The Sustained,Positive Impact of a Native American Cultures and Health Course on Students’ Education and Practice-Related Choices

Objective. To encourage pharmacy students to elect education and practice opportunities in Native American communities, including careers with the Indian Health Service (IHS).Methods. Students in 2 elective courses were educated on various aspects of contemporary Native American life in urban and reservation environments, including cultural traditions, social and health-related challenges, health access disparities, and cultural approaches to health and wellness. The teachers were Native American leaders and healers primarily from Plains tribes, as well as non-Native American practitioners affiliated with IHS hospitals and tribal health facilities. Students kept reflective journals, and a subset spent 5 days immersed in a rural Navajo community where they lived and worked alongside IHS practitioners and Community Health Representatives.Results. Student engagement with IHS opportunities was tracked for 11 years. Of the 69 pharmacy students who completed the electives, 11 applied for a Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Externship Program (Jr. COSTEP) (8 accepted, 6 completed), 43 requested one or more IHS APPEs (43 accepted, 32 completed, 8 in progress), 17 applied for an IHS residency (1 pending, 8 accepted, 5 completed), and 5 became IHS Commissioned Corps officers. Five additional students accepted an IHS or tribal position, with 3 pursuing a USPHS commission.Conclusion. Since the first report on the impact of this elective experience was published, the course continues to meet its primary objective of promoting interest in IHS/tribal education experiences and pharmacy practice careers.     

Technical competence in surgeons

In this paper, we review the literature to date on technical competence in surgeons; how it can be defined, taught to trainees and assessed. We also examine how we can predict which candidates for surgical training will most likely develop technical competence. While technical competency is just one aspect of what makes a good surgeon, we have recognized a need to review the literature in this area and to combine this with broader definitions of competency. Our review found that several methods are available to objectively measure, assess and predict technical competence and should be used in surgical training.     

关于提高口腔解剖生理学教学质量的思考

口腔解剖生理学是口腔医学专业的一门专业基础课程,在口腔医学专业中具有重要的地位。该文就如何提高口腔解剖生理学的教学质量进行集中讨论,通过理论课程提高学生的学习兴趣,实践课程培养学生的实际动手操作能力,并增强学生解决口腔解剖生理学课程中所遇到的各项实际问题的能力,希望可以增强学生的专业素养。     

La importancia de la longitudinalidad,integralidad, coordinación y continuidad de los cuidados domiciliarios efectuados por enfermería

Home care is essential for dependent persons, in order to support the high levels of morbidity, for the elderly as well as their caregivers, as it enables patients to remain in their familiar environment as long as possible, fulfilling the wish expressed by most of the population. Home care is the activity that best represents the essential attributes (longitudinality, comprehensiveness, continuity, coordination) of the primary, and that suffers most when these attributes are not included in the activities undertaken by primary care teams, or due to cuts in health-care.Home care requires highly skilled, versatile and committed nursing staff, with whom the population identifies as a source of care, and where they are assessed for their relevance and effectiveness. Nurses with wide clinical care skills, with a balanced content of treatment and prevention, and the freedom to develop their work, are needed in order to continuously monitor the health problems of their acute and chronic patients, in the family and community.     

Occupational Therapy Intervention for Residents in a Skilled Nursing Facility: A Focus on Atypical Patients

The 1990 implementation of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) has expanded opportunities for occupational therapists to treat individuals with non-traditional illnesses. Therapists working in skilled nursing and long term care can benefit from gaining an understanding of the OBRA guidelines and patient's rights, especially regarding restraint reduction. Occupational therapists possess the necessary skills to assess and treat these individuals to help maximize their functioning as well as improve their quality of life (Moon-Sperling & Pinson, 1991). The premise of this article is to inform therapists about various types of ethical and legal intervention with atypical patients in skilled nursing facilities and to introduce therapists to the laws supporting provision of these services. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1–800–342–9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com]     

New Nurse Practitioner Competencies: Skill Development and Reflective Writing Rubrics

New nurse practitioners (NPs) must be safe and effective in their first job. Some new NPs have reported that they feel unprepared for transition to the NP role and that not all physicians and employers understand the NP role. Rubrics (scoring tools specifying expectations for successful performance) help ensure successful transitions to practice. Rubrics clarify performance expectations and can reduce confusion around role. Two rubrics for assessing NP performance, 1 focused on established NP role competencies and 1 on reflective writing, were developed using the novice-to-expert framework for skill development to facilitate successful transition of new NPs into practice.