A Block-Chain based Framework for Educational Domain and its Benefits

A chain of blocks that contains information is the definition of Blockchain. The technique is intended to timestamp digital documents so that it is not possible to temper them. The purpose of blockchain is to solve the double records problem without the need of a central server. Blockchain provides a creative approach to storing information, executing transactions, conducting tasks and trust building. Blockchain is an emerging technology for the applications Smart Cities, Smart Grids, Healthcare, Education, Crypto-currency and Supply chain. This research work would offer a detailed analysis of Blockchain in the Educational domain. It also studies the various applications of Blockchain technology. Keywords: Blockchain, Smart Cities, Healthcare, Education, Supply Chain, Privacy, Security.

From clinician to educator: A scoping review of professional identity and the influence of impostor phenomenon

Introduction: As healthcare educators undergo a career transition from providing care to providing education, their professional identity can also transition accompanied by significant threat. Given their qualifications are usually clinical in nature, healthcare educators’ knowledge and skills in education and other relevant theories are often minimal, making them vulnerable to feeling fraudulent in the healthcare educator role. This threat and vulnerability is described as the impostor phenomenon. The aim of this study was to examine and map the concepts of professional identity and the influence of impostor phenomenon in healthcare educators. Methods: The authors conducted a scoping review of health professions literature. Six databases were searched, identifying 121 relevant articles, eight meeting our inclusion criteria. Two researchers independently extracted data, collating and summarising the results. Results: Clinicians who become healthcare educators experience identity ambiguity. Gaps exist in the incidence and influence of impostor phenomenon in healthcare educators. Creating communities of practice, where opportunities exist for formal and informal interactions with both peers and experts, has a positive impact on professional identity construction. Faculty development activities that incorporate the beliefs, values and attributes of the professional role of a healthcare educator can be effective in establishing a new professional identity. Conclusion: This review describes the professional identity ambiguity experienced by clinicians as they take on the role of healthcare educator and solutions to ensure a sustainable healthcare education workforce.

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

As the technologies are evolving day by day, they are able to rejuvenate any sector either individually or by incorporating other technologies. There are many prominent sectors in the market such as healthcare, education, entertainment, business, information technology, retail, etc. Every sector has its own set of profits and consequences, but apart from all, the banking or finance sector is the only sector that provides dynamicity to all other sectors and helps them to generate maximum revenue from their principal investment. In this chapter, the authors are focusing on the traditional and modern ways of banking, currencies such as cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and how the modern currency will change the transaction procedure in the global banking system, creating an amalgamation of such currency with a current transaction system with the role of technology such as Blockchain in the betterment of the global banking system making the system fully decentralized, distributed, transparent, fast, immutable, and efficient.

A Pedagogical Paradigm Shift

This chapter provides an insight into the theoretical perspectives which form the foundation of extended reality (XR) and its emergence in practice as a fundamental part of medical and healthcare curricula. Issues such as the authenticity of learning, the validity and reliability of XR within processes of assessment, and the theoretical underpinnings of pedagogical approaches in health professions pedagogy are illuminated. Also considered are the implications of XR within the context of non-patient-based learning and the delineation of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning in relation to patient outcomes at the front line of care in applied practice. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted all global higher education institutional (HEI) learning since March 2020, is also considered in the context of moves to ensure that medical and healthcare education can continue, albeit via hybrid models of learning as opposed to traditional pedagogical approaches, which have remained little altered over the last century.

Reshaping Pharmacy and Allied Health Education for a Post-Pandemic World Using Kotter's Change Model

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to higher education. The extraordinary challenges created by the pandemic required equally extraordinary efforts from faculty and other stakeholders to rapidly convert face-to-face classes to online/hybrid instruction. This rapid change was facilitated by use of a robust framework for not only making changes in short order but also sustaining the changes to reshape healthcare education for a post-pandemic future. To this end, the chapter discusses the effective use of Kotter's 8-step framework to successfully implement change in healthcare education at a college of pharmacy and allied health professions. This chapter discusses each step of Kotter's 8-step process to create, implement, and sustain change in pharmacy and allied health education. The model integrated people, processes, and effective strategies to create changes amid the pandemic (crisis). Lessons learned and implications for the future in a post-pandemic educational environment are presented.

Self-Assessment of Cultural Competence and Social Determinants of Health within a First-Year Required Pharmacy Course

As social determinants of health (SDOH) and health disparities are integrated with cultural competence in healthcare education, tools assessing multiple topics are needed. The Self-Assessment of Perceived Level of Cultural Competence (SAPLCC) survey is validated in student pharmacists and includes SDOH. The research objective was to determine if the SAPLCC survey can quantify cultural competence and SDOH course learning. First-year student pharmacists (N = 87) completed the SAPLCC survey anonymously before and after a social and administrative sciences course. The survey had 75 items with 1–4 Likert scales (4 high, total 300 points). All items were summed for the total score. Each item was assigned to a domain and factor. Factors were assigned to domains. The baseline total score was 190 ± 29 points, increasing by 63 ± 33 points post-course. All domains (i.e., knowledge, skills, attitudes, encounters, abilities, awareness), 13 of 14 factors, and total scores statistically increased. The SAPLCC tool captured student pharmacists’ self-reported changes in cultural competence and SDOH.

A model for incorporating faith, values, and ethics into a healthcare provider course

Faith, values, and ethics are critical for all individuals to learn, but especially healthcare providers. Here, we report on the development of a course focused on these topics at a private Christian college of pharmacy. The course utilized a longitudinal approach combined with three overarching and connected course themes to explore the merging of faith and professional practice. Students were engaged in learning using a combination of approaches including guest presenters, panel discussions, interactive interviews, and small group discussions. This course provides a model for discussing faith, values, and ethics in the context of healthcare education.

Understanding Healthcare Students’ Experiences of Racial Bias: A Narrative Review of the Role of Implicit Bias and Potential Interventions in Educational Settings

Implicit racial bias is a persistent and pervasive challenge within healthcare education and training settings. A recent systematic review reported that 84% of included studies (31 out of 37) showed evidence of slight to strong pro-white or light skin tone bias amongst healthcare students and professionals. However, there remains a need to improve understanding about its impact on healthcare students and how they can be better supported. This narrative review provides an overview of current evidence regarding the role of implicit racial bias within healthcare education, considering trends, factors that contribute to bias, and possible interventions. Current evidence suggests that biases held by students remain consistent and may increase during healthcare education. Sources that contribute to the formation and maintenance of implicit racial bias include peers, educators, the curriculum, and placements within healthcare settings. Experiences of implicit racial bias can lead to psychosomatic symptoms, high attrition rates, and reduced diversity within the healthcare workforce. Interventions to address implicit racial bias include an organizational commitment to reducing bias in hiring, retention, and promotion processes, and by addressing misrepresentation of race in the curriculum. We conclude that future research should identify, discuss, and critically reflect on how implicit racial biases are enacted and sustained through the hidden curriculum and can have detrimental consequences for racial and ethnic minority healthcare students.

The impact of COVID-19 on practice learning in nurse education

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare education and delivery, including both theory and practice learning. Academic staff responded rapidly to move teaching online during the first lockdown, with many returning to practice to deliver care or upskill practice staff to work in critical care. Many pre-registration students responded by becoming paid NHS employees, contributing to care delivery while remaining on their programme of study. Practice learning partners, despite the challenges of the pandemic, continued to support students to achieve their registration status. This occurred within the context of the Emergency and Recovery Standards, published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council between March 2020 and September 2021. This paper sets out the response of students, practice learning partners and higher education institutions involved in pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes.