A sensorised surgical glove to improve training and detection of obstetric anal sphincter injury: A preclinical study on a pig model.

OBJECTIVE: To create a sensorised surgical glove that can accurately identify obstetric anal sphincter injury to facilitate timely repair, reduce complications and aid training. DESIGN: Proof-of-concept. SETTING: Laboratory. SAMPLE: Pig models. METHODS: Flexible triboelectric pressure/force sensors were mounted onto the fingertips of a routine surgical glove. The sensors produce a current when rubbed on materials of different characteristics which can be analysed. A per rectum examination was performed on the intact sphincter of pig cadavers, analogous to routine examination for obstetric anal sphincter injuries postpartum. An anal sphincter defect was created by cutting through the vaginal mucosa and into the external anal sphincter using a scalpel. The sphincter was then re-examined. Data and signals were interpreted. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sensitivity and specificity of the glove in detecting anal sphincter injury. RESULTS: In all, 200 examinations were performed. The sensors detected anal sphincter injuries in a pig model with sensitivities between 98% and 100% and a specificity of 100%. The current produced when examining an intact sphincter and sphincter with a defect was significantly different (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In this preliminary study, the sensorised glove accurately detected anal sphincter injury in a pig model. Future plans include its clinical translation, starting with an in-human study on postpartum women, to determine whether it can accurately detect different types of obstetric anal sphincter injury in vivo.

Exploring UK medical school differences: the MedDifs study of selection, teaching, student and F1 perceptions, postgraduate outcomes and fitness to practise.

BACKGROUND: Medical schools differ, particularly in their teaching, but it is unclear whether such differences matter, although influential claims are often made. The Medical School Differences (MedDifs) study brings together a wide range of measures of UK medical schools, including postgraduate performance, fitness to practise issues, specialty choice, preparedness, satisfaction, teaching styles, entry criteria and institutional factors. METHOD: Aggregated data were collected for 50 measures across 29 UK medical schools. Data include institutional history (e.g. rate of production of hospital and GP specialists in the past), curricular influences (e.g. PBL schools, spend per student, staff-student ratio), selection measures (e.g. entry grades), teaching and assessment (e.g. traditional vs PBL, specialty teaching, self-regulated learning), student satisfaction, Foundation selection scores, Foundation satisfaction, postgraduate examination performance and fitness to practise (postgraduate progression, GMC sanctions). Six specialties (General Practice, Psychiatry, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery) were examined in more detail. RESULTS: Medical school differences are stable across time (median alpha = 0.835). The 50 measures were highly correlated, 395 (32.2%) of 1225 correlations being significant with p < 0.05, and 201 (16.4%) reached a Tukey-adjusted criterion of p < 0.0025. Problem-based learning (PBL) schools differ on many measures, including lower performance on postgraduate assessments. While these are in part explained by lower entry grades, a surprising finding is that schools such as PBL schools which reported greater student satisfaction with feedback also showed lower performance at postgraduate examinations. More medical school teaching of psychiatry, surgery and anaesthetics did not result in more specialist trainees. Schools that taught more general practice did have more graduates entering GP training, but those graduates performed less well in MRCGP examinations, the negative correlation resulting from numbers of GP trainees and exam outcomes being affected both by non-traditional teaching and by greater historical production of GPs. Postgraduate exam outcomes were also higher in schools with more self-regulated learning, but lower in larger medical schools. A path model for 29 measures found a complex causal nexus, most measures causing or being caused by other measures. Postgraduate exam performance was influenced by earlier attainment, at entry to Foundation and entry to medical school (the so-called academic backbone), and by self-regulated learning. Foundation measures of satisfaction, including preparedness, had no subsequent influence on outcomes. Fitness to practise issues were more frequent in schools producing more male graduates and more GPs. CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools differ in large numbers of ways that are causally interconnected. Differences between schools in postgraduate examination performance, training problems and GMC sanctions have important implications for the quality of patient care and patient safety.

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning.

BACKGROUND: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). METHOD: The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. RESULTS: A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. DISCUSSION: UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training.

Not Just a Medical Student: Delivering Medical Education Through a Short Video Series on Social Media.

"Not Just a Medical Student" is an innovative bite-size medical education video series founded and hosted on social media. Its primary aim is to inspire tomorrow's doctors to be creative while engaging and informing them with the latest innovations, technology, and conferences within various specialties. To our knowledge, these themes are scarcely covered in the structured medical curriculum. Created and launched in August 2017, "Not Just a Medical Student" quickly gained traction; with over 1000 followers on Facebook and a rapidly increasing number of views, it reached the medical community across the globe. The video series features a trailblazer in virtual reality surgery and its potential impact on the evolution of medical education, reviewing future medical technology apps, such as Touch Surgery, and reporting on the latest medical education and health apps. The series engaged in topical medico-politics at the British Medical Association House and reported on global health issues and innovations at the Royal Society of Medicine Conference. The video series has further received several national awards including the Association and Study of Medical Education (ASME) Educator Innovator 2017 award, runner up to the Zeshan Qureshi Outstanding Contribution to Medical Education Award, and the Alternative Docs National Social Media Influencer award. The concept has been presented at international conferences (eg, the Healthcare Leadership Academy conference) and gained international recognition upon personal invitation at the Norwegian Annual Junior Doctors Conference. With the rise of the social media generation, innovative methods to inspire, engage, and inform students contributing to the continuous evolution of medical education should be encouraged and further explored.

A qualitative study to identify parents' perceptions of and barriers to asthma management in children from South Asian and White British families.

BACKGROUND: Over one million children receive treatment for asthma in the UK. South Asian children experience excess morbidity and higher rates of hospitalization than the White population. This study aimed to explore perceptions and experiences of asthma and asthma management in British South Asian and White British families, to identify barriers to optimal management and to inform culturally appropriate interventions to improve management. METHODS: A qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews was adopted. Members of 30 families from six major South Asian ethnic-religious groups were purposively sampled (n = 49). For comparison, 17 White British parents were interviewed. Topics included understandings of asthma; day-to-day management; interactions with health care providers and the perceived quality of healthcare services. Data were analyzed using interpretive thematic analysis, facilitated by NVivo. Similarities and differences between South Asian and White families were analysed across key themes. RESULTS: Many of the problems facing families of a child with asthma were common to South Asian and White British families. Both had limited understanding of asthma causes and triggers and expressed confusion about the use of medications. Both groups reported delays in receiving a clear diagnosis and many experienced what was perceived as uncoordinated care and inconsistent advice from health professionals. No family had received an asthma plan. South Asian families had more difficulty in recognising severity of symptoms and those with limited English faced additional barriers to receiving adequate information and advice about management due to poor communication support systems. South Asian parents reported higher levels of involvement of wider family and higher levels of stigma. Attendance at the emergency department was related to previous experience, difficulties in accessing primary care, lack of knowledge of alternatives and difficulties in assessing severity. CONCLUSIONS: Barriers to optimal asthma management exist at the individual family, community and healthcare systems levels. Culturally sensitive, holistic and collaboratively designed interventions are needed. Improved communication support for families with lower proficiency in English is required. Healthcare professionals need to ensure that families receive an asthma plan and make greater efforts to check families' understandings of asthma triggers, use of medications, assessment of asthma severity and accessing help.