Context: Electives commonly represent a valued, enjoyed and formative part of medical training. However, there is little empirical evidence about students' preparedness, practices and perceptions of medical electives in resource-poor settings. Exploring what students do, why and under what circumstances is therefore worthwhile.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate students' views on the processes, outcomes and impacts of medical electives in three low-income countries.
Methods: A qualitative study using purposeful sampling and semi-structured interviews was conducted. Participants were 29 Western students on medical electives at seven host sites in sub-Saharan Africa. A framework approach was used to analyse 872 minutes of audio-recorded data.
Results: Students were highly positive about their experiences and seemed aware of their clinical limitations. Pre-departure training offered by some institutions was beneficial, but the content was perceived to be of little clinical relevance. Language barriers were the main challenges faced by students, even in places where English was the second language. Students who stayed longer, were nearer qualification or were based in rural units (rather than teaching centres) contributed more to patient care. Supervision was considered adequate but this appeared to be judged in a local context. Deliberate inappropriate practice was not encountered, but on occasion misunderstanding arose over the student's status.
Conclusions: Students who undertake electives in resource-poor countries appear to have clearly thought out and positive intentions, but current systems cause concern with reference to student activities and staff time, and require improvement. Instead of focusing on education benefits alone, students (and their sending institutions) need to consider other approaches through which host communities can more clearly benefit. Effective pre-departure preparation should become a requirement.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/medu.12477 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Medical Image Processing Research Group (MIPRG), Dept. of Elect. & Comp. Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Recovering diagnostic-quality cardiac MR images from highly under-sampled data is a current research focus, particularly in addressing cardiac and respiratory motion. Techniques such as Compressed Sensing (CS) and Parallel Imaging (pMRI) have been proposed to accelerate MRI data acquisition and improve image quality. However, these methods have limitations in high spatial-resolution applications, often resulting in blurring or residual artifacts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEgypt Heart J
January 2025
Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Indonesia.
Background: Precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) as complication in atrial septal defect (ASD) is closely related to right heart hemodynamics, such as right atrial pressure (RAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). Right heart catheterization (RHC) as the gold standard for their measurement is invasive and not widely available in Indonesia. Electrocardiography (ECG) was proposed to be alternative in this matter.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Family Med Prim Care
December 2024
Department of Internal Medicine, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA.
Telemedicine is a potential complementary modality with remarkable benefits for future healthcare delivery when incorporated appropriately. This review article examines the importance of telemedicine in various types of healthcare facilities and its utility in remote and underserved settings. PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Embase databases were used for the literature review.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Family Med Prim Care
December 2024
Department of HIV and Blood Borne Viruses, Milton Keynes University Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, Milton Keynes, UK.
We report a case of a 49-year-old female with a history of HIV infection for 12 years. The patient had excellent compliance with antiretroviral medications, raltegravir 400 mg twice daily and truvada once daily for HIV. Over the years, she maintained an undetectable viral load with a CD4+ count >200 cells/μL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Thorac Surg Short Rep
June 2024
University Department of Cardiac Surgery, Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Background: Comparative studies of outcomes between different biological mitral valve prostheses are scarce. This study compares the late clinical results of valve replacement with the Epic and Mosaic bioprostheses.
Methods: Patients undergoing isolated elective mitral valve replacement (MVR) between 2005 and 2019 were eligible for inclusion.
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