Creatine supplementation and endurance performance: surges and sprints to win the race.

Creatine supplementation is an effective ergogenic aid to augment resistance training and improve intense, short duration, intermittent performance. The effects on endurance performance are less known. The purpose of this brief narrative review is to discuss the potential mechanisms of how creatine can affect endurance performance, defined as large muscle mass activities that are cyclical in nature and are >~3 min in duration, and to highlight specific nuances within the literature.

Are Caffeine's Effects on Resistance Exercise and Jumping Performance Moderated by Training Status?

This study aimed to explore if the effects of caffeine intake on resistance exercise and jumping performance are moderated by training status. We included ten resistance-trained and ten recreationally active males in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. Participants were categorized into groups according to their resistance to training experience and muscular strength levels.

Assessing the Utility of Mental Health First Aid Training for Physician Assistant Students.

Introduction: Physician assistant (PA) students are at increased risk for anxiety and depression compared with the general population. The demands of studying medicine can contribute to a decline in mental health, which may impede a student's ability to progress in his or her PA program. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is one strategy that can be used to increase mental health literacy, promote help-seeking behavior, reduce stigma, and improve confidence in providing help to individuals showing signs of a mental health disorder.

Comparing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination Pass Rate of Graduates From Programs Utilizing Distance Education to the National Average.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to compare the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) pass rate of graduates from physician assistant (PA) programs utilizing distance education to the national average of PANCE pass rates.

Methods: The Physician Assistant Education Association online PA program directory was used to obtain the name and number of physician assistant (PA) programs that offered distance education in their curriculum. The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report was reviewed for each PA program that offered distance education.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the PA Foundation's Mental Health Outreach fellowship.

Objectives: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is designed to help the general public acquire the knowledge and skills needed to respond to a person in a mental health emergency and offer support to someone in emotional distress. Through the PA Foundation's Mental Health Outreach Fellowship, 16 physician assistants (PAs) were selected to become MHFA instructors and teach the course to members of their local communities over 1 year.

Methods: MHFA course evaluations, completed by course participants, were reviewed to determine the effectiveness of the PA fellows as instructors.

Career regret: an analysis of physician assistants.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The purpose of this study was to identify life and career variables that differ between physician assistants (PAs) with and without career regret.

Advancing Oral Health Knowledge and Attitudes of Physician Assistant Students Using the Smiles for Life Oral Health Curriculum.

Background And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine's Smiles for Life: A National Oral Health Curriculum on the knowledge and attitudes of physician assistant students regarding oral health.

Methods: Seventy-two didactic year physician assistant students from one physician assistant program were surveyed to assess their knowledge and attitudes regarding oral health prior to starting the Smiles for Life oral health curriculum. The students were electronically surveyed a second time 1 week after completing all online modules in the Smiles for Life oral health curriculum.

Key Factors Leading to Program Selection: A Survey of Physician Assistant Program Interviewees.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine which factors had the greatest influence on physician assistant (PA) interviewees' decision to choose a PA program to attend. The information in this article may assist PA programs in making their program more attractive to potential applicants and also may help applicants identify programs that will best fit their needs.

Methods: Applicants who interviewed with a PA program were asked to rate 33 different influential factors when choosing a program to attend.

Unusual case of Scedosporium apiospermum keratitis following phacoemulsification in a systemically well patient.

Unlabelled: We report the case of a 65-year-old immunocompetent woman who developed Scedosporium apiospermum keratitis after clear-corneal phacoemulsification. A 3.5 mm by 2.

Do older adults' beliefs about their community mobility predict walking performance?

Among older adults, preserving community mobility (CM) is important for maintaining independent living. We explored whether perceptions of the environment and self-efficacy for CM (SE-CM) would predict walking performance for tasks reflecting CM. We hypothesized that perceptions of the environment and SE-CM would be additive predictors of walking performance on tasks reflecting the complexity of CM.

Stair falls: caregiver's "missed step" as a source of childhood fractures.

Background: The purpose of this study was to describe fractures sustained by children and to analyze the associated costs when a caretaker falls down stairs while holding a child.

Materials And Methods: Between 2004 and 2012, 16 children who sustained a fracture after a fall down stairs while being carried by a caregiver were identified. Parents/caregivers were interviewed to see how the fall occurred, and a cost analysis was performed.

Light therapy for managing cognitive, sleep, functional, behavioural, or psychiatric disturbances in dementia.

Background: Rest-activity and sleep-wake cycles are controlled by the endogenous circadian rhythm generated by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Degenerative changes in the SCN appear to be a biological basis for circadian disturbances in people with dementia, and might be reversed by stimulation of the SCN by light.

Objectives: The review assesses the evidence of effectiveness of light therapy in managing cognitive, sleep, functional, behavioural, or psychiatric disturbances associated with dementia.