'A roller coaster of emotions': a phenomenological study on medical students lived experiences of emotions in complex simulation.

BACKGROUND: Simulation-based education can induce intense learner emotions. The interplay between emotions and learning is less well understood. Gaining greater insights into learner emotions has potential to guide how best we manage emotions and optimise learning. This study aimed to understand learners' lived emotional experiences in complex simulation and the perceived impact on learning. METHODS: Eight final-year medical students participated in the study. Wearing video-glasses, participants took part in a ward-based simulation. Video-footage was used to elicitate exploratory interviews and analysed using Template Analysis reflexively. RESULTS: Analysis yielded four main themes: 'nervous anticipation': encapsulating the fear, anxiety and uncertainty experienced by learners prior to simulation; 'shock and awe': feelings of anxiousness and being overwhelmed at the start of a simulation; 'in the moment: flowing or buffeting with the emotions': experiencing fear of being judged as incompetent, but also experiencing positive emotions such as satisfaction; 'safe-landing?': whilst debriefing aimed to encourage more positive emotions, negative emotions about the simulation could persist even with debriefing. CONCLUSIONS: Complex simulation can evoke intense emotions in students. If students experienced a positive progression, they reported positive emotions and felt competent which was perceived to have a positive impact on learning. If students experienced failure, they reported strong negative emotions which made them question about their future performance and was perceived as negative for learning. Bringing to the surface these complex emotional dynamics, could permit educators to be aware of and adapt the emotional climate within simulation in order to optimise learning.

Exploring undergraduate students achievement emotions during ward round simulation: a mixed-method study.

BACKGROUND: Simulation based learning (SBL) has increased in its use to best equip students for clinical practice. Simulations that mirror the complex realities of clinical practice have the potential to induce a range of emotions, without a clear understanding of their impact on learning and the learner. Students' emotional states have important effects on their learning process that can be either positive or negative, and are often difficult to predict. We aimed to determine: (1) To what extent achievement emotions are experienced by medical students during a complex simulation based learning activity, i.e. a ward round simulation (WRS). (2) What their performance scores are and too which extent performance scores do correlate with emotions and 3) how these emotions are perceived to impact learning. METHODS: A mixed methods approach was used in this study. Using an Achievement Emotion Questionnaire, we explored undergraduate medical student's emotions as they participated in a complex ward round-based simulation. Their performance was rated using an observational ward round assessment tool and correlated with emotions scores. Six focus groups were conducted to provide a deeper understanding of their emotional and learning experiences. RESULTS: Students experienced a range of emotions during the simulation, they felt proud, enjoyed the simulation and performed well. Students felt proud because they could show in the complex simulation what they had learned so far. Students reported moderate levels of anxiety and low levels of frustration and shame. We found non-significant correlations between achievement emotions and performance during ward round simulation. CONCLUSIONS: Placing undergraduate students in high complex simulations that they can handle raises positive academic achievement emotions which seem to support students' learning and motivation.

Ward round simulation in final year medical students: Does it promote students learning?

INTRODUCTION: Ward round skills are essential for doctors in hospital settings. Literature shows medical students' deficiencies in these skills. Simulation has been used to train these skills. However, exposing learners to simulation at an early stage may be associated with a high cognitive load and limited learning. This study aims to determine how students experience this load and its interplay with performance and which factors promote and impair learning. METHODS: Fifty-six final year medical students participated in a simulated ward round training exercise. Both students' performance and cognitive load were measured to determine if there was any correlation and interviews were carried out to understand which factors support and impair learning. RESULTS: Performance scores revealed deficiencies in ward round skills. Students experienced a cognitive load that weakly correlated with performance. Qualitative findings provided important insights into simulated ward-based learning. It is clear that well-designed clinical scenarios, prioritization tasks, teamwork and feedback support students' learning process whereas distractions impair learning. CONCLUSIONS: WRS proved to be a good teaching method to improve clinical skills at this stage as the cognitive load is not too high to impair learning. Hence, including tasks in the simulation design can enhance the learning process.

[A standardized objective structured clinical examination to assess clinical competencies in medical students]. / Diseño e implementación de OSCE para evaluar competencias de egreso en estudiantes de medicina en un consorcio de universidades chilenas.

BACKGROUND: Outcomes-based education is a trend in medical education and its assessment is one of the main challenges. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is one of the tools used to assess clinical competencies. Although Chilean medical schools have used OSCEs for 18 years, there is a vast variability in the way these examinations are administered. AIM: To design and implement an integrated OSCE to assess clinical competencies at the end of the medical program in Chilean medical schools, aiming to reduce variability between these schools. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seven medical schools, supported by experts from the National Board of Medical Examiners, designed a 12 station OSCE to measure clinical outcomes at the end of the seventh year of medical training. Unlike traditional OSCEs, this new examination incorporated the assessment of clinical reasoning and communication skills, evaluated from patients' perspective. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-five volunteers took the same exam at five different venues. The internal consistency was 0.62. Following a compensatory approach, 85% of students passed the exam. Communication assessment showed poorer results than those reported in the literature. CONCLUSIONS: Among Chilean medical students, the assessment of clinical outcomes in a collaborative way, through a valid and reliable exam, is feasible. A consensus on how to teach and assess clinical reasoning across the medical curriculum is required. The assessment of students' communication skills requires further development.

Evaluation of the transcription level of the protein disulfide isomerase in different stages from Ancylostoma caninum with a real-time PCR assay.

The protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a ubiquitous protein, which contributes in building disulfide bridges. In the work presented here, the expression of the PDI in different stages of the canine hookworm Ancylostoma caninum was investigated. Third-stage larvae (L3), adults, as well as serum-stimulated and hypobiotic L3 were used. For quantification of the PDI gene transcription, a real-time PCR was used establishing a hybridization probe (TaqMantrade mark probes) for detection of PDI copy numbers in different populations. 18S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) was used as a housekeeping gene for normalization. The results show differences in the transcription level of the investigated A. caninum populations: The serum-stimulated larvae representing the switch to parasitism showed the highest PDI expression. The hypobiotic larvae representing a resting stage showed the lowest expression level. Male adults showed an elevated expression compared to female adult worms. The L3 expression level was just below the serum-stimulated population. This work confirms the upregulated gene expression of PDI during host penetration and invasion.

The effect of betamethasone administration on uterine motility in pregnancy. A prospective study using four-channel tocography.

We monitored 30 patients before and after betamethasone prophylaxis using four-channel tocography to evaluate if betamethasone therapy in the case of imminent preterm delivery increases uterine activity. Frequency of contractions slightly increased but global uterine activity decreased. We conclude that the changed contraction pattern did not impair the benefits of RDS prophylaxis.