Changes needed to reduce risk of musculoskeletal disorders.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the main contributor to disability levels, which are rising as populations age. Workplace hazard exposures are a major source of this problem, and current workplace risk management practices require substantial changes to tackle it more effectively. Most importantly, the current focus of risk management on "manual handling" tasks must broaden to encompass the whole job.

Psychosocial hazards play a key role in differentiating MSD risk levels of workers in high-risk occupations.

Objectives: Workplace management practices targeting risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) fail to reflect evidence that risk is affected by psychosocial as well as physical hazards. To promote improved practices in occupations where MSD risk is highest, better information is needed on how psychosocial hazards, combined with physical hazards, affect risk of workers in these occupations.

Methods: Survey ratings of physical and psychosocial hazards by 2329 Australian workers in occupations with high MSD risk were subjected to Principal Components Analysis.

Reinforcing outpatient medical student learning using brief computer tutorials: the Patient-Teacher-Tutorial sequence.

Background: At present, what students read after an outpatient encounter is largely left up to them. Our objective was to evaluate the education efficacy of a clinical education model in which the student moves through a sequence that includes immediately reinforcing their learning using a specifically designed computer tutorial.

Methods: Prior to a 14-day Pediatric Emergency rotation, medical students completed pre-tests for two common pediatric topics: Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS) and Fever Without Source (FWS).

Embedding medical student computer tutorials into a busy emergency department.

Objectives: To explore medical students' use of computer tutorials embedded in a busy clinical setting; to demonstrate that such tutorials can increase knowledge gain over and above that attributable to the clinical rotation itself.

Methods: Six tutorials were installed on a computer placed in a central area in an emergency department. Each tutorial was made up of between 33 and 85 screens of information that include text, graphics, animations, and questions.