Counterfactual (‘if only’) thinking in women with chronic widespread pain

The study explored the counterfactual thinking that women with chronic and widespread pain showed in response to what they themselves considered to be particularly stressful situations. Counterfactual thinking in 125 women sick‐listed due to chronic and widespread pain was investigated in terms of structure, function and control focus. The women were asked, for each of three types of problems that they indicated in a questionnaire to affect them most strongly, to describe a typical occurrence of it and to complete a counterfactual sentence in connection with it of the type ‘If only . . .’. The majority of counterfactuals pertained to predominantly somatic problems (e.g. musculo‐skeletal problems, pain and fatigue) classified as being affective rather than preparative and self‐focused rather than external, whereas in counterfactuals relating to predominantly psychological/psychosocial problems a preparative function and an external focus were more prominent. The numbers of problems listed and the numbers of situations responded to counterfactually were positively correlated. The counterfactuals, although often related to somatic problems, generally concerned psychological or psychosocial matters such as finances and paid or unpaid work. A contextual approach to elucidating counterfactual thinking based on subjects' own experiences is seen as providing valuable insight into what bothers them most. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

医院文化的哲学伦理内核及其在现代医院管理中的重要作用

医院管理不是孤立自存的现象,由于管理者和被管理都生活在一定的医院文化氛围之中,因此,医院文化的哲学内核是现代医院管理知识的精髓,医院组织的价值观念、道德准则和思维方式,深刻地影响和制约着现代医院管理的原则和方法,决定着现代医院管理的实施和成败。     

Quantitative assessment of diagnostic ability

This paper describes variables critical to diagnostic thinking that are based on research by Bordage and Grant & Marsden on the diagnostic thinking of medical students and experienced doctors. The purpose of the study is to use their findings to develop an inventory of diagnostic thinking. A 56-item diagnostic thinking inventory was initially developed; each item contains a stem followed by a 6-point, semantic differential scale. The inventory is designed to measure two aspects of diagnostic thinking: the degree of flexibility in thinking and the degree of knowledge structure in memory. The specific goal of the study is to determine which items discriminate best between weaker and stronger diagnosticians and to reduce the inventory to only those items which significantly contribute to the overall score. Thirty subjects from nine groups, each representing a distinct phase of medical education and clinical practice, participated, namely first- and third-year clinical medical students, house officers, senior house officers, registrars, senior registrars, consultants, trainees in general practice, and general practitioners, all from the UK (n = 270). Discrimination indices were calculated for each item. The revised version of the inventory contains 41 items. All the subjects found the exercise meaningful and the resulting scores showed variance and discrimination. The inventory will eventually be used to assess individual student's and clinician's diagnostic thinking and to plan ways of improving their diagnostic thinking.     

"在线期刊-写作-讨论"结合教学与临床医学教育

以参加教学改革的(01)口腔大专2个班90人为实验组，以采取传统授课方式的(00)口腔大专2个班96人为对照组，实验组采用问卷调查，将实验组和对照组课后对授课内容进行测试的成绩进行横向对比，结果表明与“在线期刊-写作-讨论”结合的临床课教学方式对培养医学生的临床思雄能力、自学能力、解决问题的能力、学生自我表达能力、收集资料能力、文字表达能力等比传统教学方式有明显的提高，对提高临床医学专业专科医学生综合素质有明显的效果。     

Positive Thinking Among Slot Machine Gamblers: A Case of Maladaptive Coping?

Background  Research has demonstrated that optimism and “positive illusions” can be used a coping mechanism among those facing adversity. Gamblers are a little studied group who also experience adversity and uncertainty. They often feel considerable levels of frustration, guilt, anger and a sense of feeling cheated after making significant losses. In order to deal with such feelings it is hypothesized that these individuals will search for positive consequences from their behaviour in order to offset this negative affect. Objectives  To (1) determine whether after gambling, gamblers compensate and reduce negative affect by identifying positive consequences from experiencing a loss, and (2) identify types of strategies which gamblers employ and consider how these should be classified. Materials and Methods  Eighty-seven regular slot machine gamblers were interviewed in a variety of environments housing slot machines. Each participant was asked a series of questions in a semi-structured format, to explore possible styles of positive thinking. Results  Nine types of ‘positive thinking’ experienced by gamblers were identified. These included Comparative thinking, Prophylactic thinking, Biased frequency thinking, Responsibility avoidance, Chasing Validation, Prioritization, Resourcefulness, Thoughtfulness, and Fear Reduction. Gamblers who were positive thinkers experienced significantly less guilt than non-positive thinkers. Conclusions  While reduction of negative affect may be perceived as positive in many other contexts, it is argued that it may counteract efforts to promote responsible gambling. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The positive automatic thoughts questionnaire (ATQ-P) and the automatic thoughts questionnaire—Revised (ATQ-RP): Equivalent measures of positive thinking?

We examined two recently developed measures of positive automatic thought, the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-P) and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire—Revised (ATQ-RP). Internal consistency, concurrent validity, and convergent and discriminant validity were addressed. Two hundred one undergraduates completed self-report measures of positive automatic thoughts, negative automatic thoughts, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and positive affectivity. The ATQ-P and ATQ-RP both showed high internal consistency, strong negative associations with depressive symptoms, specificity to depressive symptoms rather than anxiety symptoms, an average state-of-mind (SOM) ratio in the positive dialogue range, and a stronger relation with each other than with a measure of positive affectivity. The only notable difference between the measures was a significantly lower mean score (correcting for number of items) on the ATQ-RP. This paper is based on a thesis completed by the first author, under the supervision of the second author, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree at American University. We are grateful to thesis committee members Lorah Dorn and Jim Gray for feedback on this material.     

医学双语教学的实践与建议

目的：建议在5年制和7年制医学生中开设双语试点班的教学模式。方法：在医学本科扣7年制英语班学生中开设系统的医学专业课试点班。试点班经自愿报名考试择优组成。每年考试择优班级重组。所有医学专业课尽可能多学科扣尽可能大比重的进行英语授课，形成以英语为主体的专业语言环境。     

临床应用大方的思路与方法

探讨临床应用大方的思路和方法。从辨证的模糊性、疾病的复杂性与矛盾性和小方在临证应用中的困惑与不足等方面探讨临床应用大方的必要性,从合方而用、专方及体质辨证基础方等方面论述大方药势的处方学特点。     

Remodeling Adult Nursing

This article describes a nursing education experience in which a critical thinking approach was planned and implemented. Background discussion on critical thinking concepts and related research provides a foundation for presentation of the Mackie teaching model. The model uses a community-based, family-centered scenario as the basis for developing problemfocused nursing intervention skills from a holistic viewpoint. Role expectations of students and faculty are outlined, and related implementation difficulties, together with their resolution strategies, are described. Evaluation methods and outcomes are reviewed in the conclusion.