Design and development of an arena blended connected learning model for faculty development in health professions education: A step forward.

Current medical education and clinical practice has led to a need for advanced faculty development for medical teachers to effectively play the role of educators, researchers and administrators. There is large variability in the teaching programmes across countries, which range from a one-time activity to regularly scheduled workshops and seminars, to a highly advanced course spanning a few months to a year. Several healthcare institutes around the world offer faculty training programmes in health professions education, where the curriculum varies in design as they are developed and implemented by their own institutional body or education unit.

Public Health Dentistry as a Career Choice - Attitude of Dental Undergraduate Students in Puducherry.

Background: To pursue further education in a particular specialty of dentistry, it is important for dental students to be aware of the "expectation" associated with any specific specialty in dentistry. Therefore students 'attitudes' towards 'expectations' of various specialties, to a large extent enables a meaningful understanding that facilitates appropriate planning in the dental sector for the community.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted, which included, final year and dental interns studying in two dental institutions, in the State of Puducherry.

Educational Research and Scholarship in India: The Way Forward.

Medical education research (MER) aims to improve the practice of medical education by applying the theory of educational research. Internationally, medical education research has grown exponentially and has established itself as a distinct field. In contrast, in India, the medical faculty is either bogged down by clinical responsibilities, or is busy with biomedical research.

Assessment of Self Perception of Competencies among a Group of Dental interns in Pondicherry, India.

Context: The general dentist must not only have a broad biomedical and clinical education but also be able to demonstrate professional and ethical behavior as well as effective communication and interpersonal skills. In addition he or she must have the ability to evaluate and utilize emerging technologies, continuing professional development opportunities, and problem-solving and critical thinking skills to effectively address current and future issues in health care. But the extent to which the core competencies are taught and the students' level of proficiency in these competencies in Indian scenario is to be explored at large.

Effectiveness of problem-solving exercises in radiology education for undergraduates.

Background: The teaching of radiology to undergraduates in India is largely didactic. We incorporated innovative methods including problem-solving exercises in teaching to assess the impact on the outcome with respect to knowledge and interpretive skills in radiology.

Methods: We enrolled all students of the 2014-15 MBBS batch.

Applying systems approach for bridging education, research, and patient care in a health sciences university.

Systems approach provides a logical and scientific basis for explaining the functioning of a system in a holistic manner. The health sciences university is a system with its three major operations - education, research, and patient care, which can be conceived as inputs, process, and output, respectively. The system is aided by a feedback loop to inform and correct the system.

Systems approach in medical education: The thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.

Systems approach is a time tested, method of trying to understand the reality holistically, and resolving the issues by problem-solving method. It has resulted in enormous applications in almost every field of knowledge, science, technology, industries, agriculture, and health or education. The main essence of systems thinking lies in minimizing the inputs, optimizing the process to maximize the outputs through continuous feedback, and monitoring.

Apps for management of sick newborn: evaluation of impact on health care professionals.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of interactive mobile device application 'Apps on sick newborn care' as a training tool, in improving the knowledge and skill scores of postgraduate nursing students (N = 27). A training workshop was conducted in small workstations by the facilitators using the modules on android device and preloaded videos in which the procedure was systematically demonstrated. A mixed-methods approach consisting of pre-post tests, Likert's scale and focus group discussion were used to assess the knowledge, skills and perception of the participants.

Extending professional education to health workers at grass root level: an experience from all India institute of medical sciences, new delhi.

Background: In India, the opportunities for professional education of the grass root level health workers are grossly inadequate. Capacity building of all categories of health workers is needed for enhancing health outcomes.

Objectives: To plan and implement a professional development training program for all categories of allied health workers and to assess its outcomes in terms of knowledge and skills.

Medical students' perception of professionalism: a qualitative study from Saudi Arabia.

Background: Professionalism has emerged as a core competency for the medical professionals globally. However, few studies have been reported from the Gulf region to assess the situation and take steps to promote professionalism.

Aim: To elicit the views of final year medical students, interns, and residents to explore what professionalism meant to them, what problems they encountered, and what can be done to promote professionalism.

Innovative method of needs assessment for faculty development programs in a Gulf medical school.

Background: Faculty development lays the foundation for the quality enhancement in medical education. However, programs are not always based on the needs of the participants, and there is dearth of information on methods to derive faculty's needs. The Medical Education Unit at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, carried out an innovative method to identify and prioritize faculty needs in order to plan future activities.

Structured internship orientation programme for undergraduate students: easy transition to clinical work.

Background: Internship is a phase of training when a new graduate is expected to acquire skills under supervision, so that he/she may become capable of functioning independently. Often, new graduates go through this period without a clear aim. We conducted an orientation programme before fresh graduates started their 1-year internship to familiarize them with their clinical tasks and their role in the community.

From reorientation of medical education to development of medical educators.

Re-orientation of medical education in India has not been fully successful because the development of medical teacher, a critical component has not been adequately addressed. Faculty development is a key factor. We have identified six shifting trends in faculty development that can contribute to the development of a medical educator in India.

Faculty development and medical education units in India: a survey.

Background: Faculty development in medical education is gaining momentum in India. While planning a National Conference on Medical Education (NCME 2007), we did a survey of principals and faculty of medical colleges to understand the status of faculty development programmes and medical education units in medical colleges in India.

Methods: Questionnaires were sent to principals of medical colleges by surface mail and to faculty through a web-based programme to elicit information on various aspects of faculty development programmes and medical education units.

Experience of a workshop on communication skills in health professional education.

Background: The teaching of communication skills is gaining increasing attention. However, the opportunities for faculty development are limited. This study highlights an attempt by the Medical Education Unit, King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, to raise the awareness of faculty to this vital area by organizing a one-day workshop.

Need-based undergraduate medical curriculum.

There is a growing concern over the quality of medical education for undergraduates in India. This paper is an attempt to define a need-based curriculum and outline the initiatives taken by the Medical Council of India (M.C.

Inquiry-driven strategies for innovation in medical education: experiences in India.

Four medical institutes, viz, AIIMS, New Delhi; CMC, Vellore; JIPMER, Pondicherry and IMS-BHU, Varanasi formed a consortium to introduce reforms in undergraduate medical education. A detailed inquiry was conducted by administering questionnaires to the faculty, recent graduates and patients to identify the deficiencies in the present system. Morbidity patterns prevalent in the community at primary, secondary and tertiary care levels were determined.

Multiple choice questions: how to construct and how to evaluate?

Multiple choice questions have come to occupy a prominent place in the evaluation system of medical education. However the framing of multiple choice questions and their effective use need further clarification in the Indian context. This paper outlines some of the steps that may be adopted for streamlining the preparation and administration of a multiple choice test and their scoring.