Integrating the Principles of Academic Freedom and Patient-Centered Care to Promote Tolerant Listening Skills in Health Care Providers.

ABSTRACT: Collaboration is a vital skill that needs to be developed in health professions students. Developing tolerance for differing viewpoints and valuing an understanding of others' lived experiences are instrumental skills in learning to provide patient-centered care. Fostering the expression of diverse viewpoints and working through uncomfortable and distressful situations are a part of the experience in acquiring these skills. It is the educator's duty to facilitate these encounters in a way that upholds the tenants of academic freedom and civility to create optimal educational outcomes. Doing so creates opportunities for transformative learning and the facilitation of higher cognitive development when compared with the avoidance of exposing students to divergent viewpoints. It is through freedom of discussion that one must teach students that ultimately the pursuit of truth, even when it may be unwelcome, disagreeable, or deeply offensive, greatly outweighs the discomfort the process of discovering it may bring.

Changing Course: Understanding the Legal Landscape of Race-Conscious Admission Practices and Implications to Diversity-Promoting Strategies in Higher Education.

ABSTRACT: The 2023 US Supreme Court holding in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, et al. has changed the landscape in higher education admissions processes by declaring affirmative action unlawful. It is imperative that those working in higher education admissions understand the ruling and implement contemporary best practices. Institutions of higher education who wish to promote student diversity are tasked with developing alternative strategies to affirmative action and must steer clear from using race as a determinant factor in admissions decisions. Aiming to identify diversity in individuals' lived experiences, focusing on recruitment efforts that organically lead to diverse applicants, adopting holistic, mission-driven admissions processes, and enhancing robust retention efforts may be effective means of fostering student diversity.

Assessing the Utility of Mental Health First Aid Training for Physician Assistant Students.

INTRODUCTION: Physician assistant (PA) students are at increased risk for anxiety and depression compared with the general population. The demands of studying medicine can contribute to a decline in mental health, which may impede a student's ability to progress in his or her PA program. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is one strategy that can be used to increase mental health literacy, promote help-seeking behavior, reduce stigma, and improve confidence in providing help to individuals showing signs of a mental health disorder. The aim of this outcomes assessment was to assess PA students' satisfaction with the MHFA course and their posttraining confidence in using the skills learned. METHODS: Participants were PA students (N = 435) across 9 PA programs in their didactic year of training who had completed an MHFA course through the PA Foundation's Mental Health Outreach Fellowship. MHFA postcourse evaluations, completed by the PA students, were analyzed to determine PA students' satisfaction with the course and their posttraining confidence in using the skills learned to help both themselves as well as the general population. RESULTS: The mean of the MHFA course evaluation items corresponding to satisfaction with the course was 4.82 (maximum score of 5), and the mean of the items corresponding to posttraining confidence in using the skills learned was 4.74 (maximum score of 5). When asked, "Would you recommend this course to others?" 99.3% of the PA students trained in MHFA answered "yes," indicating a high level of satisfaction with the training they had received. DISCUSSION: PA students who received MHFA training from the PA Foundation's Mental Health Outreach fellows showed high levels of satisfaction with the MHFA course and posttraining confidence in using the skills learned.

Distinguishing disruptive mood dysregulation disorder from pediatric bipolar disorder.

This article outlines diagnostic criteria and features of the newly established diagnosis disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), and discusses how this disorder differs from bipolar disorder in childhood. The chronic, severe, nonepisodic irritability seen in patients with DMDD contrasts with the characteristic episodic mood swing symptoms of bipolar disorder. Differentiating between the two diagnoses is important in regard to prognostic and treatment considerations, as children with DMDD are more likely to develop a mood disorder later in life rather than to develop classic bipolar disorder. Research is needed to establish clear treatment guidelines for DMDD.