Anecdotal Comments Research Articles

Abstract B035: Mayo Clinic Cancer Comprehensive Center Community Outreach and Engagement Internal Medicine Residents Rotations

Abstract Introduction: The Community Engagement Internal Medicine Residents Rotation (IMRR) connects Mayo Clinic Florida (MCF) medical professionals to partners in the Florida catchment area to better understand administrative operations, the referral processes of these organizations and how best they fit the needs of the communities they serve. The goal is to give residents exposure to a more diverse population including rural, Black and Hispanic/Latin as well as connecting them with partners where community- based research is conducted. This IMRR is also designed to encourage cancer-focused community based research (CBR). We learned that the lack of patient diversity at MCF was a drawback to resident recruitment and developing an interest in cancer focused health disparities research. We agreed to assist in this potential solution to the diversity deficit. Methods: The goal for the elective is to provide senior residents with an introduction to community engagement and cancer focused community engaged research. The elective consists of one week of didactics and one of experiential learning. The first week includes an introduction to cancer health disparities in our catchment areas and how to conduct cancer focused CBR. During the second week, residents interact with community partners focused on providing care and cancer education to those who otherwise may not have access to resources. Strategically, these partners are those with whom we are engaged in cancer research initiatives. Internal Medicine Residents (IMR) complete visitation paperwork that included Background Screenings and Sovereign Immunity Contracts. We limit the number of IMR to two in order to accommodate some of the smaller community clinic spaces. IMR visit community partners for no less than a half day each and at the end of the rotation they debrief and complete rotation evaluations. Data: Rotation evaluations aggregated to date indicate 91.67% of IMR feel the rotation meets the goals and objectives. In addition, evaluation comments indicate an improved understanding of population health as well as community resources for improved health and wellness in underserved populations. Anecdotal comments also show evidence of increased understanding of cancer focused CBR and cancer related health disparities. Conclusion: IMMR through community outreach and engagement visits have increased understanding of how partners address varying cancer burden needs. The IMRR has increased residents’ awareness of how environment impacts access to healthcare and improved cost-conscious ordering and treatment plans (medications). IMR better understand the significance of how social determinants of health (SDOH) resources impact community. IMR are better equipped to help patients and their families navigate to additional SDOH solutions and are familiar with the referral process for community safety net resources. The offer of this type of IMRR has enhanced recruitment to MCF training programs and significantly increased IM and fellow participation in cancer focused CBR initiatives and studies. Citation Format: Monica Albertie, Chelsea Reeves, Noreen Stephenson, Folakemi Odedina. Mayo Clinic Cancer Comprehensive Center Community Outreach and Engagement Internal Medicine Residents Rotations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B035.

Medium of education and the politics of distraction in school education in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT The medium of education (MoE) globally sparks controversy over the ideal medium—mother tongue, target language, or bilingual/multilingual policies. In Bangladesh, diverse MoE options (Bangla medium, English medium, and English version) fuel debates among stakeholders. Amidst this noise, systemic problems are often overlooked, diverting attention from critical educational issues. Drawing on qualitative data from parents' comments in a public Facebook forum in Bangladesh, this article explores factors influencing MoE choices and how this discourse distracts from pressing social and educational concerns. Findings indicate that the government promotes various MoEs for diverse political interests, often failing to provide inclusive and equitable quality education for all. The article also highlights that different factors distract parents from selecting a suitable MoE for their children's education. Social media, with parents' anecdotal comments, often misleads others. Additionally, parents may impose their aspirations on children, ignoring their interests and abilities. This neglect of students' basic needs while promoting diverse MoE exacerbates inequality and social injustice. The article advocates for an equitable, inclusive education system that offers quality education regardless of socioeconomic background, or MoE.

Addressing the 2021 Essentials with new approaches for developing leadership, resilience, and self-care/well-being in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students

IntroductionNew graduate nurses are not always prepared for the challenges of the chaotic clinical environment or to exercise leadership skills in a clinical capacity. Resilience and self-care are essential facets of successful leadership, as well as necessary components to prevent burnout in nurses. PurposeThe purpose of this article is to demonstrate how this School of Nursing implemented approaches to prepare the next generation of nurses with strong skills in the areas of leadership, resilience, and self-care/well-being while addressing the Essentials. MethodsFaculty explored new ideas, as well as showcased teaching strategies they had already successfully implemented, that aligned with the Essentials with the undergraduate baccalaureate pilot student cohort. ResultsTwo “Essential” Competencies, Domain 9 Professionalism and Domain 10 Personal, Professional and Leadership Development, as well as related sub-competencies, were addressed by the thirteen teaching strategies. Anecdotal student reflection comments supported high levels of satisfaction with these strategies. ConclusionsPreparing student nurses to meet the Essentials is critical to helping nurses thrive in contemporary practice settings. Equipping a generation of nurses with self-care practices to protect their own well-being, while at the same time meeting the Essentials expectations, is crucial to cultivating a sustainable nursing workforce.

Student Perceptions of Two Preclinical Medical School Exam Feedback Approaches

Background: In medical school, where learning an abundance of information in a short period of time is required, it is necessary that learners receive valuable feedback after summative assessments (i.e., unit exams). First-year medical students at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) begin their education with a course titled Human Structure (HS), followed by Molecules to Cells and Tissues (MCT). Both courses provided different formats for exam feedback, resulting in anecdotal comments about preference and utility of feedback. This study uses qualitative research methods to examine IUSM-Bloomington students’ perceptions of exam feedback formats with respect to their utility and applicability.
 Methods: Five, second-year IUSM-Bloomington medical students participated in a focus group to discuss their utilization and perceived usefulness of HS and MCT exam feedback. A thematic analysis was used to interpret data from the focus group. This study was deemed exempt by the IU-IRB (19409).
 Results: The thematic analysis revealed that students’ discussions fell into three categories: logistics, utilization, and mentality. These categories were further broken into themes and subthemes, revealing 13 unique codes. Students spent a substantial amount of time discussing logistics of exam feedback. Barriers to utilization of exam feedback included a lack of information provided at the feedback sessions and a lack of time in the schedule available for feedback sessions. Students preferred MCT approach to exam feedback, however they recognized HS course logistics may prevent similar adoption. Students had small suggestions on how to improve feedback in both courses.
 Conclusions/Implications: The data suggest students would benefit from small changes in how first-year medical school courses at IUSM provide exam feedback. Improvements could include extending the time of exam review sessions, incorporating a discussion on commonly missed exam concepts, providing answer explanations for incorrect and correct answers, and transitioning statewide reviews to be campus led.

Meeting Ugandan university students’ career needs using cognitive information processing model

AbstractCareer practitioners in Uganda are challenged to help students achieve personal agency in designing and implementing preferred career paths when faced with the increased uncertainty. The need for services vastly exceeds the supply of practitioners. Cognitive information processing (CIP) theory describes key elements required for informed decision‐making and a decision‐making approach that considers the context of internal and external influences. CIP also offers an innovative delivery model designed to increase access while optimizing resources. In this article, we describe the applicability of CIP theory in meeting the career needs of students seeking career services at a university in Uganda. We discuss program integration challenges faced such as limited staff and resources, as well as specific student characteristics that act as barriers to seeing the value of personally engaging career problem‐solving. Results from a workshop survey and anecdotal comments about the integration of CIP into career service delivery are provided.

Global Service-Learning Fosters Collaboration, Cultural Humility, and Spiritual Growth among BSN Students.

Nursing practice is evolving to include a more global perspective; therefore, nursing education must transcend the confines of the traditional classroom to prepare students to serve vulnerable populations across the globe. Collaboration, cultural humility, and spiritual growth through reflective practice are three themes identified in the literature as takeaways for students participating in global service-learning experiences. The development and implementation of a course on global service-learning is explored in this article. Biblical examples and anecdotal student comments support the themes identified in the literature.

Impact of a simulation-based interprofessional workshop (LINKS) on Portuguese healthcare students’ perception of roles and competencies: a quasi-experimental pilot study

There is a scarcity of simulation-based interprofessional (IP) programs in Portugal, with a notorious absence in undergraduate education. This paper describes the first step towards the development of an interprofessional education (IPE) undergraduate program, namely the implementation and preliminary assessment of the workshop LINKS – Lifting INterprofessional Knowledge through Simulation. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the educational effect of LINKS, in medical and nursing undergraduate students’ attitudes towards IP teamwork and collaborative practices, and their perception of roles and competencies within an IP team. A total of 23 final-year students participated in the workshop. Teams of three or four elements (medical and nursing students) were exposed to two critical patient management simulation scenarios. To assess the impact of the workshop on students’ perception of IP collaborative practice, two surveys (ATTITUDES and IPEC) were applied before and after the workshop. Additionally, students’ opinion/satisfaction towards the workshop and its curricular integration was explored. Students’ awareness of the relevancy of IP learning and self-competency in IP practice improved. For all subdomains and overall scores, statistically significant differences were found when comparing the pre- and post-scores, for both medical and nursing students, in both surveys. All students agreed that the workshop added educational value to their training, and recommended its integration in the formal curriculum, with a first round in the penultimate year and repeated in the last year. Considering the pre–post test results and anecdotal comments shared during the session, we may infer that this single IPE event contributed to a clearer understanding of the team dynamic and individual role definition, increased the motivation to engage in collaborative practice between physicians and nurses and potentially challenged pre-existent stereotypes of each professional group. These findings corroborate the need for sustainable simulation-based IP programs, integrated in the undergraduate curricula, promoting early clinical interactions of different professional groups. We envision that the results of this study can help to inform future curriculum planning and provide useful insights that can be used within and between Portuguese institutions to develop a common IP undergraduate program.

The 2021 Podiatric Residency Candidate and Program Virtual Interview Experience During COVID-19 with Multispecialty Reflections and Recommendations for a Successful Virtual Match.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic impacted all facets of health care in the United States, including the professional training for podiatry residents and students. In March of 2020, the Association of American Medical Colleges recommended pausing then modifying all clinical rotations. The podiatric community followed suit. In-person restrictions, cancellations of clerkships, limited clinical experiences, virtual didactic programs, and reduced surgical cases for students and residency programs occurred for many months during the ongoing pandemic. These adaptations impacted the ability of podiatric students to complete clinical rotations and clerkships, which are pivotal to their academic curriculum and residency program application and selection. A survey was conducted by the Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH) and sent out by the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine. The 2021 postinterview surveys were sent out to all participants in the 2021 Centralized Application Service for Podiatric Residencies Web application and match cycle, both programs and candidates. The COTH presents results and comments from the 2021 virtual interview experience and residency match. Data and anecdotal comments from the 2021 postinterview survey conducted by COTH, sent out by American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine, are presented here. Results from the surveys of program directors and candidates show a preference by both groups for in-person interviews despite the personal time demands and increased costs associated with travel.

Cultivating community

When I started out as a teacher, over 15 years ago, I was what might be categorized as “traditional.” I gave PowerPoint lectures, assigned homework, and supported my students to perform confirmatory labs demonstrating what I had already told them was true in the lecture. I was seen as a “good” teacher. Evaluations from administrators, along with anecdotal comments from students and parents, supported this label. But something didn’t feel right. My students were not all demonstrating mastery on assessments, and I didn’t feel like I was connecting with and supporting each student every day. About five years into my teaching career, at the annual Colorado Association of Science Teachers’ Conference in November, I learned about Flipped Learning at a presentation by Aaron Sams and Jon Bergmann. The general idea of Flipped Learning is that students need support on the more challenging aspects of learning (application) and can receive the direct instruction parts (lecture) on their own time. While this model has evolved over time, it started out as an emphasis on doing exploratory and application-like activities with students in class (labs, practice problems, etc.) and providing students with the information, either as an introduction or wrap-up to the lesson, through video for students to watch on their own time. Feeling like this might be a way to better meet the needs of my students, over the holiday break, I revamped my entire Chemistry course, making videos of all my lectures, writing a grant to secure some technology, and preparing to launch my Flipped Chemistry course upon return to school in January. Much to my surprise, students did not readily embrace this change in the way I had hoped. I received comments such as “you’re not teaching me,” and parents started complaining to the administration. I learned a lot from that experience. Change takes time and must be well thought out and planned. Stakeholders, in this case students, parents, and administrators, needed to be brought into the planning and needed to understand the purpose and motivation behind the change. And most importantly, I needed a community of other teachers to exchange ideas with, share challenges with, and receive support from. I had decided to implement this change without a network of support, and without consulting others to determine possible roadblocks and challenges. When we pursue the path less taken, it can often feel scary and lonely. Finding individuals who share similar choices can often be reassuring and motivate us to push past moments of difficulty when we believe this uncharted path really is the best one for us. This is why community is so important, especially in education.

Design of a Completely New First Year Engineering Program at the University of Saskatchewan– Part III

Aiming at improving the first-year engineering experience by engaging, inspiring, and holistically preparing students for the challenges in the future, the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan redesigned and launched a RE-ENGINEERED First Year (REFY) Program. The project has had three phases, and the first two were reported at CEEA conferences in 20181 and 20192. A small-scale pilot of the competency-based assessment (CBA), one of the key features of the REFY program, was presented at CEEA 20213. In this paper, we will report the changes made to the program structure (Phase II), present the systematic procedure followed to develop the course materials (Phase III) and reflect on the first implementation of the REFY program. This paper will also discuss the proposed changes to the program for next year’s implementation.
 The REFY program consists of 10-12 modular courses with various durations and intensities each term. To better sequence materials and to facilitate just-in-time learning, the structural design of the program was further refined over the past two years via adjusting the start/end dates and contact hours of the modular courses.
 The development of course materials was directed by the identified graduate attributes (Phase I), integrated curriculum schedule (Phase II), and the philosophy of CBA. With the lessons learned from the pilot of CBA in a single first year engineering course, we defined four types of assessments and the evaluation criteria. We also developed a course preparation procedure template and created a series of policies to support the program.
 Initiating the REFY program during the COVID pandemic was a victory, although we identified some challenges and problems in Term 1 through teaching, observations, and reflection, as well as anecdotal comments. We will share the lessons learned, our opinions on the potential causes of the challenges and problems, and propose revisions for the next iteration of program refinement.

Ruth J. Salter, Saints, Cure-Seekers and Miraculous Healing in Twelfth-Century England

Ruth J. Salter’s first monograph—and the inaugural volume in York Medieval Press’s new series on Health and Healing in the Middle Ages, edited by Peregrine Horden, Sara Ritchey and Linda Ehrsam Voigts (Series Advisor)—explores portrayals of illness/impairment and health in English miracle collections from the twelfth century. These collections were recorded by monastic communities to document the wonders performed by saints, whose relics (bones, clothing, blood, etc.) were in their possession and who, via these relics, could intercede with God on their behalf. Salter focuses on seven saints’ cults that are spread geographically across England: Swithun at Winchester, Dunstan at Canterbury, thelthryth at Ely, Modwenna at Burton-on-Trent, William of Norwich, Æbbe at Coldingham, and James the Greater at Reading. The miracle collections associated with all seven cults share a tendency to focus on local pilgrims, in contrast to, for example, the major twelfth-century cult of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, which had a much more international outlook. In her attention to smaller, local miracle collections, Salter moves away from earlier studies, like Ronald Finucane’s Miracles and Pilgrims (1977), which analysed over 3,000 posthumous miracles recorded throughout England. Instead, her methodology combines a statistical examination across collections with a close reading of ‘anecdotal comments’ (p. 91) in individual records. She asserts that, whilst miracle records conform to the various precedents of their genre (not least, that of the Bible), ‘no two accounts are the same, and many provide tantalising details of [an] individual’s personal experience of affliction and eventual miraculous recovery’ (p. 90).

Intergenerational Communication as Intervention: Social Isolation in Older Adults During COVID-19

Social isolation and loneliness are prevalent and impactful in the lives of older adult across care settings, and the emergence of a deadly global pandemic requiring social distancing and quarantining exacerbated these experiences significantly in 2020. A semester-long communication-focused clinical project was developed and piloted for sophomore bachelor of nursing science (BSN) students during fall 2020. Affording preclinical nursing students the opportunity to develop communication skills early in their program of study holds potential, and learning the story of older adults appears to be mutually beneficial; older adults serve as mentors and share their story, and preclinical nursing students have an opportunity to learn about their mentor’s life, challenging some prevalent stereotypes about aging. A pre- post-clinical survey of student attitudes toward older adults suggests a dramatic positive shift in perspective, and unsolicited, anecdotal comments in student reflections support this finding: “...it helped me feel much more open to working with older adults in the future”; “This conversation taught me that my assumptions about the older generation are not always correct”. Of older adult participants, 96% reported the experience enriched and enhanced their social connectedness, with 88% requesting to participate in the program again. Narrative comments from residents indicated that their involvement enabled them to feel engaged and purposeful: “I was a mentor”; “Conversations were so alive. Connections with curious young people fill my heart and soul.” Intergenerational sharing of life stories has the potential for both healing and growth and may provide an antidote to ageism.

The Effects of Equine Therapy on Military Veterans with PTSD

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT) group program on the reduction of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in military veterans. Prior research suggests that longitudinal equine therapy programs result in lowered PTSD scores, however, fail to acknowledge veterans in Suffolk County, Long Island. The researcher conducted a mixed method correlational case study with veterans from a local Veterans Affairs (VA) Center which acted as a control. Beck’s Anxiety Inventory and NIMH Loneliness surveys were disseminated and anecdotal comments were collected in order to achieve an all encompassing approach. Participants included veterans of ages 29-68 from the XYZ equine therapy foundation and from a local VA, with an overwhelming majority of participants being white females. Initial results showed decreased anxiety and loneliness scores, suggesting that equine therapy is associated with a decrease in PTSD symptoms. Therefore, the conclusion can be made that equine therapy is an effective alternative treatment for veterans suffering from PTSD. However, such conclusions are limited to veterans on Long Island, thus, future research should apply this method on a larger, more diverse, sample size to determine effects on a greater population before pushing this therapy out on a wider scale. 
 
 Keywords: Equine-assisted therapy; military veterans; PTSD; anxiety; loneliness

Supporting Health Care Staff With Family Meals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Family meals provide a unique opportunity for families to eat well and engage positively with each other. In response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, a new initiative to support health care staff to share healthy meals with their families was developed. At a hospital in Queensland, Australia, dietetic staff collaborated with the on-site food service retailer to develop and offer a range of hot meals that staff could take home for their families at the end of their day. The meals were nutritious, reasonably priced, and designed to feed a family of four. The dietetic staff worked with the hospital marketing department and staff health and wellness program to promote the initiative. Over the 3 months that it has been running, nearly 300 meals have been purchased. Anecdotal comments from the food service retailer highlighted that the initiative was a good thing to do for staff to maintain a positive reputation of the business. The staff evening meal initiative is a healthy, affordable, educational, and socially engaging alternative to takeaway meals and food delivery by app, and it is mutually beneficial for health care staff and the on-site food retailer. The initiative also offers a unique opportunity for promoting nutrition and social engagement during stressful times.

Nutritional screening and intervention of older adults living in the community referred by the My Aged Care online portal.

To assess whether nutritional screening and intervention improve the nutritional status of older adults living in the community. The Kiama MOW service performed nutrition screening, after being trained by the research team and maintained the dataset. De-identified data was provided to the research team for analysis. Meals on Wheels staff also kept detailed notes during the nutrition screening process and in discussions with clients. These notes were provided to the research team along with the de-identified quantitative data, a summary of the measures taken following screening, including interventions that were recommended to clients by MOW staff. Staff were not formally interviewed about their experiences in conducting nutrition screening but their open-ended text comments were retrospectively summarised, as well as anecdotal comments made to the research team who were involved in training and supporting the MOW team during the intervention period. Forty-one individuals (25 women, mean age=79.8±8.9years) were referred (21 well-nourished, 16 at risk of malnutrition and 4 malnourished). After reassessment (n=19), nutritional status had significantly improved (P=.008 for all referrals and P<.001 for those at risk of malnutrition or malnourished). The main interventions provided were as follows: nutrition education (100%), home-delivered meals (78%) and social outings including meals (17%). The My Aged Care portal may be a feasible source of referral of this population to perform routine nutrition screening for appropriate intervention.

Abstract P15: Does Atrial Fibrillation Impact 90-Day Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Treated With rt-PA and/or Endovascular Treatment?

Background: Patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to atrial fibrillation (a fib) may not have as favourable of a response to intravenous thrombolysis or endovascular treatment (ET) compared to other stroke subtypes. The purpose of this study was to compare the 90-day outcome in patients with and without a history of a fib treated with IV rt-PA and/or ET. Method: Consecutive stroke code activations were retrospectively analyzed from January 2004-June 2020 at an academic comprehensive stroke center. Patients were included if they were treated with IV rt-PA and/or ET within 24 hours of stroke onset. Patients were stratified into the six groups: 1- No history of a fib with ET only, 2- History of a fib with ET only, 3- No history of a fib with IV rt-PA plus ET, 4- History of a fib with IV rt-PA plus ET, 5- No history of a fib with IV rt-PA only, 6- History of a fib with IV rt-PA only. Primary outcome was 90 day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) with favourable outcome defined as mRS 0-2. Baseline demographics were compared and pairwise Wilcoxon Rank was used to assess group differences followed by multinomial regression. Analyses were both unadjusted and adjusted for baseline NIHSS, age, sex, baseline blood pressure, pre-stroke mRS, smoking status, and baseline glucose. Results: We identified 720 AIS patients who received acute treatment (IV rt-PA: n=578; ET: n=100; IV rt-PA+ET:n=18). There was a significant difference in sex (p=0.005); Hispanic ethnicity (p=0.002); current smoking (p=&lt;0.001); current alcohol use (p=0.03), CHF (p=0.01); and age (p&lt;0.0001) between groups. Baseline NIHSS was significantly higher in Group 4 (23, SD 8, p=&lt;0.001). In adjusted analysis, there were significantly more patients with mRS 1 (p=0.03) and mRS 2 (p=0.01) in Group 5 compared to group 6. There was no significant difference in “favourable outcome” in adjusted analyses both between groups and in patients with and without afib overall (OR: 3.10, 95% CI: 0.19-50.97, p=0.43). Conclusion: In this study, afib did not have a significant impact on 90-day outcome in AIS patients treated with IV rt-PA, ET, or both. This study supports the acute use of IV rt-PA in the atrial fibrillation population despite anecdotal comments that cardioembolic strokes do not improve with thrombolysis.

Untethered Lecture Capture: Stimulating Educational Affordances Through Technology-Enhanced Teaching.

Untethered Lecture Capture (ULC) permits faculty to be freely mobile in the classroom (untethered) and synchronously create reusable learning media assets (lecture capture) through mobile technology resources. Integrating the cognitive theory of multimedia instruction with ULC creates affordances that facilitate learning. Anecdotal student comments indicate ULC supports accessibility, enhances personalized self-paced learning, and creates opportunities for academic success. Untethered faculty teach among students, enhancing in-class focus, time-on-task, and student-faculty engagement. Although all students may benefit from ULC teaching strategies, first-generation students and students whose first language is not English reported increased confidence, coupled with decreased stress.

Got 15? Try Faculty Development on the Fly: A Snippets Workshop for Microlearning.

IntroductionFaculty development (FD) is an element critical to the professional growth of medical educators and a necessary component in developing effective educators. FD offerings are prevalent across academic institutions; however, faculty report they are unable to participate in these initiatives due to time limitations and competing priorities. The snippet FD approach can address these concerns but requires training for FD providers to be effectively used.MethodsThis snippet train-the-trainer workshop was presented to approximately 310 physician and nonphysician medical educators at a national medical education conference. The session incorporated multiple teaching modalities (e.g., lecture, demonstrations, structured small-group snippet development groups, and large-group debriefs). A 14-item Likert-scale survey was used to obtain participant evaluations. Narrative feedback was collected using constructed response items.ResultsNinety-five percent of respondents (125 of 132) planned to use snippets as an FD strategy at least once per year, with 38% (50 of 132) noting they planned to use snippets at least four times per year. Respondents indicated that FD snippets could positively impact educational practices (94%) and that the session was a valuable use of their time (94%), as well as expressing interest in a snippet repository (90%).DiscussionA brief FD train-the-trainer workshop for snippets can successfully prepare FD providers to create and use this approach.

Effects of Corynebacterium bovis on Engraftment of Patient-derived Chronic-Myelomonocytic Leukemia Cells in NSGS Mice.

Modeling chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in immunodeficient NSGS mice relies on unique human CMML specimens and consistent murine engraftment. Only anecdotal comments have thus far supported the notion that research data may be altered by Corynebacterium bovis, an opportunistic cutaneous pathogen of immunodeficient mice. C. bovis disseminated by asymptomatic and clinically affected mice with hyperkeratotic dermatitis, resulting in resilient facility contamination and infectious recurrence. Herein we report that, compared with C. bovis PCR-negative counterparts, C. bovis PCR-positive NSGS mice developed periocular and facial hyperkeratosis and alopecia and had reduced metrics indicative of ineffective human CMML engraftment, including less thrombocytopenia, less splenomegaly, fewer CMML infiltrates in histopathologic sections of murine organs, and fewer human CD45+ cells in samples from murine spleen, bone marrow, and peripheral blood that were analyzed by flow cytometry. All CMML model metrics of engraftment were significantly reduced in the C. bovis PCR-positive cohort compared with the - negative cohort. In addition, a survey of comprehensive cancer center practices revealed that most murine facilities do not routinely test for C. bovis or broadly decontaminate the facility or its equipment after a C. bovis outbreak, thus increasing the likelihood of recurrence of invalidated studies. Our findings document that CMML engraftment of NSGS mice is diminished-and the integrity of murine research data jeopardized-by C. bovis infection of immunodeficient mice. In addition, our results indicate that C. bovis should be excluded from and not tolerated in murine facilities housing immunodeficient strains.

Ben Thompson: Portrait of a Gunfighter by Thomas C. Bicknell, Chuck Parsons

Reviewed by: Ben Thompson: Portrait of a Gunfighter by Thomas C. Bicknell, Chuck Parsons Bob Cavendish Ben Thompson: Portrait of a Gunfighter. By Thomas C. Bicknell and Chuck Parsons. (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2018. Pp. 688. Appendices, illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index.) On Tuesday evening, March 11, 1884, Ben Thompson climbed upstairs to the second floor gallery at the Vaudeville Theater in San Antonio to see a play. A few minutes later, he died in a hail of bullets, victim of an ambush, the murder still unsolved. Eerily presaging another Texas ambush seventy-nine years later, questions emerged: who conspired and murdered Ben Thompson? Why had someone wanted to kill him that night and at that place? While coauthors Bicknell and Parsons make no explicit suggestions, their well-researched and compelling biography hints that Thompson’s end was a consequence of his own making. Portrait of a Gunfighter is set in an American West of towns on the threshold of becoming urban centers, providing a glimpse of American growth happening away from cattle herds and sodbusters. San Antonio and Austin, Texas, are primary but not exclusive sets of the tableau. Thompson arrived in Austin in 1852, the nine-year-old son of English immigrants. By the time he was twenty-eight, his past included two murders, several assaults, service in two lost causes (the Confederacy and Maximilian’s army in Mexico) and a pardon from President Ulysses S. Grant releasing him from a Texas prison. He might also have been complicit in the 1865 state treasury heist. Thompson left prison to start anew as part owner of a saloon in Abilene, Kansas, where, in 1871, one of his business partners confronted city marshal “Wild” Bill Hickok and died in the ensuing fracas. Thompson returned to Austin, where his “sporting” lifestyle thrust him into several rows. During an 1876 brawl at Austin’s Capital Theater, Thompson’s intervention to protect a friend resulted in the death of a shotgun-wielding assailant. Three years later at Leadville, Colorado, Thompson joined Sheriff Bat Masterson’s private army in a railroad right-of-way dispute. Breaking his lawless pattern, however, Thompson won election as Austin’s city marshal from 1880 to 1882. Journalists at the Texas Siftings proclaimed him “the best city marshal in Texas to-day” (375), even if he did shoot up the Congress Avenue newspaper office of the Austin Daily Statesman. A January 1880 incident planted the seeds of Thompson’s violent end when he entered the Vaudeville Theater to reclaim at gunpoint collateral he had left as security for a gambling loan. Prominent San Antonio gambler and co-owner of the Vaudeville, Jack Harris, became enraged, vowing retribution. Two years later, Thompson returned, and Harris attempted to kill him from a concealed alcove. Harris died in the shootout, and a jury found that Thompson had acted in self-defense, creating a sensational story across the country and burnishing his reputation as a shootist. The [End Page 473] verdict for Thompson’s acquittal, however, had probably set into motion forces for revenge on a Tuesday night in March 1884. Portrait of a Gunfighter works well as a biography and as a history of Old West towns and frontier justice. While Thompson’s career ended in San Antonio, he lived in Austin, for which the book could work as a historical tourist guide; the old city map on page 394 is keyed to incidents in this book. Readers will want to browse the endnotes, where anecdotal comments enrich the narrative drawn from primary documents, census data, websites, interviews, newspaper archives, and secondary articles. Thompson’s murder in the Vaudeville Theater ended a lifetime of dangerous habits. He was a complex figure. He was a British import. He gambled, played the banjo, wrote poetry, and owned a sailboat. He was soft spoken, well groomed, and fearless. Mostly, however, he was a shootist who preferred single-action to double-action pistols because double action guns were, he insisted, unreliable. Visitors to Austin’s Oakwood Cemetery can visit his gravesite, which bears the wrong birth date. (He probably would not like that.) Bob Cavendish Buda, Texas Copyright © 2019 The Texas State Historical Association...