Development, Implementation, Evaluation, and Long-Term Outcome of a Program to Increase Student Interest in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Training.

OBJECTIVES: The increasing need for anesthetists has been coupled with a rising number of open training positions. Thus, there is an increased need to attract future anesthetists among students and graduates from medical universities. Using results from a questionnaire, we designed an information and training program to increase interest in anesthesia and intensive care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With the use of semistructured interviews, medical students were questioned about factors influencing their decision for a speciality. We used the results to design an information and practice program for students and young doctors. This program was held 12 times at different anesthesia departments in different hospitals. Evaluation was obtained through a feedback questionnaire at the end of each sessions and with another questionnaire 2 to 4 years after the program. RESULTS: Feedback showed positive responses concerning utility for practical work, actuality, and relevance for daily practical work. There was a 22.7% response from participants for the follow-up questionnaire. Of these, 87% stated that interest in anesthesia was increased by the program, and 74% underwent practical training in an anesthesia department. Seventeen participants started a speciality training for anesthesia and intensive care medicine. CONCLUSIONS: The design of this practice-oriented program was effective in eliciting, spreading, and increasing interest and attracting students to a medical specialty.

Protective immunity against the gastrointestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis requires a broad T-cell receptor repertoire.

The parasitic gastrointestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis induces massive expansion of T helper type 2 (Th2) cells in the lung and small intestine. Th2 cells are a major source of interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, two cytokines that appear essential for rapid worm expulsion. It is unclear whether all Th2 cells induced during infection are pathogen-specific because Th2 cells might also be induced by parasite-derived superantigens or cytokine-mediated bystander activation. Bystander Th2 polarization could explain the largely unspecific B-cell response during primary infection. Furthermore, it is not known whether protective immunity depends on a polyclonal repertoire of T-cell receptor (TCR) specificities. To address these unresolved issues, we performed adoptive transfer experiments and analysed the TCR-Vß repertoire before and after infection of mice with the helminth N. brasiliensis. The results demonstrate that all Th2 cells were generated by antigen-specific rather than superantigen-driven or cytokine-driven activation. Furthermore, we show that worm expulsion was impaired in mice with a limited repertoire of TCR specificities, indicating that a polyclonal T-cell response is required for protective immunity.

Rat monoclonal antibodies specific for LST1 proteins.

The LST1 gene is located in the human MHC class III region and encodes transmembrane and soluble isoforms that have been suggested to play a role in the regulation of the immune response and are associated with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Here we describe the generation and characterization of the first monoclonal antibodies against LST1. Two hybridoma lines secreting monoclonal antibodies designated 7E2 and 8D12 were established. The 7E2 antibody detects recombinant and endogenous LST1 by Western blot analysis while 8D12 reacts with recombinant and endogenous LST1 in immunoprecipitation and flow cytometry procedures. The newly established antibodies were used to survey LST1 protein expression in human cell lines, which was found to be tightly regulated, allowing the expression of transmembrane isoforms but suppressing soluble isoforms.

The COPe program: communicational, organizational and personal factors influencing the transplant process and the number of donor reports.

In this article a supporting program for increasing donor rates is described. Beside medical knowledge and skills, communication and organisation as well as personal values and beliefs are determining factors for the success of every single step in the whole process of organ transplantation. Training for the sensibility in communication, developing concepts for the organization within the team and the work with personal attitudes and values, not only with skills and tools are necessary. In already evaluated sections of our program we markedly improved personal attitudes, self-management and stress resistance of the participants. We conclude that the holistic approach, which combines the three factors of COPe with the nine steps of the transplant process, is a promising attempt to improve the donor rates.