Perceptions of an acute medical unit in internal medicine on interprofessional collaboration.

We aimed to assess perceptions about interprofessional collaboration (IPC) of healthcare professionals working in an acute medical unit (AMU) in an internal medicine department in the United Arab Emirates. The AMU provides care during the initial 24 to 72 hours of admission and emphasizes interprofessional collaboration. Using the Assessment of Interprofessional Team Collaboration Scale II, the study measured partnership, cooperation, and coordination among team members.

Interventions to support medical trainee well-being after patient death: A scoping review.

Background: Medical trainees are at the forefront of end-of-life care provision in the hospital setting but often feel unprepared to manage the complex emotions after patient death.

Objectives: To systematically identify and synthesize the published literature on interventions to support medical trainees dealing with patient death.

Methods: Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, Psych Info, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, and ERIC from inception to June 30, 2023.

Palliative care education: a nationwide qualitative study of emergency medicine residency program directors in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Emergency medicine (EM) physicians routinely care for patients with serious life-limiting illnesses. Educating EM residents to have general skills and competencies in palliative medicine is a global priority. The purpose of this study was to describe the current status of palliative and end-of-life education in EM residency programs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to identify barriers and opportunities to inculcating palliative care (PC) instruction into EM training in a non-Western setting.

Components of effective letters of recommendation: A cross-sectional survey of academic faculty.

Introduction: Conventional merit-based criteria, including standardized test scores and grade point averages, have become less available to residency programs to help distinguish applicants, making other components of the application, including letters of recommendation (LORs), important surrogate markers for performance. Despite their impact on applications, there is limited published data on LORs in the international setting.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of academic faculty was conducted between 9 January 2023 and 12 March 2023 at two large academic medical centers in the United Arab Emirates.

Development of an acute medical unit to optimize patient flow and early discharges in a tertiary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Hospitals worldwide are seeing an increased number of acute admissions, with resultant emergency department (ED) crowding and increased length of stay (LOS). Acute Medical Units (AMUs) have developed throughout the United Kingdom and other Western countries to reduce the burden on EDs and improve patient flow. Limited information is available on AMUs in the Middle East.

Medical Resident Awareness of Predatory Journal Practices in an International Medical Education System.

Introduction: Learning research methodology is increasingly becoming an essential part of graduate medical education worldwide, with many regulatory and accreditation bodies requiring residents to participate in scholarship. Research methodology workshops have become a standard part of medical curricula; however, there is limited data on how much training on journal selection and the publication process trainees receive. The alarming growth of predatory journals has made it increasingly difficult for researchers, especially trainees and early career physicians, to distinguish these publications from reputable journals.

Medical student experiences and perceptions of palliative care in a middle eastern country.

Introduction: Teaching in palliative care (PC) is an important component of medical education. Yet, studies in many countries document a fragmented and inconsistent approach to PC teaching. The goal of this study is to assess PC education, experience, and comfort levels in providing end-of-life care in recently graduated medical students.

The Impact of an Acute Medical Unit in Internal Medicine on Resident Education.

Background: Medical trainees are expected to provide care for increasingly sick and treatment intensive patients. To improve patient care, hospitals worldwide have developed acute medical units (AMUs), dedicated medical wards that provide care for patients during the first 24 to 72 hours of an emergency medical hospital admission. A distinguishing feature of these units is that they are supervised by senior clinicians and offer multidisciplinary patient-centered care.

Palliative care training: a national study of internal medicine residency program directors in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Internal medicine residents are responsible for providing much of the direct care for palliative and terminally ill patients in teaching hospitals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To date, little systematic information is available on the prevalence of palliative care (PC) programs or faculty in UAE academic hospitals, or on the nature of PC education in internal medicine residency programs in the country.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with program directors of all 7 internal medicine residency programs in the UAE.

How Internal Medicine Residents Deal with Death and Dying: a Qualitative Study of Transformational Learning and Growth.

Background: Dealing with death and dying is one of the most common sources of work-related stress for medical trainees. Research suggests that the degree of psychological distress that students and residents feel around providing care for terminally ill patients generally decreases as training progresses. However, there is a dearth of literature that directly addresses how trainees learn to manage emotions and process grief when patients die.

Multi-Disciplinary Discharge Coordination Team to Overcome Discharge Barriers and Address the Risk of Delayed Discharges.

Background: Delays in hospital discharge occur when patients are medically cleared but continue to remain hospitalized. Discharge delays can result in reduced levels of treatment, placing patients at risk of functional decline, falls and hospital-related adverse events. The Institute of Medicine has highlighted timely, efficient, and safe hospital discharge as a marker for quality care.

Internal medicine residents' perceptions and experiences in palliative care: a qualitative study in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Palliative medicine is a newly developing field in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of internal medicine residents providing end-of-life care to patients and their families, and how those experiences shape their learning needs.

Method: Nine focus groups were conducted with internal medicine residents and recent graduates from two large academic health centers in the UAE between 2019 and 2020.

Truth Disclosure at the End of Life: A Qualitative Study of Internal Medicine Residents in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Respect for patient autonomy has become the guiding biomedical ethical tenet in the West; yet, moral values are contextual and culturally relevant. In the collectivist society of the Middle East, families and physicians have historically believed that concealing truth about a terminal illness is more ethical and compassionate. Recent studies reveal a trend toward truth disclosure.

Undergraduate palliative care education in the United Arab Emirates: a nationwide assessment of medical school deans.

Background: The provision of comprehensive, high quality palliative care (PC) is a global public health concern. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), palliative medicine services are limited, and most patients in need of PC are treated in the acute hospital setting, where health professionals of all specialties provide treatment. Improving end-of-life care requires teaching medical students, residents, and other healthcare professionals about PC.

bacteremia due to urinary tract infection complicated by acute myocarditis: A rare complication.

Acute myocarditis is a rare complication of urinary tract infection and sepsis. We report the case of a previously healthy 55-year-old female who presented to our emergency department with diarrhea and hypotension. The basic metabolic panel results showed an increase in inflammatory markers and an acute kidney injury.

Post-infectious and post-acute sequelae of critically ill adults with COVID-19.

Background: Data on the post-acute and post-infectious complications of patients who have recovered from severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are limited. While studies report that approximately 5-15% of COVID-19 hospitalized patients require intensive care and mechanical ventilation, a substantially higher number need non-invasive ventilation and are subject to prolonged hospitalizations, with long periods of immobility and isolation. The purpose of this study is to describe the post-infectious sequelae of severe viral illness and the post-acute complications of intensive care treatments in critically ill patients who have recovered from severe COVID-19 infection.

Rebuilding Graduate Medical Education After a Crisis: Perspectives of Medical Residents in the United Arab Emirates.

Pandemics create unprecedented public health challenges that require comprehensive and coordinated responses from health care systems and can, thereby, cause substantial and prolonged disruption to residency training. The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted medical education worldwide. Currently, there is a gap in the literature from the trainee's perspective, and little advice on resuming post-pandemic operations.

Intelligent Graduate Medical Education Dashboard (IGMED) to Enhance Trainee Oversight During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Medical residents comprise a large, but unique, subset of the physician workforce. They serve as front-line staff, but are trainees, regulated by duty hour and supervision restrictions. Heightened oversight is necessary to ensure resident supervision and safety whilst mobilizing this important workforce during crisis.

An exploratory analysis of factors contributing to resident pass rates on a national licensure OSCE in the United Arab Emirates.

Purpose: To explore resident perceptions of factors contributing to pass rates on a high-stake licensing objective structured clinical exam (OSCE).

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to all 51 applicants of the April 2019 internal medicine Arab Board OSCE examination in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and included questions on preparedness, stress level, and prior educational experiences. Exposures were evaluated for correlation against Arab Board pass rates using Pearson correlation and the two-tailed significance was recorded.

Covid-19 pandemic research opportunity: Is the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) missing out?

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused fear and panic worldwide, forcing healthcare systems to disregard conventional practices and adopt innovation to contain the infection and death. Globally, there has been a rapid proliferation of research studies and clinical trials assessing risks, infectivity and treatment.

Methods: This review assesses the opportunities and challenges in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to engage in the conduct of high quality clinical trials during the Covid-19 pandemic.

pneumonia with bacteremia without meningitis: An atypical presentation.

remains the most important cause of bacterial meningitis worldwide. The second most common and potentially severe end-organ manifestation of invasive meningococcal disease is meningococcal pneumonia. It occurs between 5 % and 15 % of all patients with invasive meningococcal disease.

Patient-Reported Functional Status in Outpatients With Advanced Cancer: Correlation With Physician-Reported Scores and Survival.

Context: Performance status measures are increasingly completed by patients in outpatient cancer settings, but are not well validated for this use.

Objectives: We assessed performance of a patient-reported functional status measure (PRFS, based on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG]), compared with the physician-completed ECOG, in terms of agreement in ratings and prediction of survival.

Methods: Patients and physicians independently completed five-point PRFS (lay version of ECOG) and ECOG measures on first consultation at an oncology palliative care clinic.