Improved self- and external assessment of the clinical abilities of medical students through structured improvement measures in an internal medicine bedside course.

Background: Bedside courses are of outstanding importance when training medical students. The fact that less and less teaching is taking place nowadays at the patient's bedside makes it all the more important that the available time be put to effective use. The aim of this study was to check whether structured improvement measures in the course (scripts, lecturer briefing, e-learning cases) would improve the abilities of the students on the basis of a subjective self-assessment as well as an external assessment by the lecturers with respect to clinical abilities.

Genome-wide association studies in oesophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's oesophagus: a large-scale meta-analysis.

Background: Oesophageal adenocarcinoma represents one of the fastest rising cancers in high-income countries. Barrett's oesophagus is the premalignant precursor of oesophageal adenocarcinoma. However, only a few patients with Barrett's oesophagus develop adenocarcinoma, which complicates clinical management in the absence of valid predictors.

Neurology assessment by objective structured video examination.

Background: The ability to carry out a neurological examination and make an appropriate differential diagnosis is one of the mainstays of our final Bachelor of Medicine (MB) exam; however, with the introduction of objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) it has become impossible to arrange for adequate numbers of suitable real patients to participate in the exam.

Context: It is vital that newly qualified doctors can perform a basic neurological examination, interpret the physical signs and formulate a differential diagnosis. It is vital that newly qualified doctors can perform a basic neurological examination

Innovation: Since 2010 we have introduced an objective structured video examination (OSVE) of a neurological examination of a real patient as part of our final MB OSCE exam.

Healthcare professionals experience with motivational interviewing in their encounter with obese pregnant women.

Objective: to explore and describe how healthcare professionals in the Southern Region of Denmark experienced motivational interviewing as a communication method when working with pregnant women with obesity.

Design: a qualitative, descriptive study based on face-to-face interviews with 11 obstetric healthcare professionals working in a perinatal setting.

Methods: a thematic descriptive method was applied to semi-structured interviews.

Module based training improves and sustains surgical skills: a randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: Traditional surgical training is challenged by factors such as patient safety issues, economic considerations and lack of exposure to surgical procedures due to short working hours. A module-based clinical training model promotes rapidly acquired and persistent surgical skills.

Methods: A randomised controlled trial concerning supervised hernia repair in eight training hospitals in Denmark was performed.

Is current surgical training efficient? A national survey.

Objectives: Evaluation of surgical training in Denmark is competency based with no requirement for a specific number of procedures. This may affect monitoring of surgical progress adversely and cause an underestimation of the time needed to acquire surgical competencies. We investigated the number of common surgical procedures performed by trainees.

Reliable and valid assessment of Lichtenstein hernia repair skills.

Purpose: Lichtenstein hernia repair is a common surgical procedure and one of the first procedures performed by a surgical trainee. However, formal assessment tools developed for this procedure are few and sparsely validated. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of an assessment tool designed to measure surgical skills in Lichtenstein hernia repair.

Admission criteria and diversity in medical school.

Context: The under-representation in medical education of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds is an important social issue. There is currently little evidence about whether changes in admission strategies might increase the diversity of the medical student population. Denmark introduced an 'attribute-based' admission track to make it easier for students who may not be eligible for admission on the 'grade-based' track to be admitted on the basis of attributes other than academic performance.

Learning to diagnose using patient video case in paediatrics: perceptive and cognitive processes.

Thomas Balslev, a paediatric neurologist and educational researcher, defended his thesis on 24 November 2011. The thesis included five published papers, and investigated learning with authentic, brief patient video cases. With analysis of a video case in a small group, learning processes and sharing of knowledge was intensely stimulated.

Medical graduates feel well-prepared for clinical work.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to assess the coherence between the undergraduate medical program at Aarhus University and the foundation year.

Material And Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire survey included 503 doctors graduated from Aarhus University from the winter of 2007/2008 to the summer of 2009.

Results: The response rate was 73%.

Visual expertise in paediatric neurology.

Background: Visual expertise relies on perceptive as well as cognitive processes. At present, knowledge of these processes when diagnosing clinical cases mainly stems from studies with still pictures. In contrast, patient video cases constitute a dynamic diagnostic challenge that may simulate seeing and diagnosing a patient in person.

Perspectives on being a mentor for undergraduate dental students.

As part of the new study programme in Dentistry, an obligatory mentor programme was introduced during autumn 2005 for all student dentists at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The aim of the programme is to provide support and guidance for the students in their professional role as dentists. All mentors in the programme are licenced dentists and lecturers at the Department of Dental Medicine.

Medical students learning intimate examinations without valid consent: a multicentre study.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore medical students' explanations of their behaviour when instructed to observe or perform intimate examinations or procedures without valid patient consent.

Methods: We used a qualitative design employing individual and group interviews to elicit narratives of dilemmas associated with professionalism. Qualitative thematic analyses of narratives were followed by a qualitative and quantitative analysis using a validated coding scheme of students' explanations of their behaviours within dilemmas involving intimate examinations carried out without valid consent.

Symmetry of retinal vessel arborisation in normal and amblyopic eyes.

Purpose: Arborisation of retinal vessels might be influenced by the physiological activity of the retina. It seems that the pattern of retinal vessels is an obvious object for fractal analysis. The fractal dimension of normal retinas was therefore used by us as a control value for comparison with the values collected from patients with amblyopia in one eye connected with strabismus and normal vision in the other.

Right-left discrimination among medical students: questionnaire and psychometric study.

Objective: To determine medical students' self awareness and ability to discriminate right from left; to identify characteristics associated with this ability; and to identify any techniques used to aid discrimination.

Design: Questionnaire and psychometric study.

Setting: Undergraduate medical school, Northern Ireland.

Non-effective partner notification system: a missed opportunity for the reduction of sexually transmitted infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

Unlabelled: It is well know that common sexually transmitted infections (STI) promote HIV/AIDS infections in the community. Partner notification is one of the recommended strategies used for STI control. Antenatal syphilis screening, treatment of syphilis-positive pregnant women and their partner (partners) treatment may decrease the number of new syphilis cases, cases of congenital syphilis and diminish maternal morbidity and mortality.

Survey on maternal mortality in Swaziland using the sisterhood method.

Monitoring and evaluating maternal mortality in African countries is impossible without specific and reliable data and indicators. This study of maternal mortality using the 'Sisterhood Method' was undertaken in Swaziland. The crude data on 'sisterhood mortality' were obtained from the 1993-94 Multi-Purpose Household Survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office and Ministry of Health of Swaziland.

Long-term administration of N-acetylcysteine decreases hydrogen peroxide exhalation in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhale more hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation products than healthy subjects. This may reflect oxidative stress in the airways that plays important role in the development and progression of COPD. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a mucolytic drug, possesses antioxidant properties as it is a precursor of reduced glutathione that together with glutathione peroxidase may decompose H2O2 and lipid peroxides.

Broth disk elution method for anaerobic bacteria: a collaborative study to assess its reliability for clinical purposes.

A collaborative study involving seven laboratories was undertaken to evaluate the reproducibility and the reliability of the broth disk elution test against anaerobic bacteria by comparing with the reference agar dilution method. A two breakpoint broth test was also evaluated. Assays were performed using the same testing conditions (i.

Effect of inhibitors of slow calcium current on resting calcium efflux from cat papillary muscles.

Examination of influence of divalent cations (Co2+, Ni2+, Mn2+) and organic blockers (verapamil and D600) on calcium efflux from resting mammalian myocardium shows that they either inhibit or increase transiently 45Ca2+ efflux, depending on the site of action. It seems that those agents whose sites of action are limited to the sarcolemma inhibit Ca2+ efflux. Co2+, Ni2+, verapamil and D600 belong to this group.