Chatbot-mediated learning of cardiac auscultation.

Previous research suggested cardiac auscultation is underdeveloped in physicians-in-training. Developing proficiency requires wide exposure to signs, practice and feedback, which may not regularly occur in clinical environments. Our novel pilot study using a mixed-methods approach (n = 9) suggests chatbot-mediated learning of cardiac auscultation is accessible and possesses unique advantages, including immediate feedback, helping in the management of cognitive overload and facilitating deliberate practice.

Medical students' self-regulation of learning in a blended learning environment: a systematic scoping review.

Background: Medical curricula are constantly evolving in response to the needs of society, accrediting bodies and developments in education and technology. The integration of blended learning modalities has challenged traditional methods of teaching, offering new prospects in the delivery of medical education. The purpose of this review is to explore how medical students adapt their learning behaviours in a Blended Learning environment to become more independent and self-regulated, in addition to highlighting potential avenues to enhance the curriculum and support student learning.

The development and validation of a questionnaire to explore medical students' learning in a blended learning environment.

Background: A blended learning environment is multifaceted and widely used in medical education. However, there is no validated instrument for exploring students' learning in a blended learning environment in medical programs. This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument for exploring how medical students learn in an undergraduate medical program that employs a blended learning approach.

Learning design in healthcare education.

Emerging from ongoing work into educational modelling languages, learning design principles and the IMS Learning Design framework provide formal ways to annotate and record educational activities. Once educational activities have been encoded they can be played, replayed, adopted, shared, and analysed, thereby reifying much that is otherwise lost in face-to-face teaching. The use of learning design tools, including the free and open source LAMS system (www.

Association of obesity, but not diabetes or hypertension, with glucocorticoid receptor N363S variant.

Objective: To determine whether the N363S variant in the glucocorticoid receptor (encoded by nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 1: NR3C1) is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, or hypertension.

Research Methods And Procedures: This was a cross-sectional case-control study involving 951 Anglo-Celtic/Northern European subjects from Sydney. This study consisted of the following: 1) an obesity clinic group, most of whom had "morbid obesity" (mean BMI for group = 43 +/- 8 kg/m(2); n = 152); 2) a type 2 diabetes clinic group (n = 356); 3) patients with essential hypertension who had a strong family history (n = 141); and 4) normal healthy controls (n = 302).

Association of the TNF-alpha -308 G/A promoter polymorphism with insulin resistance in obesity.

Objective: Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is a candidate gene for the development of both obesity and insulin resistance. We investigated whether a common polymorphism in the promoter region (-308 G/A) of the TNF-alpha gene was associated with increased risk for the development of insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease in an obese Australian population.