Radiology curriculum for medical students: Clinicians’ perspectives

This study was conducted to establish clinicians’ perspectives of a set of radiology curriculum topics for medical student teaching, which were held to be important by radiologists. A questionnaire was sent to clinicians in all specialties. Forty‐six clinicians (51.1%) out of 90 returned the questionnaires. All curriculum topics were scored above an average of 4 (agree). The five highest ranking curriculum topics in order of importance were: developing a system for viewing chest radiographs (5.59), developing a system for viewing abdominal radiographs (5.56), developing a system for viewing bone and joint radiographs (5.33), distinguishing normal structures from abnormal in chest and abdominal radiographs (5.33) and identifying gross bone or joint abnormalities in skeletal radiographs (5.22). Correlative analysis between speciality groups showed surgical and medical specialities were significantly different in their responses of two learning outcomes: basic knowledge about the contrast media benefits and risks (P= 0.01) and ability to select the most appropriate and the most cost‐effective methods of radiological investigations for clinical situations (P= 0.03). Acute specialities were not significantly different from the other two groups for these two learning outcomes. There was no statistically significant difference for other learning outcomes between the three speciality groups.     

Is there a role for Notch signalling in human breast cancer?

Aberrant Notch signalling has been observed in several human cancers, including acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukaemia and cervical cancer, and is strongly implicated in tumourigenesis. Unregulated Notch signalling in the mouse mammary gland leads to tumour formation. These results raise the possibility that Notch signalling might play a role in human breast cancer. There are currently few reports that address this question directly and this appears to be an area worthy of further investigation.     

Italian multicentre study on very low-birth-weight babies. Neonatal mortality and two-year outcome

The Italian multicentre study on very low-birth-weight babies is the first collaborative project in Italy on the health status of newborns weighing 500–1499 g at birth: 634 such babies were admitted in 1987–88 to eight Italian NICUs; 424 infants survived and were followed until two years of age, corrected for prematurity. Logistic regression analysis of pre-admission risk factors of in-hospital mortality identified eight statistically significant variables: birth weight, gestational age, sex, antepartum steroids, I-min Apgar score and, on admission to the NICU, body temperature, pH and absence of spontaneous respiration. Using the equation derived from the logistic model, a theoretical mortality rate was calculated for each centre, predicted on the basis of the local incidence of preadmission risk factors. In no case was the predicted mortality significantly different from the observed one. At two years of age, 8 children were blind and 48 had motor disability. Of these, 46 had cerebral palsy: based on a functional evaluation score 14 had severe (degree 4), 20 intermediate (degree 3) and 12 mild cerebral palsy (degree 2). Among 25 variables entered in a logistic regression as risk factors for cerebral palsy, only periventricular leucomalacia and acidosis were significantly associated with the outcome.     

Barriers to working with impaired trainees: A resident's viewpoint

Psychiatric trainees and educators alike know that significant impairment may occur during training. Although psychiatry programs can do much to identify, treat, and prevent trainee impairment, barriers that may hinder programs from adequately addressing the problems of the impaired trainee continue to exist. These barriers include stigmatization and rejection of the impaired trainee, lack of focus on primary prevention, problematic supervisor-resident relationships, and trainee resistance to intervention. An atmosphere of candor and support, impairment-related seminars, and informed and alert supervisors can be helpful in easing the stress of training and reducing trainee impairment.