Publications by authors named "Jennifer Duncan"
Objectives: This study used a qualitative research approach to grounded theory to identify factors that contributed to resident distress during 2021-2022 in multiple different specialties and at different postgraduate years of residency. By better understanding these contributors to distress, the aim was to inform the design of optimal interventions to reduce burnout and other emotional distress.
Methods: The residents enrolled in this study completed a demographic survey and semistructured interview.
Objective: To improve the well-being and sense of community of surgical trainees.
Design: Residents were invited to participate in confidential discussion groups during protected education time to have a safe space to support each other through common struggles. The groups were facilitated by licensed mental health professionals with experience working with medical trainees.
Background: Institutional Graduate Medical Education (GME) Well-being Director (WBD) roles have recently emerged in the United States to support resident and fellow well-being. However, with a standard position description lacking, the current scope and responsibilities of such roles is unknown. This study describes the scope of work, salary support, and opportunities for role definition for those holding institutional leadership positions for GME well-being.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Regulatory aspects of transfusion medicine add complexity in blinded transfusion trials when considering various electronic record keeping software and blood administration processes. The aim of this study is to explore strategies when blinding transfusion components and products in paper and electronic medical records.
Methods: Surveys were collected and interviews were conducted for 18 sites across various jurisdictions in North America to determine solutions applied in previous transfusion randomized control trials.
Article Synopsis
- A survey was conducted to evaluate how Canadian hospitals prepare and select red blood cells (RBCs) for intrauterine transfusions (IUT), revealing various practices based on historical precedent rather than solid evidence.
- Results showed that hospitals typically preferred specific RBC characteristics, including negativity for certain antibodies and a preference for fresh, irradiated units, but processing methods varied significantly between sites.
- The study emphasizes the need for standardized national guidelines to improve the consistency of RBC selection and processing for IUT procedures and stresses the importance of effective transfusion traceability methods.
Background And Objectives: Canadian out-of-hospital blood transfusion programmes (OHBTPs) are emerging, to improve outcomes of trauma patients by providing pre-hospital transfusion from the scene of injury, given prolonged transport times. Literature is lacking to guide its implementation. Thus, we sought to gather technical transfusion medicine (TM)-specific practices across Canadian OHBTPs.
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- * This study investigated whether larvae of Lucilia sericata found on lame sheep could carry lameness-related bacteria, focusing on three key bacterial types linked to the condition.
- * Findings revealed a notable link between lameness bacteria present in the larvae and those on sheep foot lesions, but no bacteria were found in the adult flies, indicating changes during their transformation.
Background: This study reports the clinical cure rates of topical oxytetracycline and 10% zinc sulphate foot bathing for treatment of interdigital dermatitis (ID), footrot (FR) and contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) in lambs.
Methods: The study was a randomised controlled trial of 75 lambs. Group A (n = 38) was foot bathed daily for 5 days in 10% zinc sulphate for 15 minutes and group B was treated with daily topical oxytetracycline for 5 days.
Point-of-care manufacturing such as 3D printing has recently received significant attention from regulatory bodies and the pharmaceutical industry. However, little information is available on the quantity of the most prescribed patient-specific items, their dosage form, and why they were required to be dispensed. In England, 'Specials' are unlicensed medicines formulated to meet the requirements of a specific prescription, prescribed if no suitable licensed alternative exists.
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- The study investigates the impact of serologic reactivity of unidentified specificity (SRUS) during pregnancy on the risk of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN).
- Over an 11-year period, data from 284 pregnancies with SRUS were analyzed, revealing that most cases of SRUS were not associated with HDFN, even in the presence of ABO incompatibility or other identifiable antibody reactions.
- The findings suggest that while SRUS alone does not indicate HDFN risk, it can occasionally precede clinically significant antibodies linked to HDFN.
Calicophoron daubneyi (rumen fluke) is an emerging parasitic infection of livestock across Europe. Despite increasing in prevalence, little is known about the level of awareness of rumen fluke or current control practices used by UK farmers. Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke) is a common parasitic infection of cattle and sheep in the UK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Medicines designed for adults may be inappropriate for use in children in terms of strength, dosage form and/or excipient content. There is currently no standardised method of assessing the age-appropriateness of a medicine for paediatric use.
Aim: To develop and test a tool to assess whether a dosage form (formulation) is appropriate for children and estimate the proportion of formulations considered 'inappropriate' in a cohort of hospitalised paediatric patients with a chronic illness.
Background: The temporal progression and workload-related causal contributors to physician burnout are not well-understood.
Objective: To characterize burnout's time course and evaluate the effect of time-varying workload on burnout and medical errors.
Design: Six-month longitudinal cohort study with measurements of burnout, workload, and wrong-patient orders every 4 weeks.
Background: The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created considerable strain on the physical and mental health of healthcare workers around the world. The effects have been acute for physician trainees-a unique group functioning simultaneously as learners and care providers with limited autonomy.
Objective: To investigate the longitudinal effects of physician trainee exposure to patients being tested for COVID-19 on stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout using three surveys conducted during the early phase of the pandemic.
Background: Scholarly activity training is a required component of pediatric pulmonology fellowship programs. However, there are no data on resources and barriers to training and factors associated with fellow productivity.
Methods: We surveyed US pediatric pulmonology fellowship program directors (FPDs) between March and October 2019.
Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in children. Adherence to the treatment with these drugs is of the utmost importance to prevent the emergence of resistant bacteria, a global health threat. In children, medicine acceptability is likely to have a significant impact on compliance.
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- Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) is a serious infectious foot disease in sheep, primarily affecting animal welfare within the UK and parts of Europe, with underlying mechanisms still not fully understood.
- In a study involving 18 sheep, researchers induced CODD and tracked the development of lesions and microbial changes over time, revealing that most CODD cases originated from pre-existing conditions like interdigital dermatitis and footrot.
- While treatment with amoxicillin showed a high clinical cure rate, the presence of certain pathogens in healthy and healed feet indicated the potential for ongoing infections, emphasizing the need for effective flock management and further research to validate the findings in real-world settings.
Introduction: The WHO Essential Medicine List for children (EMLc) is used for promoting access to medicines. The age-appropriateness of enteral (oral and rectal) formulations for children depend on their adaptability/flexibility to allow age-related or weight-related doses to be administered/prescribed and the child's ability to swallow, as appropriate. There is scant information on the age-appropriateness of essential enteral medicines for children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) is a common foot disease of sheep which causes a severe form of lameness and can be difficult to control. Recent research has provided evidence-based guidance on diagnosis, treatment and farm management control. The aim of this study was to determine the uptake of this guidance on the knowledge and practices of UK sheep farmers and veterinarians and identify priorities for future research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This article investigates the association between changes in electronic health record (EHR) use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the rate of burnout, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety among physician trainees (residents and fellows).
Methods: A total of 222 (of 1,375, 16.2%) physician trainees from an academic medical center responded to a Web-based survey.