduction of performance anxiety, anxiety associated with criticism, and QA sessions emerged as the major positive aspects of a virtual training platform. Analysis of learning preferences revealed that most technologists had a unimodal aural (45%) or kinesthetics (33%) than visual (11%) and reading (11%) learning preference. In bimodal learning preference, AK (44.44%) emerged as the predominant form. Forty percent of the technologists showed trimodal learning pattern with 50% among them showing an ARK pattern while 25% each showing VAK and VRK patterns of learning preferences. CONCLUSION: Medical laboratory technologists adapted well to the sudden shift from offline to online continuous development programs. However, efficient managerial mechanisms to address the major perceived hurdles and designing a multimodal training module to accommodate the learning preferences of our technologists can ensure enthusiastic participation and effective learning among medical laboratory technologists.

ANALYSIS OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL WORKERS STATE OF READINESS TO COUNTERACT COVID-19 IN THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM OF UKRAINE.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To investigate the pharmacists level of readiness to provide assistance to pharmacy visitors on COVID-19 and ways to expand their social role in society during the pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: Based on the analysis of the statistical data, sociological research and mathematical analysis, as well as generalization of the obtained results have been used in the work. The objects of the study were pharmaceutical workers of pharmacies. The survey was conducted in August 2021 via online survey of the target audience in professional groups. RESULTS: Results: The results of the survey of pharmaceutical workers indicate a high level of need (63.9% of respondents) for the continuous acquisition of relevant information on COVID-19. According to the results of the study, the growth of the social role of pharmacy specialists in combating coronavirus infection has been proved, which was supported by 86.2% of respondents in their daily activities. The possibility of introduction of 6 new functions to Ukrainian pharmacies has been considered. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The practical significance of the obtained results is that together they create a scientific and methodological basis for improving the process of pharmaceutical workers participation in combating coronavirus infection.

E-Learning versus Face-to-Face Methodology for Learning Antimicrobial Resistance and Prescription Practice in a Tertiary Hospital of a Middle-Income Country.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a growing health problem worldwide. One strategy to face this problem in a reasonable way is training health personnel for the rational use of antimicrobials. There are some difficulties associated with medical staff to receiving training with E-learning education, but there is a lack of studies and insufficient evidence of the effectiveness of this method compared to face-to-face learning. Methods: An educational intervention on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial prescription practice (APP) was designed and implemented using two approaches: face-to-face and E-learning among physicians of the intensive care unit (ICU) and internal medicine ward (IMW) at Eugenio Espejo Hospital in Quito. Modalities of interventions were compared to propose a strategy of continuous professional development (CPD) for all hospital staff. An interventional study was proposed using a quasi-experimental approach that included 91 physicians, of which 49 belong to the IMW and 42 to the ICU. All of them received training on AMR­half in a face-to-face mode and the other half in an asynchronous E-learning mode. They then all participated on APP training but with switched groups; those who previously participated in the face-to-face experience participated in an E-learning module and vice-versa. We evaluated self-perception about basic knowledge, attitudes and referred practices towards AMR and APP before and after the intervention. A review of medical records was conducted before and after training by checking antimicrobial prescriptions for all patients in the ICU and IMW with bacteremia, urinary tract infection (UTI), pneumonia, and skin and soft tissue infection. The study received IRB clearance, and we used SPSS for statistical analysis. Results: No statistically significant difference was observed between the E-learning and the face-to-face methodology for AMR and APP. Both methodologies improved knowledge, attitudes and referred practices. In the case of E-learning, there was a self-perception of improved attitudes (p < 0.05) and practices (p < 0.001) for both AMR and APP. In face-to-face, there was a perception of improvement only in attitudes (p < 0.001) for APP. In clinical practice, the use of antimicrobials significantly improved in all domains after training, including empirical and targeted treatment of bacteremia and pneumonia (p < 0.001) and targeted treatment of UTI (p < 0.05). For the empirical treatment of pneumonia, the mean number of antibiotics was reduced from 1.87 before to 1.05 after the intervention (p = 0.003), whereas in the targeted management of bacteremia, the number of antibiotics was reduced from 2.19 to 1.53 (p = 0.010). Conclusions: There was no statistically significant difference between the effect of E-learning and face-to-face strategy in terms of teaching AMR and APP. Adequate self-reported attitudes and practices in E-learning exceed those of the face-to-face approach. The empiric and targeted use of antimicrobials improved in all reviewed cases, and we observed an overall decrease in antibiotic use. Satisfaction with training was high for both methods, and participants valued the flexibility and accessibility of E-learning.

Preceptor support during the COVID-19 pandemic: Recommendations for continuing development.

BACKGROUND:  Mentally fit preceptors may be more capable and flexible in providing students with system, emotional and cognitive support in the clinical learning environment (CLE) in the face of any life-threatening outbreaks. Existing professional development programmes for preceptors emphasise the development of preceptor competence in a normal CLE with minimal focus on their ability to engage with adverse events that challenge their mental health. OBJECTIVE:  The study sought insight from preceptors' experiences during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to identify their professional development programme needs while providing support to students during accompaniment. METHOD:  A mixed methods convergent parallel design was used to collect data from 24 preceptors at a nursing education institution (NEI). Eleven preceptors responded to the survey that included the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Stress Scale (CSS) and Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) to collect quantitative data. Semistructured interviews were conducted with five purposively selected preceptors to collect qualitative data regarding their experiences while accompanying students during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS:  Subscales within the CSS and BAT instruments were mapped against an existing preceptor support framework. Overall CSS data for each subscale indicated an average score varying from no stress to moderate stress, while BAT data shows that respondents rarely experienced burnout. However, some respondents experienced very high levels of stress and burnout. Qualitative data supplemented results. CONCLUSION:  The COVID-19 pandemic influenced preceptors' role in supporting students and reflecting that they amended their functioning role. Existing preceptor professional development programmes should be reviewed to ensure that the necessary concepts that foster resilience are integrated to enhance the functional role of preceptors in adversity.Contribution: Existing preceptor professional development programmes should be reviewed to ensure that the necessary concepts that foster resilience are integrated to enhance the functional role of preceptors in adversity.

The impact of COVID-19 on professionalism in practice and future directions

Purpose This paper seeks to assess the level of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on professional practice for members of professional organisations and the general public in the conduct of business. Investigations into practice using events, attendance records and registered views are carried out. The aim is to identify the challenges and actions being taken to mitigate against them in moving from physical (face-to-face) to virtual (online) mode of operations. Design/methodology/approach The past two years have seen a complete change in the way we live from life at home, at work and in education. This has impacted the way professional organisations now conduct business including the need to revise ways of upskilling and sustaining practice. Core to all of this is the role of computing and communication for all persons in all works of life. The current study focusses on professional activities and support provided to members of British Computer Society (BCS), The Chartered Institute for IT. The authors examine the events provided, the conduct support provided to members and the general public. The method includes use of surveys of all stakeholders and analysis of data obtained. Findings The onset of COVID-19 pandemic was perceived as a real shock for everyone everywhere. Contrary to expectations, faced with the reality of having to do everyone online, the current study found that there were observed increased in the number of activities of professional organisations worldwide. Most interesting is that fact that the number of people participating in these events was found to be increasing using e-learning and other associated online tools and resources. Participants of these events were no longer restricted to local members but widespread globally. There was the appetite for more events to be put up and willingness for more individual and groups to volunteer and/or participate. Research limitations/implications The limitations of current study are that only a few of the many activities have been investigated in this one professional body, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. The fact that more events are now being carried out for the many groups and branches implies a lot more digital data would be available for further study to inform developments of members and the general public. Practical implications The impact of COVID-19 pandemic is a huge and evolving. It remains and presents a complicated case for the world to deal with. Amongst the many realities is that living life online has become a new normal and one everybody must learn to adjust to. Professional organisations such as the BCS would need to think of not only their members but also the general public and how well society and business can be sustained going forward. This involves considering developments of educational resources and appropriate platforms to meet the needs of the public, private and the voluntary sectors in society. Social implications Due to restricted physical (face-to-face) interactions, previously developed processes would require reviewing. New informed policies would need to be developed and implemented by professional organisations on revised practices resulting from impact of the pandemic. The emanating global participation from local activities presents challenges involving time, space (geographical location) and cultural differences. The digital divide that exists in society and access to the fast and reliable Internet services are also worth considering. Originality/value The impact of COVID-19 on professional practice applied to education and business is important in the face of the many and varied challenges everyone is facing everywhere in the world. This has been intense at home and at work globally. Although the true cause is yet to be established, it is important that ways to address challenges and continue with life are found and implemented. This paper establishes some of the impacts and present recommendations that are useful in forging ahead for people in the information technology profession.

Self-Directed Learning: Exploring the Continuous Professional Development of Native English-Speaking Teachers in South Korea

It has been argued that self-directed professional development is a necessary component of continuous, lifelong teacher learning. Research has predominantly focused on top-down, institution-mandated professional development, however, a paucity of data exists concerning self-directed teacher professional development. Therefore, the aim of this project was to explore the self-directed professional development that native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) in South Korea engaged in, as well as assess if these behaviors matched their stated beliefs about self-directed professional development. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data was collected from 56 teachers who completed online questionnaires, and 11 teachers who participated in follow-up interviews. Analysis revealed that in the 12 months prior to the study, only 35 teachers engaged in self-directed professional development. Findings indicated that the teachers who held education degrees and were interested in an EFL/ESL career were the most likely to engage in self-directed professional development. Of the participants that did not engage in self-directed professional development, the preeminent factors hindering involvement were a lack of ambition and/or ambivalence, lack of necessity, a shortage of career advancement prospects, and the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be concluded that most NESTs in the study did not engage in enough professional development to increase student learning outcomes. © 2022 AsiaTEFL All rights reserved.

Practice based small group learning during a pandemic: an evaluation from Defence Primary Healthcare.

The educational benefits of Practice-Based Small Group Learning (PBSGL) are well known. The Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom employs a salaried healthcare workforce across the globe with staff frequently moving. Given the success of PBSGL in Canada and Scotland, PBSGL was introduced as a large pilot to assess it as a continuous professional development (CPD) resource. A survey gathering quantitative and qualitative was distributed to the pilot population after using PBSGL for 12 months. This showed the favoured types of CPD were PBSGL and taught CPD update courses. Themes identified from free-text comments were: developing professional educational networks during Covid; evolving themes of CPD; applying learning to practice; practical aspects of delivering CPD to Defence promoting a positive learning environment; human interaction is therapeutic. These were similar to educational and non-educational benefits found in previous evaluations, but with the added benefit of providing a professional educational network during the COVID pandemic. Benefits were preserved when the sessions were run remotely using video-conferencing, although some of the human interaction was lost. As CPD, it was highly valued. For Defence, who need to consider the CPD requirements of their workforce, provision of PBSGL alongside taught CPD updates may satisfy the learning needs of the majority of the workforce.

Utilization of Internet Resources by Surgeons for Continuous Professional Development in the Era of Prevailing COVID-19 Pandemic: Trends and Obstacles.

Background: To investigate the use of internet resources by surgeons for continuing professional development (CPD). Results: This cross-sectional study was carried out between July 1, 2021, to October 31, 2021, at the Department of Medicine, Health Sciences University Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, with participants from nine surgical specialties: General surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, urology, plastic surgery, ear-nose-throat surgery, cardiovascular surgery, ophthalmology, and anesthesiology. All study participants were asked to complete a questionnaire comprising 23 questions regarding their age, duration of work experience, appointment status, venue, and time spent on internet resources and preferred online resources for CPD purposes. In addition, participants were divided into two groups according to their appointment status: academic faculty and staff surgeons. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 17.0. The target population consisted of 216 specialists. The survey was completed by 204 (94.4%) surgical specialists. The majority of the specialists (n = 137, 67.2%) reported using the internet for work-related purposes every day. Daily time spent on internet resources was reported to be 30-60 min by 39.2% (n = 80) participants, whereas 52 (25.5%) reported spending less than 30 min. The participants wished to spend more time on internet resources. The majority of surgeons found the hospital and home equally effective in using the internet and preferred to engage alone. The mean age, English language level, usage of online resources, and the attitude score toward the perceived credibility and usefulness of e-resources were significantly higher in the academic faculty group than staff surgeons (p < 0.005). On the other hand, the use of Google/Google scholar was similar between the two groups (p = 0.192). Technical difficulties such as slow internet, need for website registration, and article fees were considered drawbacks for internet resources among all the participants. Conclusions: This study showed that most surgeons use internet resources daily for CPD and stated they would like to engage longer despite technical difficulties. Institutions should address these technical difficulties.

Reciprocal peer coaching for practice improvement in surgery: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Peer coaching has been associated with much higher rates of practice changes and new skill implementation compared to common used modalities but bilateral peer coaching structures where seniority is not a requirement to coach have not been studied. The purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a reciprocal peer coaching pilot program for practicing surgeons to inform future coaching program design. METHODS: A multicenter reciprocal peer surgical coaching program was designed according to the framework developed from previous studies by our group. The coach-coachee matching process was voluntary and autonomous. All participants received basic coaching skills training. Pairs were instructed to complete two coaching sessions, alternating between the coach or coachee role for each session. Data were collected through questionnaires and structured interviews. RESULTS: Twenty-two participants enrolled in the pilot study and completed the coach training (88% enrollment rate). During the first wave of COVID-19, 12 participants withdrew. Of the five pairs that completed the program, three pairs were composed of general surgeons, one of orthopedic surgeons, and one ophthalmologic surgeon. Three sessions were conducted live in the OR, five virtually, and one involved an in-person discussion. Overall satisfaction with the program was high and all participants expectations were met. Participants were significantly more likely to predict "routinely" asking for feedback from their partner after study completion (6, 66%) compared to pre-intervention (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: This pilot study supports the feasibility of a peer coaching model for surgeons in practice that emphasized reciprocity and participant autonomy. These key elements should be considered when designing future coaching programs.

RemoteForensicCSI: Enriching teaching, training and learning through networking and timely CPD.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about rapid, transformational change to pedagogic practice on a global scale. During this time, educators across all levels needed to significantly broaden and upskill their digital skills and competence to instantaneously turn face-2-face content into remote, online provision, particularly during periods of national lockdown. Whilst there was significant e-content available in some subject domains, there were limited e-resources available to those working within the criminal justice sector. The #RemoteForensicCSI network was established in attempts to fill this gap and support both practitioner and learner transition within further and higher education and industry. This article evaluates the value and impact that the #RemoteForensicCSI initiative had on the personal development of network participants, their peers and learners, whilst considering, reflecting on and recommending how remote delivery may influence the future of teaching, training and learning within education and the wider criminal justice sector.

An Overview of King Hussein Cancer Center Institutional Review Board Over 12 Years (2009-2020), Successes and Challenges, Including Those Imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The problem: Running an efficient institutional review board (IRB) can be challenging. The research subjects: To ensure an efficient committee, our IRB adopted several operational metrics. Methods: Analysis of retrospective data from the IRB records, database, and annual reports over 12 years. Results: The IRB roster comprises 11 members. The average medical to nonmedical member ratio is 5:6, and the male to female ratio is 4:7, which has not been consistent over the years. One thousand three hundred and twenty-four proposals were reviewed including 1077 exempt (81.3%), 126 expedited (9.5%), and 121 full board (9.2%) with a median turnaround time to approval of 4.0, 35.0, and 68.0 days, respectively. Training of the IRB members was conducted to enhance their knowledge and skills. IRB at King Hussein Cancer Center has managed to stay abreast and efficient during the COVID-19 pandemic, by working remotely. Conclusion: Running an efficient IRB mandates implementing a number of operational metrics.

Perfecting detection through education.

INTRODUCTION: Radiologists' image reading skills vary, such variations in image interpretations can influence the effectiveness of the early treatment of disease and may have important clinical and economic implications. In screening mammography, clinical audits are used to assess radiologists' performance annually, however, the nature of these audits prevent robust data analysis due to the low prevalence of breast cancer and the long waiting periods for the audit results. Research-based evidence revealed a need for changes in the methods utilised to optimise the assessment of the efficacy of radiologists' interpretations. METHODS: A cloud-based platform was developed to assess and enhance radiologists' performance help reduce variability in medical image interpretations in a research environment; however, to address a number of limitations, the platform was commercialised to make it available worldwide. RESULTS: DetectED-X's team have been able to make their cloud-based platform available worldwide, tailored to the needs of radiologists and accredited for continuing medical/professional education; thus, changing the continuous professional development practice globally. CONCLUSION: DetectED-X's Rivelato, was developed to address a need for effective, available and affordable educational solutions for clinicians and health care workers wherever they are located. A true fusion of industry, academia, clinics and consumer to adapt to the growing needs of clinicians' around the world, the latest being COVID-19 global pandemic. DetectED-X repurposed its platform to educate physicians around the world on the appearances of COVID-19 on Lung Computed Tomography scans, introducing CovED to clinicians worldwide free of charge as a multi-national consortium of collaboration to help fight COVID-19, showing how research-based evidence can create effective and scalable change globally.