Nonemergency PCI at hospitals with or without on-site cardiac surgery.

Background: Emergency surgery has become a rare event after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Whether having cardiac-surgery services available on-site is essential for ensuring the best possible outcomes during and after PCI remains uncertain.

Methods: We enrolled patients with indications for nonemergency PCI who presented at hospitals in Massachusetts without on-site cardiac surgery and randomly assigned these patients, in a 3:1 ratio, to undergo PCI at that hospital or at a partner hospital that had cardiac surgery services available.

Educating young educators: a pedagogical internship for undergraduate teaching assistants.

Although undergraduates have long held a role as teaching assistants for introductory science courses at liberal arts colleges and universities, educational institutions often do not provide these students with opportunities to explore science teaching and pedagogy. At Brandeis University, we designed an internship course to help increase the motivation, understanding, and knowledge of teaching pedagogy for undergraduate teaching assistants that is offered concurrently with their teaching responsibilities. Weekly sessions with faculty mentors are guided by readings in current science education literature, and throughout the semester students are asked to develop new course material based on the pedagogical frameworks discussed.