The impact of changes in opioid dependency treatment upon COVID-19 transmission in Sydney, Australia: a retrospective longitudinal observational study.

Background: In April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) Drug and Alcohol services modified their delivery of opioid dependency treatment (ODT) to reduce spread of COVID-19 and maintain continuity of care by increasing use of takeaway doses (TADs), transferring clients to local community pharmacies for dosing and encouraging the use of long-acting depot buprenorphine (LADB) which enabled once a month dosing.

Methods: This study was a retrospective longitudinal case-control study conducted from August 1st, to November 30th, 2021. Eligible clients were those admitted for treatment with SESLHD ODT Services prior to August 1st,2021 and who remained in treatment beyond November 30th, 2021.

Writing an External Letter of Review for Promotion.

Academic promotion, representing achievement of a level of distinction in one's body of work, is an honorable accomplishment in a faculty member's career. External letters of review written by faculty at higher ranks are a critical component of the promotion portfolio. We discuss key considerations for writing external letters.

Meteorological Influence on Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter: A Nationwide Observational Study in South Korea (2010-2022).

Background and rationale The impact of meteorological factors, including atmospheric temperature, humidity, and wind speed, on the incidence of atrial fibrillation and flutter (AF) has been the subject of several studies, but the findings have been inconsistent. Given the complex and multifaceted nature of this relationship, a larger-scale study was necessary to provide sufficient statistical power and elucidate potential associations between them. The aim of this study was, thus, to investigate the potential associations between meteorological factors and the incidence of AF.

Opioid agonist treatment and patient outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in south east Sydney, Australia.

Introduction: In early 2020, many services modified their delivery of opioid treatment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to limit viral spread and maintain treatment continuity. We describe the changes to treatment and preliminary analysis of the association with patients' substance use and well-being.

Methods: A pre-post comparison of treatment conditions and patient self-reported outcomes using data extracted from electronic medical records in the 5 months before (December 2019-April 2020) and after (May 2020-September 2020) changes were implemented in three public treatment services in South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.

Patient-Reported Outcomes of Treatment of Opioid Dependence With Weekly and Monthly Subcutaneous Depot vs Daily Sublingual Buprenorphine: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Patient-reported outcomes in the treatment of opioid dependence may differ between subcutaneously administered depot buprenorphine and daily sublingual buprenorphine.

Objective: To compare patient satisfaction between depot buprenorphine and sublingual buprenorphine in adult outpatients with opioid dependence.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This open-label, randomized clinical trial was conducted among adult patients with opioid dependence at 6 outpatient clinical sites in Australia from October 2018 to September 2019.

Clinical Case Conference: Strategies for Transferring From Methadone to Buprenorphine.

The mainstay of treatment for opioid use disorder are medications, methadone (a full opioid agonist), or buprenorphine (a partial opioid agonist), in conjunction with psychosocial interventions. Both treatments are effective but safety, efficacy, and patient preference can lead to a decision to change from one treatment to the other. Transfer from buprenorphine to methadone is not clinically challenging; however, changing from methadone to buprenorphine is more complex.

Managing opioid withdrawal precipitated by buprenorphine with buprenorphine.

Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist commonly used to treat opioid dependence. The pharmacology of buprenorphine increases the risk of a precipitated opioid withdrawal when commencing patients on buprenorphine treatment, particularly when transferring from long acting opioids (e.g.

Integrating Interprofessional Case Scenarios, Allied Embedded Actors, and Teaching Into Formative Observed Structured Clinical Exams.

Background And Objectives: Interprofessional education is a critical component of medical student training, yet it is often difficult to implement. Medical students who learn with, from, and about learners from other disciplines have been shown to create more effective and safe health care teams. The investigators wanted to know how participating in two interprofessional observed structured clinical exams (OSCEs) at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) would affect changes in medical students' attitudes and values in interprofessional teamwork.

The interplay between residency program culture and feedback culture: a cross-sectional study exploring perceptions of residents at three institutions.

Background: Giving and receiving feedback that changes performance is influenced significantly by the clinical learning environment. This environment is multi-dimensional but includes both organizational and feedback specific dimensions.

Objective: The objectives of this research were to investigate the relationship between residents' perceptions of residency program culture and feedback culture; and whether there were differences in resident perceptions of their programs' and feedback cultures based on their disciplines and institution.

The Art (and Artifice) of Seeking Feedback: Clerkship Students' Approaches to Asking for Feedback.

Purpose: As attention has shifted to learners as significant partners in feedback interactions, it is important to explore what feedback-seeking behaviors medical students use and how the faculty-student relationship affects feedback-seeking behaviors.

Method: This qualitative study was inspired by the organizational psychology literature. Third-year medical students were interviewed at Maine Medical Center in April-May 2017 after completing a traditional block rotation clerkship or a nine-month longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC).

The Benefits of Honoring Patients as Teachers: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: Medical training could not occur without the contributions of patients. Few programs are available that recognize patients for their essential role in medical education, and even fewer explore their impact. The Patients as Teachers (PaT) program was developed to provide an opportunity for medical students to formally honor patients for their contributions and to evaluate their effect on students' medical education.

The research contributions of predominantly North American Family Medicine educators to medical learner feedback: a descriptive analysis following a scoping review.

Background And Objectives: In 2016, we performed a scoping review as a means of mapping what is known in the literature about feedback to medical learners. In this descriptive analysis, we explore a subset of the results to assess the contributions of predominantly North American family medicine educators to the feedback literature.

Methods: Nineteen articles extracted from our original scoping review plus six articles identified from an additional search of the journal Family Medicine are described in-depth.

Trainees' Perceptions of Feedback: Validity Evidence for Two FEEDME (Feedback in Medical Education) Instruments.

Unlabelled: Construct: Medical educators consider feedback a core component of the educational process. Effective feedback allows learners to acquire new skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Learners' perceptions of feedback are an important aspect to assess with valid methods in order to improve the feedback skills of educators and the feedback culture.

The Feedback Tango: An Integrative Review and Analysis of the Content of the Teacher-Learner Feedback Exchange.

Purpose: To conduct an integrative review and analysis of the literature on the content of feedback to learners in medical education.

Method: Following completion of a scoping review in 2016, the authors analyzed a subset of articles published through 2015 describing the analysis of feedback exchange content in various contexts: audiotapes, clinical examination, feedback cards, multisource feedback, videotapes, and written feedback. Two reviewers extracted data from these articles and identified common themes.

Is feedback to medical learners associated with characteristics of improved patient care?

Purpose: To investigate the association of medical learner feedback with patient management and outcomes.

Methods: The authors investigated 27 articles that utilized patient data or chart reviews as a subset of a prior feedback scoping review. Data extraction was completed by two authors and all authors reviewed the descriptive data analysis.

High Prevalence and Clinical/Sociodemographic Correlates of Miscarriages Among Flight Attendants.

Background: There are many occupational health hazards associated with long hours of air travel, including cosmic radiation exposure, circadian rhythm disruptions, prior and secondhand smoke exposure, for flight attendants who flew before smoking bans were initiated in the 1990s. Previous studies in flight attendants have found increased incidence of breast cancer and melanoma. However, there is little information on the relationship of airline travel and reproductive health in flight attendants.

Feedback for Learners in Medical Education: What Is Known? A Scoping Review.

Purpose: To conduct a scoping review of the literature on feedback for learners in medical education.

Method: In 2015-2016, the authors searched the Ovid MEDLINE, ERIC, CINAHL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, Web of Science, and Scopus databases and seven medical education journals (via OvidSP) for articles published January 1980-December 2015. Two reviewers screened articles for eligibility with inclusion criteria.

Alcohol-related cognitive impairment: current trends and future perspectives.

Excessive alcohol use is associated with a wide range of physical, psychological and social consequences, and is responsible for a significant proportion of the burden of disease globally. An area which has received increasing interest is alcohol-related brain damage, not just because of the cost to the individual and society through resource utilization, but also because of the potential for prevention and reversibility. This paper aims to review the current literature on this subject and seeks to explore issues around diagnosis and treatment of alcohol-related brain damage.

Assessment of Medical Student and Resident/Fellow Knowledge, Comfort, and Training With Sexual History Taking in LGBTQ Patients.

Background And Objectives: Sexual health is an important aspect of overall health. Barriers to taking an adequate patient sexual history exist. Few studies have explored medical learners' comfort, knowledge, and training surrounding taking sexual histories with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer (LGBTQ) patients specifically.

Physician shadowing by college students: what do patients think?

Background: The objective of this study is to determine patients' perceptions of physician shadowing by college students.

Methods: Thirty-two patients who agreed to have a college student shadow their physician participated in semi-structured interviews during July and August 2013 at two outpatient family medicine centers. Qualitative techniques were utilized to analyze the transcripts of the patient interviews and identify common themes.

Truncation of alphaB-crystallin by the myopathy-causing Q151X mutation significantly destabilizes the protein leading to aggregate formation in transfected cells.

Here we investigate the effects of a myopathy-causing mutation in alphaB-crystallin, Q151X, upon its structure and function. This mutation removes the C-terminal domain of alphaB-crystallin, which is expected to compromise both its oligomerization and chaperone activity. We compared this to two other alphaB-crystallin mutants (450delA, 464delCT) and also to a series of C-terminal truncations (E164X, E165X, K174X, and A171X).