Search Results
The postsecondary accreditation process is a unique system that attempts to evaluate and enhance the quality of higher and professional education in the United States. Critics of accreditation see the process as coercive and a deterrent to academic freedom while others call for accreditors to exercise greater authority. The origination of the process was a result of a number of coinciding events involving the development of educational and professional standards and concern over access. The current focus on assessment of educational outcomes has further established the credibility of postsecondary accreditation and its role in protecting the public interest.
Residency education has an interesting history in the US that speaks clearly about some of the cherished beliefs still perpetuated in today's residency training programs. The history also provides a foundation for considering how the current knowledge of adult education theory and practice can be incorporated into residency education programs. The author presents a brief overview of the history of residency education in the US followed by a recommendation for applying a conception of adult learning to residency education.
In many medical schools, microscopes are being replaced as teaching tools by computers with software that emulates the use of a light microscope. This article chronicles the adoption of “virtual microscopes” by a podiatric medical school and presents the results of educational research on the effectiveness of this adoption in a histology course. If the trend toward virtual microscopy in education continues, many 21st-century physicians will not be trained to operate a light microscope. The replacement of old technologies by new is discussed. The fundamental question is whether all podiatric physicians should be trained in the use of a particular tool or only those who are likely to use it in their own practice. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 96(6): 518–524, 2006)
This article discusses the need for and the advantages of a dual degree program between podiatric medicine and public health. The authors expand on the existing program for public health education at the first professional degree level to include a conceptual model for a dual degree program developed at Temple University’s Department of Health Studies, through the Graduate School and the School of Podiatric Medicine. The model combines didactic and clinical education at the graduate level to ensure that clinicians involved in determining health policy are prepared to represent the profession in the restructuring of the health-care system. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 91(9): 488-495, 2001)
Background
Many regard empathy as a critical component of comprehensive health care. Much interest has been generated in the field of medical empathy, in particular as it relates to education. Many desirable outcomes correlate with perceived empathy during the patient encounter, but paradoxically, empathy levels have been reported to decline during the years of medical education. Several new approaches have been described in the literature that intend to teach or develop empathy skills in health-care students.
Methods
PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar databases were searched for the terms empathy education, medical education, medical student, podiatric medical education, medical empathy, compassion, emotional intelligence, biopsychosocial model, and bedside manner. After implementing inclusion and exclusion criteria, articles were selected for preparation of a literature review. Analysis of the podiatric medical education on empathy was conducted by reviewing descriptions of all courses listed on each of the nine US podiatric medical schools' Web sites. The 2018 Curricular Guide for Podiatric Medical Education was analyzed.
Results
In this review, we examine the current state of empathy from a context of medical education in general, followed by a specific analysis in podiatric medicine. We define key terms, describe the measuring of empathy in medicine, explore outcomes of empathy in the health-care setting, review the reports of a decline in medical education, and highlight some of the current efforts to develop the skill in education. An overview of empathy in the podiatric medical curriculum is presented.
Conclusions
To improve the quality of care that physicians provide, a transformation in podiatric medical education is necessary. A variety of tools are available for education reform with the target of developing empathy skills in podiatric medical students.
Many health professions schools have neglected the US population's health by emphasizing acutely ill patients in hospitals, biomedical research of disease, and high technology. Because most students will eventually fill practitioner roles in primary and secondary care, it is logical that the health professions must shift their curricula's focus to prepare practitioners for the health care needs of the community. The Community Partnership Model is one approach that focuses on public health care needs by educating students in multiprofessional teams in a new organizational structure known as the academic, community-based, primary health care center. This partnership between academic institutions and communities is designed to shift the educational and socializing activities of health professions training outside hospitals to the community setting where research, teaching, and service take place in one structure.
A survey of podiatric medical students in Australia was undertaken prior to and following the completion of a compulsory geriatrics course to evaluate the effect of geriatrics education on knowledge of aging, attitudes toward older people, perceptions of treatment efficacy, and desire to specialize in geriatrics. Students had a reasonable knowledge of aging and favorable attitudes toward older people prior to undertaking the course, but few wanted to specialize in geriatrics. General knowledge of aging and attitudes toward older people improved after completion of the course, but career aspirations remained unchanged. Students generally considered geriatrics to be a low-profile specialty, and less than half stated that they would be interested in pursuing continuing education in geriatrics. These results provide further evidence that students’ lack of desire to specialize in geriatrics may be primarily due to limited recognition within the profession, rather than unfavorable attitudes toward older people or lack of interest in geriatrics during their undergraduate education. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 93(2): 124-130, 2003)
Background: Diabetic foot care has yet to be enhanced in a universal health-care system in which specialized podiatric medical services are unavailable. This baseline assessment surveyed diabetic patients attending group education to improve current foot-care practices.
Methods: Of 302 diabetic patients receiving usual outpatient care, 155 received group patient education on general diabetes-related information, which included foot care and an annual checkup by a diabetes association during the previous 2 years, and 147 did not. Patient foot-care behaviors, physician practice patterns, and patient self-perceived foot risk as cross-checked with the neurologic and vascular assessments were investigated by conducting retrospective medical record reviews and structured interviews.
Results: More than half of the patients in both groups reported inappropriate self-care behaviors (eg, walking barefoot and heating or soaking their feet). The percentages of patients receiving documented examinations and referrals for foot problems were low in both groups and were not significantly different. Among at-risk patients, 56% of the diabetes association group but only 30% of the non–diabetes association group perceived themselves to be at risk for future foot problems (P < .01).
Conclusions: Many diabetic patients were not offered adequate foot-specific information during group lectures, even those with high-risk foot problems. To improve this, combining caregiver and patient education in foot-care practices is important, and systems of networked multidisciplinary professionals are believed to be needed, particularly in delivering customized interventions to at-risk patients based on the initial evaluation. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 99(4): 295–300, 2009)
Education should be practiced with attention to principles derived from both the research in medical education and the practical experience of health professions instructors. The authors summarize both the major questions addressed by researchers in medical education during recent years and some of the answers. This paper is divided into four major categories of questions that correspond to the areas of an instructor's responsibility: 1) curricular trends, 2) instruction, 3) evaluation of learners, and 4) evaluation of teaching. It focuses largely on the undergraduate medical curriculum, although many of the conclusions could be applied to graduate education as well.
