Physician assistant students' perceived breastfeeding knowledge and counseling skills before and after web-based curriculum and lactation shadowing experience.

PURPOSE: This study assessed physician assistant (PA) students' self-perceived knowledge/counseling skills regarding breastfeeding before and after a newly implemented web-based curriculum and lactation consultant shadowing experiences. METHODS: The study included 37 students (100% response rate) at the principal investigator's institution, Baylor College of Medicine. A 19-item, Likert-scale electronic questionnaire was provided to students before and after participation in a new breastfeeding curriculum experience. Wilcoxon signed-rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for analysis. The curriculum consisted of seven self-paced, web-based modules concerning fundamental topics of breastfeeding, as well as a 3-hour lactation consultant shadowing experience. RESULTS: Significant improvement in self-perceived knowledge/counseling skills was noted, with an overall mean precurriculum score of 40.19, versus 76.59 for the postcurriculum score (statistically significant at z = -5.30, P < .05). Gender and age group score comparisons revealed no significant differences. CONCLUSION: Participation in the new curriculum and shadowing experience significantly increased PA students' levels of confidence concerning their breastfeeding knowledge/counseling skills. Because PAs significantly participate in one-on-one patient care, they should be educated on the topic of breastfeeding to better promote the well-being of both infants and their mothers.

Decoding the learning environment of medical education: a hidden curriculum perspective for faculty development.

Medical student literature has broadly established the importance of differentiating between formal-explicit and hidden-tacit dimensions of the physician education process. The hidden curriculum refers to cultural mores that are transmitted, but not openly acknowledged, through formal and informal educational endeavors. The authors extend the concept of the hidden curriculum from students to faculty, and in so doing, they frame the acquisition by faculty of knowledge, skills, and values as a more global process of identity formation. This process includes a subset of formal, formative activities labeled "faculty development programs" that target specific faculty skills such as teaching effectiveness or leadership; however, it also includes informal, tacit messages that faculty absorb. As faculty members are socialized into faculty life, they often encounter conflicting messages about their role. In this article, the authors examine how faculty development programs have functioned as a source of conflict, and they ask how these programs might be retooled to assist faculty in understanding the tacit institutional culture shaping effective socialization and in managing the inconsistencies that so often dominate faculty life.

Self-assessment of cancer competencies and physician assistant cancer education: instrument development and baseline testing.

PURPOSE: Although the benefits of primary and secondary prevention of cancer are well recognized among health care providers, insufficient knowledge or skill often leads to inadequate assessment and management, particularly in the primary care setting. The scant literature on physician assistant (PA) cancer-related competencies suggests that PAs may not be well-prepared in this arena. Thus, curriculum reform in PA education is paramount for improving PAs' abilities to provide cancer risk assessment and management services. The Physician Assistant Cancer Education (PACE) project was designed for such a purpose. Following instrument development, baseline measurement of perceived abilities for cancer-related core competencies was assessed in a representative cohort of PA students. METHODS: Literature search strategies, expert review, and a nationwide survey of PA program directors yielded the 26-item Competencies in Cancer Assessment and Management (C-CAM) instrument. Baseline self-efficacy data were gathered from students across eight PACE-affiliated PA programs. Statistical analysis focused upon instrument quality and comparisons of reported self-efficacy among respondent cohorts. RESULTS: Data were collected from 544 PA students. Overall instrument reliability was excellent (Chronbach's alpha 0.97). Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors explaining 72.83% of response variance. Mean values varied somewhat across institutional cohorts. Clinical students demonstrated higher self-efficacy than preclinical students. CONCLUSIONS: The C-CAM is an effective instrument to assess PA student self-efficacy in cancer prevention, risk assessment, and risk management competencies. Although a trend toward higher self-efficacy was observed among clinical students, further research is required to assess the extent to which reported self-efficacy may be expected to change over time.

Development and implementation of a health behavioral counseling curriculum for physician assistant cancer education.

A health behavioral counseling curriculum grounded in Motivational Interviewing and the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change was developed to enhance knowledge and clinical skill among physician assistant (PA) students in managing cancer risk behaviors. A literature and curriculum review informed course content, teaching strategies, and learning activities. The course was evaluated over two pilot years. Students demonstrated increased knowledge and skills regarding the basic principles of the intervention models. The course was integrated into the pre-clinical year of PA training and will be disseminated, beginning with a faculty development workshop for all PA training programs in Texas, USA.

The role and education of the veterinary pharmacist.

OBJECTIVE: To define the role and education of the traditional pharmacist who supports the needs of the veterinarian (hereafter referred to as veterinary pharmacist) and a pharmacist who practices solely in veterinary pharmacy (here after referred to as veterinary pharmacy specialist). METHODS: The Delphi technique involving 7 panels of 143 experts was employed to reach consensus on the definition of the roles and education of the veterinary pharmacist and veterinary pharmacy specialist. RESULTS: The veterinary pharmacy specialist's role included dispensing medications, complying with regulations, advocating for quality therapeutic practices, and providing consultative services, research, and education. The perceived role of the veterinary pharmacist was viewed as being somewhat narrower. Compared to veterinary pharmacists, a more in-depth education in veterinary medicine was viewed as essential to the role development of veterinary pharmacy specialists. CONCLUSIONS: The authors hope their research will promote widespread awareness of the emerging field of veterinary pharmacy and encourage schools to offer increased access to clinically relevant professional training programs.

Educating physician assistants as agents in cancer control: issues and opportunities.

BACKGROUND: Lifestyle factors (eg, smoking, diet) and compliance with screening recommendations play a role in cancer risk, and emerging technologies (eg, new vaccines, genetic testing) hold promise for improved risk management. METHODS: However, optimal outcomes from cancer control efforts require better preparation of health professionals in risk assessment, risk communication, and implementing health behavioral change strategies that are vitally important to cancer control. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Although physician assistants (PAs) are substantively engaged in cancer-related service delivery in primary care settings, few models exist to facilitate integration of cancer control learning experiences into the curricula used in intense, fast-paced, 24- to 30-month PA training programs.