Safety and Efficacy of 12-Month Intra-gastric Balloon-Series of over 1100 Patients.

Background: Intra-gastric balloons (IGB) are a mainstay of endoscopic treatment of overweight and obesity. In recent years, an IGB which can remain in situ for 12 months has been developed. The current study aimed to analyse the safety and efficacy of this 12-month IGB.

Equipping surgeons as educators.

There is a developing interest in equipping surgeons as educators but a perceived lack of knowledge and evidence about how to do this effectively, or how to reward and recognize educational expertise within the surgical career structure. A brief consideration of the surgical educator role is offered. The findings and conclusions of a meta-analysis of the influence of faculty development in medical education are summarized.

Nursing students' and tutors' perceptions of learning and teaching in a clinical skills centre.

Background: Clinical Skills Centres (CSCs) can ease pressure on clinical skills development and assessment in clinical areas; and provide added value through experiential learning and self-directed learning. Published accounts of innovation in CSCs tell part of this story but little is known about perceptions of students and tutors engaged in day-to-day learning and teaching in CSCs.

Methods: This paper reports one strand of a mixed methods study in a busy multidisciplinary CSC: a questionnaire survey of nursing students' and tutors' perceptions of learning and teaching.

Appraising and assessing reflection in students' writing on a structured worksheet.

Background: A variety of teaching and learning techniques intended to engage students in reflection are either in use or are being developed in medical and dental education. In line with evidence-based practice in education, research is needed to appraise the utility and effectiveness of these techniques, so that they may be used with confidence.

Aim: To assess whether students completing a 'reflective' learning activity based on a structured worksheet really were reflecting.

Practice-based learning: emerging professional characteristics, self-concepts and patterns of knowing in dental training.

This paper reports on a content analysis of a reflective learning activity named "A Learning Experience". The study aimed to elucidate the reflections of dental undergraduates and dental therapy students with the purpose of analysing the meaning they attribute to their experiences in training. Thirty-one student-completed worksheets were analysed by drawing themes and patterns from the text.