Mechanically Cloaked Multiphase Magnetic Elastomer Soft Composites for Wearable Wireless Power Transfer.

Wearable electronics allow for new and immersive experiences between technology and the human body, but conventional devices are made from rigid functional components that lack the necessary compliance to safely interact with human tissue. Recently, liquid inclusions have been incorporated into elastomer composites to produce functional materials with high extensibility and ultrasoft mechanical responses. While these materials have shown high thermal and electrical conductivity, there has been an absence of research into compliant magnetic materials through the incorporation of magnetic fluids. Compliant magnetic materials are important for applications in soft matter engineering including sensing, actuation, and power transfer for soft electronics and robotics. In this work, we establish a new class of highly functional soft materials with advanced magnetic and mechanical properties by dispersing magnetic colloidal suspensions as compliant fluid inclusions into soft elastomers. Significantly, the rigid magnetic particles are encapsulated by the fluid. This mechanically cloaks the solid particles and enables a fluid-like mechanical response while imparting high magnetic permeability to the composite. This microstructure reduces the modulus of the composite below that of the initial elastomer to <40 kPa while increasing the permeability by over 100% to greater than 2. We demonstrate the functionality of these materials through conformable magnetic backplanes, which enables a completely soft, coupled inductor system capable of transferring power up to 100% strain and wearable devices for wireless power transfer.

Student preparedness characteristics important for clinical learning: perspectives of supervisors from medicine, pharmacy and nursing.

BACKGROUND: Student perspectives of clinical preparedness have been studied in the literature, but the viewpoint of supervisors is limited. Hence, the aim was to examine the perspective of supervisors on the characteristics of health professional students important for preparedness for clinical learning. METHODS: This was a descriptive, questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study conducted at three higher education institutions in Malaysia. A previously published questionnaire with 62 characteristics was adopted with modifications after pre-testing. Descriptive analysis was completed for the demographic data. The sample was grouped based on health profession, clinical practice experience and teaching experience for further analysis. Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was selected to evaluate differences in mean ranks to assess the null hypothesis that the medians are equal across the groups. Kruskal-Wallis post-hoc pair wise comparison was performed on samples with significant differences across samples. RESULTS: The sample was comprised of 173 supervisors from medicine (55, 32%), pharmacy (84, 48%) and nursing (34, 20%). The majority (63%) of the supervisors were currently in professional practice. A high percentage (40%) of supervisors had less than 4 years of teaching experience. The highest theme ratings were for willingness (6.00) and professionalism (5.90). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the medians, among medicine, pharmacy and nursing professional speciality for willingness (5.70, 6.00 and 6.00), professionalism (5.70, 5.90 and 6.15), communication and interaction (5.42, 5.67 and 6.00), personal attributes (5.42, 5.71 and 6.02) and the professional and interpersonal skills (5.50, 5.63 and 6.00) themes. Post-hoc analysis showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between medicine and nursing groups in the willingness (5.70 and 6.00), professionalism (5.70 and 6.15) and personal attributes (5.42 and 6.02) themes. Supervisors who are currently in practice had given high ratings compared to other groups. There were no significant differences observed within groups with different level of teaching experiences. CONCLUSIONS: All supervisors rated professionalism and willingness as the most important characteristics followed by personal attributes. Further strengthening learning opportunities related to these characteristics in the curriculum may improve the students' preparedness in clinical learning.

Becoming a peer reviewer to medical education journals.

BACKGROUND: Peer reviewing for medical education journals is an art, a privilege, a responsibility and a service to the profession. Writing a review report requires skills and commitment and takes time. Novice reviewers may be interested in participating in this service, but they might lack sufficient knowledge of their role as peer reviewers and the skills needed to conduct a comprehensive and fair review. AIMS: The aims of this article are to help novice reviewers in their preparation of manuscript review reports and improve their confidence and skills in their role as reviewers. METHODS: We reviewed the literature in this area and applied lessons learned from our experience as peer reviewers. In addition, one of the authors has presented several training workshops for faculty reviewers. RESULTS: Incorporating all the methods described, we have developed a series of simple strategies that medical educators can utilise to perform high-quality reviews of manuscripts. CONCLUSIONS: Though the development of skills in reviewing medical education papers is the outcome of continuous practice and experience; the strategies described in this article will be of value to those starting their professional contribution as reviewers and enhance their skills in this area.

Twelve tips for constructing problem-based learning cases.

BACKGROUND: One of the key elements for introducing a problem-based learning (PBL) programme is constructing good PBL cases. Good cases should reflect the educational principles of PBL including (a) integration of basic and clinical sciences together with professionalism and psychosocial components, (b) encouragement of discussion of cognitive domains such as identification of problems, generation of hypotheses, construction of an enquiry plan, weighing evidence for and against each hypothesis, interpretation of findings, construction of mechanisms, using evidence to refine the hypothesis and construction of a management plan, (c) encouragement of discussion of cases in small groups with an emphasis on student-centred learning, (d) promotion of collaborative learning and contribution of students to the case discussion and (e) encouragement of teamwork and self-directed learning strategies. AIMS AND METHODS: Despite the importance of construction of good PBL cases to the success of a PBL programme, the art of construction of these cases is understudied or described in the literature. Based on our experience in PBL and evidence from literature, we described 12 tips for constructing good PBL cases. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Constructing good PBL cases is an art that necessitates teamwork and input from several different disciplines. Cases should be constructed using a template reflecting the educational objectives of the programme. This approach will ensure optimum learning outcomes and consistency in the design and delivery of cases.

Students generating questions for their own written examinations.

Assessment partnerships between staff and students are considered a vital component of the student-centred educational process. To enhance the development of this partnership in a problem-based learning curriculum, all first-year students were involved in generating a bank of formative assessment questions with answers, some of which were included in their final written examination. Important principles to guide development of a sound methodology for such an assessment partnership have been described. These include organisational issues as well as matters pertaining to participation, education and motivation of students and teaching staff.

Distress levels and self-reported treatment rates for medicine, law, psychology and mechanical engineering tertiary students: cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to assess tertiary student distress levels with regards to (i) comparisons with normative population data, and (ii) the effects of discipline, year level, and student characteristics. Self-reported treatment rates and level of concern regarding perceived distress were also collected. METHOD: Students from all six years of an undergraduate medical course were compared with samples from Psychology, Law and Mechanical Engineering courses at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Students participated in one of three studies that were either web-based or paper-based. All studies included Kessler's Measure of Psychological Distress (K10), and questions pertaining to treatment for any mental health problems and concern regarding distress experienced. RESULTS: Of the 955 tertiary students who completed the K10, 48% were psychologically distressed (a K10 score > or = 22) which equated to a rate 4.4 times that of age-matched peers. The non-health disciplines were significantly more distressed than the health disciplines. Distress levels were statistically equivalent across all six years of the medical degree. Of tertiary students, 11% had been treated for a mental health problem. Levels of concern correlated with the K10 score. CONCLUSION: The results from this research suggest that high distress levels among the tertiary student body may be a phenomenon more widely spread than first thought. Low treatment rates suggest that traditional models of support may be inadequate or not appropriate for tertiary cohorts.

Using a structured clinical coaching program to improve clinical skills training and assessment, as well as teachers' and students' satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION: The ability to deliver the traditional apprenticeship method of teaching clinical skills is becoming increasingly more difficult as a result of greater demands in health care delivery, increasing student numbers and changing medical curricula. Serious consequences globally include: students not covering all elements of clinical skills curricula; insufficient opportunity to practise clinical skills; and increasing reports of graduates' incompetence in some clinical skills. METHODS: A systematic Structured Clinical Coaching Program (SCCP) for a large cohort of Year 1 students was developed, providing explicit learning objectives for both students and paid generalist clinical tutors. It incorporated ongoing multi-source formative assessment and was evaluated using a case-study methodology, a control-group design, and comparison of formative assessment scores with summative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) scores. RESULTS: Students demonstrated a higher level of competence and confidence, and the formative assessment scores correlated with the Research students' summative OSCE scores. SCCP tutors reported greater satisfaction and confidence through knowing what they were meant to teach. At-risk students were identified early and remediated. DISCUSSION: The SCCP ensures consistent quality in the teaching and assessment of all relevant clinical skills of all students, despite large numbers. It improves student and teacher confidence and satisfaction, ensures clinical skills competence, and could replace costly OSCEs.

Clinical location and student learning: outcomes from the LCAP program in Queensland, Australia.

BACKGROUND: Three students in the 3rd year of a graduate entry medical program self-selected to participate in a 1-year clinical placement, each with a rural general practitioner in central western Queensland, Australia. DESCRIPTION: Students completed 32 weeks in a rural generalist community immersion medical program and were compared with matched students who completed their year in urban tertiary hospitals. Evaluations included teaching and learning opportunities, assessment of clinical competencies, and semistructured interviews. Views of preceptors, spouses, and community were also evaluated. EVALUATION: All outcome measures were positive and many were greater for the rural immersion students than for the matched urban group. Students were able to achieve the requirements of their medical program in a nontraditional placement. Views of preceptors indicated satisfaction with long-term medical student placements including enjoyment, negligible time or financial impact, and beneficial professional and collegial support. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term immersion placements benefited student learning and had a favorable impact on the preceptors.

The assessment of student reasoning in the context of a clinically oriented PBL program.

BACKGROUND: Doctors' clinical reasoning ability significantly impacts upon their level of clinical competence. Throughout medical training students are given the opportunity to develop their reasoning ability in order to become appropriately clinically competent by graduation. AIM: To develop an instrument to assess students' reasoning ability on a written case-based question which was aligned to their learning in a PBL program. METHOD: An instrument with 10 criteria centred upon hypothesis generation, learning issues and mechanistic explanations was developed. Experienced clinical and medical educators validated the instrument, prior to its use with 145 undergraduate first-year medical students. RESULTS: The results enabled the establishment of the strengths and weaknesses in the reasoning performances of individuals, as well as the overall cohort. The instrument's Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.94, and it had high inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Further validation of the instrument's performance was established through qualitative evidence derived from student interviews and tutor reports for this cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Aligning written assessment to the PBL process enables students and teachers to better understand how the reasoning process is developing for individuals and a cohort, and provides a basis for further investigation into the development of student clinical reasoning.

The student voice: recognising the hidden and informal curriculum in medicine.

BACKGROUND: While there has been broad-based recognition of the concepts of both the informal and the hidden curriculum, these elements have been poorly described in the medical education literature from the student perspective. METHODS: The Student Voice study used focus groups to explore student views of the informal and hidden curriculum, to establish the importance of this curriculum for the students, and to identify how students perceive the role of this curriculum in aiding their learning in medical school. RESULTS: Students recognised that the informal curriculum existed to a greater degree in Medicine than in other degree programs, and that it revolved around the processes of 'being' a doctor. CONCLUSION: The students' concepts of the informal curriculum highlighted a tension between the importance of the informal curriculum in focusing their learning on what was important to know for assessment, and the extremely valuable components of the informal curriculum that remained predominantly unassessed.