Introduction:
Practice-based
research is a challenge as clinicians are busy with their patients and any
participation in research activities will be secondary to the needs of the
patients and the clinic. As a result, it is difficult to obtain high compliance
among clinicians. A method to enhance compliance in multicentre practice-based
research has been developed and refined for use in the chiropractic setting and
possibly also by other researchers in different settings.
Method: This manual
provides a stringent step-by-step approach for conducting clinic-based
research. It describes the competencies and requirements of an effective
working group, how to recruit participating clinicians and how to empower,
encourage and support these clinicians to obtain good compliance.
Discussion:
The main
advantage of the method is the high compliance of participating clinicians compared
to many other clinical studies. Difficulties with the method are described and
suggestions for solutions are presented.
Conclusions:
This manual
is a description of a method that may be of use for clinical researchers in the
chiropractic setting.
Samarakoon L,
Fernando T, Rodrigo C, Rajapakse S. Learning styles and approaches to learning
among medical undergraduates and postgraduates. BMC Med Educ 2013, 13:42 doi:10.1186/1472-6920-13-42
Background:
The
challenge of imparting a large amount of knowledge within a limited time period
in a way it is retained, remembered and effectively interpreted by a student is
considerable. This has resulted in crucial changes in the field of medical
education, with a shift from didactic teacher centered and subject based
teaching to the use of interactive, problem based, student centered learning.
This study tested the hypothesis that learning styles (visual, auditory,
read/write and kinesthetic) and approaches to learning (deep, strategic and
superficial) differ among first and final year undergraduate medical students,
and postgraduates medical trainees.
Methods: We used self
administered VARK and ASSIST questionnaires to assess the differences in
learning styles and approaches to learning among medical undergraduates of the
University of Colombo and postgraduate trainees of the Postgraduate Institute
of Medicine, Colombo.
Results: A total of
147 participated:73 (49.7%) first year students,40 (27.2%) final year students
and 34(23.1%) postgraduate students. The majority (69.9%) of first year
students had multimodal learning styles. Among final year students, the
majority (67.5%) had multimodal learning styles, and among postgraduates, the
majority were unimodal (52.9%) learners.
Among all three groups, the predominant approach to learning was
strategic. Postgraduates had significant higher mean scores for deep and
strategic approaches than first years or final years (p < 0.05). Mean scores
for the superficial approach did not differ significantly between groups.
Conclusions:
The learning
approach suggest a positive shift towards deep and strategic learning in
postgraduate students. However a similar difference was not observed in
undergraduate students from first year to final year, suggesting that their
curriculum may not have influenced learning methodology over a five year
period.
Nisbet MC, Fahy D. Bioethics
in popular science: evaluating the media impact of The Immortal Llife of
Henrietta Lacks on the biobank debate. BMC Med Ethics 2013, 14:10 doi:10.1186/1472-6939-14-10
ABSTRACT
Background:
The global
expansion of biobanks has led to a range of bioethical concerns related to
consent, privacy, control, ownership, and disclosure. As an opportunity to
engage broader audiences on these concerns, bioethicists have welcomed the
commercial success of Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 bestselling book The Immortal
Life of Henrietta Lacks. To assess the impact of the book on discussion
within the media and popular culture more generally, we systematically analyzed
the ethics-related themes emphasized in reviews and articles about the book,
and in interviews and profiles of Skloot.
Methods: We conducted
a content analysis of a population of relevant English-language articles and
transcripts (n = 125) produced by news organizations and publications in the
U.S., Canada, Great Britain/Ireland, and Australia/New Zealand. We scored each
article for the emphasis and appearance of 9 ethics-related themes. These were
informed consent, welfare of the vulnerable, compensation, scientific progress,
control/access, accountability/oversight, privacy, public education, and
advocacy.
Results: The informed
consent theme dominated media discussion, with almost 39.2 percent of
articles/transcripts featuring the theme as a major focus and 44.8 percent
emphasizing the theme as a minor focus. Other prominent themes and frames of
reference focused on the welfare of the vulnerable (18.4 percent major
emphasis; 36.0 percent minor emphasis), and donor compensation (19.2 percent
major; 52.8 percent minor). Ethical themes that comprised a second tier of
prominence included those of scientific progress, control/access, and
accountability/oversight. The least prominent themes were privacy, public education,
and advocacy.
Conclusions:
The book has
been praised as an opportunity to elevate media discussion of bioethics, but
such claims should be re-considered. The relatively narrow focus on informed
consent in the media discussion generated by Skloot’s book may limit the
ability of ethicists and advocates to elevate attention to donor control,
compensation, patenting, privacy, and other ethical issues. Still, ethicists
should view the book and a pending major TV film translation as opportunities
to highlight through media outreach, consultation exercises and public forums a
broader range of bioethical concerns that would otherwise be under-emphasized
in news coverage. Such efforts, however, need to be carefully planned and
evaluated.
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