Background:
This paper
describes the process, our experience and the lessons learnt in doing document
reviews of health science curricula. Since we could not find relevant
literature to guide us on how to approach these reviews, we feel that sharing
our experience would benefit researchers embarking on similar projects.
Methods:
We followed a
rigorous, transparent, pre-specified approach that included the preparation of
a protocol, a pre-piloted data extraction form and coding schedule. Data were extracted,
analysed and synthesised. Quality checks were included at all stages of the
process.
Results:
The main lessons we
learnt related to time and project management, continuous quality assurance,
selecting the software that meets the needs of the project, involving experts
as needed and disseminating the findings to relevant stakeholders.
Conclusion:
A complete
curriculum evaluation comprises, apart from a document review, interviews with
students and lecturers to assess the learnt and taught curricula respectively.
Rigorous methods must be used to ensure an objective assessment.
Jones
MR, West DJ, Harrington BJ, Cook CJ, Bracken RM, Shearer DA, Kilduff L. Match
play performance characteristics that predict post-match creatine kinase
responses in professional rugby union players. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation 2014, 6:38
doi:10.1186/2052-1847-6-38
ABSTRACTBackground: Rugby union players can take several days to fully recover from competition. Muscle damage induced during the match has a major role in player recovery; however the specific characteristics of match play that predict post-match muscle damage remains unclear. We examined the relationships between a marker of muscle damage and performance characteristics associated with physical contacts and high-speed movement in professional rugby union players.
Methods:
Twenty-eight
professional rugby union players (15 forwards, 13 backs) participated in this
study. Data were obtained from 4 European Cup games, with blood samples collected
2?h pre, and 16 and 40?h post-match, and were subsequently analysed for
creatine kinase (CK). Relationships between changes in CK concentrations and
number of physical contacts and high-speed running markers, derived from
performance analysis and global positioning system (GPS) data, were assessed.
Results:
Moderate and
moderate-large effect-size correlations were identified between contact
statistics from performance analysis and changes in CK at 16 and 40?h
post-match in forwards and backs, respectively (e.g. backs; total impacts vs.
?CK (r?=?0.638, p?
Conclusions:
Our data
demonstrate that muscle damage induced by professional rugby union match play
is to some extent predicted by the number of physical contacts induced during
performance. Furthermore, we show for the first time that muscle damage in
backs players is predicted by high-speed running measures derived from GPS.
These data increase the understanding of the causes of muscle damage in rugby
union; performance markers could potentially be used to tailor individual
recovery strategies and subsequent training following rugby union competition.
Young
KJ. Gimme that old time religion: the influence of the healthcare belief system
of chiropractic’s early leaders on the development of x-ray imaging in the
profession. Chiropr ManTher 2014, 22:36
doi:10.1186/s12998-014-0036-5
ABSTRACTBackground: Chiropractic technique systems have been historically documented to advocate overutilization of radiography. Various rationales for this have been explored in the literature. However, little consideration has been given to the possibility that the healthcare belief system of prominent early chiropractors may have influenced the use of the diagnostic modality through the years. The original rationale was the visualisation of chiropractic subluxations, defined as bones slightly out of place, pressing on nerves, and ultimately causing disease. This paradigm of radiography has survived in parts of the chiropractic profession, despite lacking evidence of clinical validity. The purpose of this paper is to compare the characteristics of the chiropractic technique systems that have utilised radiography for subluxation detection with the characteristics of religion, and to discover potential historical links that may have facilitated the development of those characteristics.
Discussion:
Twenty-three
currently or previously existing technique systems requiring radiography for
subluxation analysis were found using a search of the internet, books and
consultation with experts. Evidence of religiosity from the early founders’
writings was compared with textbooks, published papers, and websites of
subsequently developed systems. Six criteria denoting religious thinking were
developed using definitions from various sources. They are: supernatural
concepts, claims of supremacy, rules and rituals, sacred artefacts, sacred
stories, and special language. All of these were found to a greater or lesser
degree in the publicly available documents of all the subluxation-based
chiropractic x-ray systems.
Summary:
The founders and
early pioneers of chiropractic did not benefit from the current understanding
of science and research, and therefore substituted deductive and inductive
reasoning to arrive at conclusions about health and disease in the human body.
Some of this thinking and rationalisation demonstrably followed a religion-like
pattern, including BJ Palmer’s use of radiography. Although access to
scientific methods and research education became much advanced and more
accessible during the past few decades, the publicly available documents of
technique systems that used radiography for chiropractic subluxation detection
examined in this paper employed a historically derived paradigm for radiography
that displayed characteristics in common with religion. 
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