Medicine e-mentoring: accessibility and suitability of e-mentoring for applicants from widening participation and non-widening participation backgrounds

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-136
Author(s):  
Patricia Jayne Harris ◽  
Kathleen Lane

This paper investigates the accessibility and suitability of e-mentoring to support access to medicine for applicants from diverse backgrounds. Through qualitative analysis of the conversations between mentors (current medical students) and mentees it aims to identify the main concerns of potential medical applicants and investigate similarities and differences between mentees from widening participation (WP) and non-widening participation backgrounds. Thirty-six medicine applicants from varied backgrounds subscribed to e-mentoring during their UCAS application preparation making it possible to address the study's research questions. No discernible difference between WP and non-WP applicants was evident, which suggests the label is not indicative of prior knowledge or support needed to navigate the application process. E-mentoring was found to be a suitable platform for the delivery of outreach and both WP and non-WP applicants benefited equally. The findings from the study are discussed in the context of Health Professional Admissions and Outreach and the use of e-mentoring as a means of delivering on the WP access agenda.

2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110181
Author(s):  
Sam Sugimoto ◽  
Drew Recker ◽  
Elizabeth E. Halvorson ◽  
Joseph A. Skelton

Background. Many diseases are linked to lifestyle in the United States, yet physicians receive little training in nutrition. Medical students’ prior knowledge of nutrition and cooking is unknown. Objective. To determine incoming medical students’ prior nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, and nutrition habits. Methods. A dual-methods study of first-year medical students. Cross-sectional survey assessing prior knowledge, self-efficacy, and previous education of cooking and nutrition. Interviews of second-year medical students explored cooking and nutrition in greater depth. Results. A total of 142 first-year medical students participated; 16% had taken a nutrition course, with majority (66%) learning outside classroom settings. Students had a mean score of 87% on the Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire versus comparison group (64.9%). Mean cooking and food skills score were lower than comparison scores. Overall, students did not meet guidelines for fiber, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Interviews with second-year students revealed most learned to cook from their families; all believed it important for physicians to have this knowledge. Conclusions. Medical students were knowledgeable about nutrition, but typically self-taught. They were not as confident or skilled in cooking, and mostly learned from their family. They expressed interest in learning more about nutrition and cooking.


By definition, international law, once agreed upon and consented to, applies to all parties equally. It is perhaps the one area of law where cross-country comparison seems inappropriate, because all parties are governed by the same rules. However, as this book explains, states sometimes adhere to similar, and other times adopt different, interpretations of the same international norms and standards. International legal rules are not a monolithic whole, but are the basis for ongoing contestation, in which states set forth competing interpretations. International norms are interpreted and redefined by national executives, legislatures, and judiciaries. These varying and evolving interpretations can, in turn, change and impact the international rules themselves. These similarities and differences make for an important, but thus far largely unexamined, object of comparison. This is the premise for this book, and for what the editors call “comparative international law.” This book achieves three goals. The first is to show that international law is not a monolith. The second is to map the cross-country similarities and differences in international legal norms in different fields of international law, as well as their application and interpretation with regards to geographic differences. The third is to make a first and preliminary attempt to explain these differences. The book’s contributors include leading international law and comparative law scholars with diverse backgrounds, experience, and perspectives. It is organized into three broad thematic sections, exploring: conceptual matters, domestic institutions and comparative international law, and comparing approaches across issue-areas.


Author(s):  
Scarlett A. McNally

Every person should be valued for their skills and potential, for every moment they are present. Training on Diversity and Unconscious bias is urgently needed. All staff must see themselves as role models, creating culture and reacting to another's name badge/role, with “fake it till you make it”. Those with poor behaviour may lack insight. Zero tolerance involves others taking a poorly-behaving peer for ‘a Vanderbilt cup of coffee'. Informal mentors should avoid gendered assumptions, e.g. all medical students need to scrub in. Leadership roles should have a clear application process. Inequality is not just a women's issue. Improvements must focus on the women themselves, the others around them, and the structures/processes. There are parallels with prevention in healthcare needing 3-pronged change: in individuals, society/culture, and organisations. More people being active can rapidly reduce the need for, and cost of, healthcare and social care by £Billions annually. The current paradigm of health is perhaps passive and paternalistic and a radical approach is needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 215145932095172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle A. Richardson ◽  
Wasif Islam ◽  
Matthew Magruder

Introduction: The world-wide lockdown caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has upended the trajectories of lives everywhere. The medical profession has been on the front lines of this rapidly developing situation, which in turn has called for unprecedented changes in the medical school curriculum. These changes have severe implications for medical students interested in applying to competitive surgical specialties like orthopedics. Methods: As medical students in 3 different class years pursuing orthopedic surgery, we provide our perspectives on the impact that COVID-19 has had on medical student orthopedic education. Results: With the removal of away rotations and a shift to virtual interviews, rising fourth year medical students are arguably the most impacted as they prepare for the orthopedic residency application process. Third year students, who are in the exploratory phase of choosing a specialty, also face uncertainties in the shift to a “new” clerkship experience that may (1) be of shorter duration, (2) implement shifts to limit overcrowding of clinical space, and (3) increase the use of telehealth over direct patient contact. Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the course of medical students’ orthopedic education in unprecedented ways. We believe the following suggestions may be helpful for students seeking alternative, supplemental ways of learning: (1) read up on major orthopedic journals, (2) reach out to orthopedic surgeons in areas of interest, (3) reach out to program directors/medical clerkship directors/program coordinators for opportunities to attend their educational curriculum virtually, (4) attend online lectures and hospital grand rounds, and (5) practice suturing technique with a practice kit. Conclusions: While the medical education landscape remains uncertain amid the evolving conditions of COVID-19, as medical students we strive to learn from this pandemic and respond to future unforeseen challenges with resilience, dedication, and compassion: all qualities we admire in orthopedic surgeons.


Ethnography ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146613812091306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judson G Everitt ◽  
James M Johnson ◽  
William H Burr ◽  
Stephanie H Shanower

In this paper, we argue that there is new insight to be gained by reexamining the classic text, Boys in White, in strategic ways. Specifically, we share excerpts from Boys in White with current medical students and ask for their reactions in qualitative interviews, examining the relevance (or lack thereof) of earlier meanings about professional training for current processes of professional training. We show how we have employed this technique in our current project revisiting Boys in White with current medical students, and discuss preliminary findings that reveal the potential of this technique for documenting evidence of macro-level forces in healthcare institutions using qualitative data on new doctors. We conclude with discussion of alternative approaches through which scholars could make use of this technique in future professional socialization scholarship that could shed light on dynamics of institutional persistence and change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 861-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenia Gnevsheva

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: The paper aimed to investigate style-shifting in the use of ethnolectal features in first- and second- generation bilingual migrants. Design/Methodology/Approach: Three groups of speakers (first- and second-generation Russian–English bilinguals as well as monolingual Anglo Australians) were audio-recorded in three different styles (conversation, interview, and reading). Data and Analysis: Their production of the goose and trap vowels across the styles was analyzed quantitatively. Findings/Conclusions: Overall differences were found between the groups such that first- and second-generation speakers produced more Russian-like vowels compared to the monolinguals; with the biggest differences between the first-generation speakers and the other two groups. In terms of style-shifting, no significant differences were found in the monolingual speakers, and both first- and second-generation speakers were found to produce most Australian English-like vowels in the conversation style. At the same time, certain differences between the two bilingual groups surfaced, such as no significant differences in the first-generation speakers’ production of the goose vowel and in the vowels’ linguistic conditioning. Originality: Previous studies have compared ethnolects in the first- and second-generations of migrants and mainstream varieties in order to theorize ethnolect formation. Several studies have also investigated intraspeaker style-shifting between more ‘mainstream’ and more ‘ethnic’ in ethnolect speakers, but such style-shifting is rarely compared across generations. Significance/Implications: The similarities and differences between the two bilingual groups suggest that ethnolectal features may be originally derived from the community language but may be reallocated to other sociolinguistic meanings in the second generation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Avik Chatterjee ◽  
Thomas N. Rusher ◽  
Julia Nugent ◽  
Kenneth W. Herring ◽  
Lindsey M. Rose ◽  
...  

Despite the importance of healthful dietary choices in combating the childhood obesity epidemic, neither primary and secondary schools nor medical schools provide adequate nutrition education. In 2005, two medical students at the University of North Carolina started the Improving Meals and Physical Activity in Children and Teens (IMPACT) program, which utilized a peer-educator model to engage medical students and high school students in teaching 4th graders about healthy eating and physical activity. Over the years, medical student leaders of IMPACT continued the program, orienting the curriculum around the 5-2-1-0 Let’s Go campaign, aligning the IMPACT curriculum with North Carolina state curricular objectives for 4th graders and engaging and training teams of health professional students to deliver the program. The IMPACT project demonstrates how medical and other health professional students can successfully promote nutrition and physical activity education for themselves and for children through community-based initiatives. Ongoing efforts are aimed at increasing family participation in the curriculum to maximize changes in eating and physical activity of IMPACT participants and ensuring sustainability of the organization by engaging health professional student participants in continuing to improve the program.


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