ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The Brazilian public health system requires competent professionals sensitive to the needs of the population. The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) provides a two-year faculty development programme for health professions educators, aiming to build leadership in education to improve health. A partnership with governmental initiatives and FAIMER was established for meeting these needs. This paper describes the initial process evaluation results of the Brazilian FAIMER Institute Fellowship (FAIMER BR). METHODS: Data were analysed for the classes 2007-2010 regarding: application processes; innovation project themes; retrospective post-pre self-ratings of knowledge acquisition; and professional development portfolios. RESULTS: Seventeen of 26 Brazilian states were represented among 98 Fellows, predominantly from public medical schools (75.5%) and schools awarded Ministry of Health grants to align education with public health services (89.8%). One-third (n = 32) of Fellows' innovation projects were related to these grants. Significant increases occurred in all topic subscales on self-report of knowledge acquisition (effect sizes, 1.21-2.77). In the follow up questionnaire, 63% of Fellows reported that their projects were incorporated into the curriculum or institutional policies. The majority reported that the programme deepened their knowledge (98%), provided new ideas about medical education (90%) and provided skills for conflict management (63%). One-half of the Fellows reported sustained benefits from the programme listserv and other communications, including breadth of expertise, establishment of research collaboration and receiving emotional support. CONCLUSION: Contributors to initial programme success included alignment of curriculum with governmental initiatives, curriculum design merging educational technology, leadership and management skills and central role of an innovation educational project responding to local needs.
Subject(s)
Academies and Institutes/organization & administration , Education, Medical/organization & administration , International Cooperation , Brazil , Curriculum/standards , Educational Measurement , Fellowships and Scholarships/organization & administration , Health Services Needs and Demand , Humans , Leadership , Program Evaluation , United StatesABSTRACT
This study describes a simple radial immunohemolysis method for determining the hemolytic activity of the second component of complement (C2) in human serum. The assay is based on the recovery of hemolytic activity of normal serum which has been pretreated to anactivate endogenous C2 and thenmixed with test serum containing an unknown amount of C2. The pretreated serum, designated R2 reagent, is obtained by heating normal human sera under carefully standardized conditions of temperature, time, volume and type of test tube. R2 reagent is incorporated into agarose together with hemolysin-sensitized erythrocytes, and spread om a plate. The test serum is placed in wells cut in the agarose and, after appropriate incubation, the diameters of the hemolytic areas are measuremed.The area of hemolysis is directly proportional to the logarithm of the serum concentration.As a standard for C2 functional activity, dilutions of a pool of normal sera are tested on the same plate. The method is specific for C2 and can deted as little as 20% of the C2 in normal serum (abouth 6 *g C2 protein/ml). The error in reproducibility is about 3% of the mean.in normal serum, the lower confidence limit of the distribution of the C2 values (based on a sample of 80 individuals) corresponded to 70 % of undiluited serum. This method is sultable for use in clinical laboratories since it is simple, rapid quantitative ans inexpensive, and does not require special equipement
Subject(s)
Humans , Adolescent , Adult , Middle Aged , Male , Female , Complement C2/physiology , Complement Hemolytic Activity Assay , Hemolysis , Analysis of Variance , Complement Pathway, Classical , Hot Temperature , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Basic rules establish that the total serum complement determination (CH50) should be done after quick serum separation at 4 degrees Celsius. When there is a long period between blood sample collection and laboratory tests, the results may not be exact, with findings being below normal level due to thermolability and dysfunction of some of the components. Sera from 15 normal individuals and 15 patients with Systemic Erithematous Lupus (SEL) were studied. CH50 determinations were performed by the radial immunohemolysis technique according to the above basic rules and compared to determinations performed after 4, 8, 12 and 24 h in sera maintained at room temperature and after 24 h in those maintained at 4 degrees Celsius. Five samples (2 controls and 3 lupoid) were stored at -2O degrees Celsius and -7O degrees Celsius. CH50 determinations were performed weekly in sera kept at -2O degrees Celsius and after l month in those stored at -7O degrees Celsius. Analysis of the results suggest that, if blood samples are kept at room temperature and the determination is performed within about 8 h, the results are still reliable, that is, they will be within normal levels. The same will happen if the sera are stored at -2O degrees Celsius or -7O degrees Celsius for up to l month.
