Call to Publish in an Undergraduate Medical Course: Dissemination of the Final-Year Research Project

Problem: Today's medical doctors must not only have the clinical skills to treat patients effectively but also keep current with new advances in medicine and critically analyze evidence to choose the best treatments and explain the risks and benefits of different options. In this article, we aim to share the approach taken at a Portuguese medical school to promote a close connection between research and learning. Intervention: In a blended-learning approach, students studied research and scientific methods and undertook one of three faculty-supervised research and dissemination projects. To support immediate application of new research knowledge, students were offered optional short lectures and problem sets. All course information was featured on a website that also supported a discussion forum. We analyzed 1,350 theses leading to the medical degree, defended in six consecutive academic years (2007–2013). Our aim was to estimate the publication rates and factors associated with publication of the final-year undergraduate research projects. Context: The present research curriculum was developed at the University of Porto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Bologna process curriculum implemented in the 2007–2008 academic year. From May to June 2014 we looked for corresponding articles published over the period of September 2007 to April 2014. We searched PubMed, Scielo, Scopus, and IndexRMP databases to locate publications resulting from student theses. Outcomes: Over 6 years, the diffusion of knowledge produced by medical students, who engaged in clinical practice concurrently with research projects, was fairly low (10.4%). Program modifications that increased student accountability and engagement allowed for an increased rate of publication from 1.0% to 23.9%. Factors associated with publication were research area, publication as a performance assessment criterion, and publication language. Lessons Learned: The results of this study suggest that it is helpful to provide research opportunities that allow aspiring future medical doctors to begin their research careers. Further research is needed to understand difficulties students and supervisors face in project development and to achieve greater balance in topic coverage among projects and, consequently, in departmental involvement in the program.     

Evaluation of doctoral nursing programs by doctoral students in Japan: Cross‐sectional questionnaire survey

Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the current state and issues of doctoral nursing programs from the perspective of recipients of the educational process. Methods: All 46 doctoral nursing programs in Japan in 2008 were asked to participate in this study and 28 programs agreed to participate. The questionnaire had 3 sections that evaluated the quality of doctoral education, which are 17 items on the program features, 12 items on the quality of faculty, and 9 items on resources. Results: The questionnaire was distributed to 304 graduate students and 127 students returned by mail. Most of the students agreed that the program goal and curriculum were consistent with the philosophy and mission of the university. The quality of the faculty and of the resources, such as library and computing facilities, were highly rated, while faculty mentorship and support staff for student research were viewed as areas for improvement. Only 30% of the students reported that a periodic assessment of the doctoral program was available in the university, and even when such an assessment did exist, students and graduates were not often involved in the program evaluation. Conclusions: To improve the quality of doctoral nursing education in Japan, there is an urgent need for faculty development and the provision of research support services for faculty and students including more technical and support staff. Furthermore, it is imperative to conduct periodic evaluation of doctoral nursing programs in Japan.     

Integration of Palliative Care Into a Nurse Practitioner DNP Program

The purpose of this educational project was to integrate end-of-life and palliative care into a nurse practitioner‒doctor of nursing practice course through didactic education and clinical immersion. The innovative and memorable clinical immersion in palliative care was highly rated by the majority of the students, with all students commenting on being positively impacted by observation of the family meeting. Effectiveness of the didactic and clinical immersion was analyzed with a pre/posttest and student evaluations. This project identifies methods for faculty to integrate end-of-life and palliative care into their curriculum to enhance students’ ability to deliver evidence-based and compassionate care.     

Faculty Development for Fostering Clinical Reasoning Skills in Early Medical Students Using a Modified Bayesian Approach

Problem: Clinical reasoning is a necessary skill for medical students to acquire in the course of their education, and there is evidence that they can start this process at the undergraduate level. However, physician educators who are experts in their given fields may have difficulty conveying their complex thought processes to students. Providing faculty development that equips educators with tools to teach clinical reasoning may support skill development in early medical students. Intervention: We provided faculty development on a modified Bayesian method of teaching clinical reasoning to clinician educators who facilitated small-group, case-based workshops with 2nd-year medical students. We interviewed them before and after the module regarding their perceptions on teaching clinical reasoning. We solicited feedback from the students about the effectiveness of the method in developing their clinical reasoning skills. Context: We carried out this project during an institutional curriculum rebuild where clinical reasoning was a defined goal. At the time of the intervention, there was also increased involvement of the Teaching and Learning Center in elevating the status of teaching and learning. Outcome: There was high overall satisfaction with the faculty development program. Both the faculty and the students described the modified Bayesian approach as effective in fostering the development of clinical reasoning skills. Lessons Learned: Through this work, we learned how to form a beneficial partnership between a clinician educator and Teaching and Learning Center to promote faculty development on a clinical reasoning teaching method for early medical students. We uncovered challenges faced by both faculty and early learners in this study. We observed that our faculty chose to utilize the method of teaching clinical reasoning in a variety of manners in the classroom. Despite obstacles and differing approaches utilized, we believe that this model can be emulated at other institutions to foster the development of clinical reasoning skills in preclerkship students.     

The clinical teaching associate model: advantages and disadvantages in practice

Two major benefits of this model are the increased availability of the CTA to the student and the LT's ability to observe the student's overall progress through clinical and classroom areas. In addition, the CTA Model supports the recent trend toward collaboration between schools of nursing and hospitals. Implementation of the CTA Model provides a unique opportunity for research into the effectiveness of such a model. The following are some questions that need to be addressed in evaluating the CTA Model: Is there greater patient, student, and/or instructor satisfaction with this model? Does the model allow faculty more time to devote to research and publication? Do students learn more under this model? The answers to these questions could provide valuable insights into the educational merit of the CTA Model.     

An Educational Strategy for Teaching Standardized Nursing Languages

PURPOSE.  The aim of this paper is to describe an educational strategy for teaching standardized nursing languages (SNL) used in both the classroom and clinical components of a psychiatric–mental health nursing course at the associate degree level.
DATA SOURCES.  Data included a review of the relevant literature, teaching experiences, and faculty and student experiences.
DATA SYNTHESIS.  Enhancing associate degree student nurses' competency regarding diagnosis and interventions is essential to influence positive health outcomes. Use of diagnostic, outcome, and intervention classifications for learning nursing care promotes critical thinking, individualization of nursing care, and students' fluency with SNL. One possible teaching strategy to assist students to learn and use SNL was implemented through the use of a faculty-developed Student Nurse Documentation Packet.
CONCLUSIONS.  The educational strategy provided students opportunities to enhance their experience with the SNL to plan and document care of individuals experiencing psychiatric–mental health problems.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING.  The educational strategy used in this program was judged to be successful. Research is needed to provide empirical evidence of the efficacy of this pedagogical strategy for increasing knowledge and enhancing students' competency.     

Challenges of implementating a doctoral program in an international exchange in Cuba through the lens of Kanter's empowerment theory

The literature in international education focuses primarily on the experiences of western students in developing countries, international students in western universities, the development of an educational program in a developing country, or internationalization of curricula in western universities. There is little in the literature that addresses the challenges students and participating faculty face when implementing a graduate program in a developing country. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the challenges of implementing a doctoral program in an international exchange through the lens of Kanter's theory of empowerment. Recommendations to address these challenges will be made.     

On-line interactive evaluation in course and clinical instruction.

Student evaluations incorporated into feedback for instruction modification are an important aspect of any educational program. It is particularly important for healthcare programs in which teaching processes are continually dynamic. An interactive evaluation was designed and implemented on-line for students. Confidentiality was assured and privacy protected through a unique coding system. Our experience with the interactive, automated system proved particularly successful with respondents and faculty expectations have improved since its integration into course and clinical objectives.     

Implementing a competency-based electronic portfolio in a graduate nursing program

Use of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) has been advocated to demonstrate nursing student accomplishments as well as to document program and course outcomes. This use of e-portfolios incorporates information technology, thus aligning the educational process in professional degree programs to 21st-century teaching and learning scholarship. Here we describe a project to explore the feasibility of transitioning from documenting student competencies in hard-copy binders to e-portfolios. To make this transition in an efficient manner in our graduate nursing program, we used the Plan, Do, Study, Act quality-improvement model. An interdisciplinary team of nursing faculty and educational computing consultants developed a professional e-portfolio template and implemented a pilot program for 10 students enrolled in our nurse educator specialty. This program was executed by assessing university resources, evaluating the technological competence of both students and faculty, and through the interdisciplinary team members' commitment to provide ongoing support for the program.