Educational Tracks Research Articles

Improve the Completion Rate of Nursing Guidance for Patients with Newly Diagnosed Esophageal Cancer

<p>背景：初診斷食道癌病人，因生理上遭受進食功能與營養缺失，其角色及情緒功能受影響易出現憂鬱或焦慮，而導致整體生活品質下降。在診斷初期，病人有高度照護資訊的需求，但對於短時間的大量信息常造成吸收負荷。連貫完整的護理指導可促進病人對護理指導之理解程度，進而提升自我照顧能力與生活品質。本單位初診斷食道癌病人陸續有檢查或手術延遲、食物哽塞或進食管路阻塞情形， 於2020年3月2日至3月20日，統計單位對其護理指導完整率僅62.5%，影響照護品質，故引發專案動機</p> <p>目的：提升護理人員對初診斷食道癌病人護理指導完整率達97.5%。</p> <p>解決方案：分析原因為護理人員之疾病認知不足、衛教解說耗時、無追蹤機制致重複指導。病人部份包括訊息眾多龐雜影響衛教效率、家屬輪替致指導中斷與不完整。此外尚包括教育資源未符合指導需求、來源與資訊未統合、缺乏追蹤機制等。透過舉辦在職教育、製作衛教卡通圖及工作車桌曆、錄製衛教影片並製作QR Code連結觀看、發放照護手冊及簡易化放療照護包、設計衛教進度檢核表與查核表等策略提升完整率。</p> <p>結果：透過多元護理指導工具及衛教資源整合可提升連貫完整的護理指導。除了增進病人疾病認知及自我照護能力外，亦使醫療滿意度提升，並促進照護品質。</p> <p> </p><p>Background:Patients with newly diagnosed esophageal cancer often suffer from depression and anxiety due to lim­ited oral intake and malnutrition, which affects their physical and emotional function, resulting in a decline in their quality of life. Patients have a high demand for self-care information in the early stages of diagnosis. However, getting large amounts of information in a short time often creates tremendous pressure for the patients. Coherent and compre­hensive nursing guidance can increase the understanding of nursing guidance which further improvs patients’ self-care ability. Delayed examination or surgery, choking, or obstruction of the feeding route occur frequently on patients with esophageal cancer initially diagnosed in our unit. A team was established to improve the low nursing guidance com­pletion rate (62.5%).</p> <p>Purpose: To improve the completion rate of nursing guidance for newly diagnosed esophageal cancer patients from 62.5% to 97.5%.</p> <p>Strategic procedure: Inadequate nursing knowledge, insufficient continuity of health education, and a lack of after­ward follow-ups in delivering information are identified as main obstacles for medical providers. As for patients, main obstacles include massive information and interrupted or incomplete instruction due to family rotation. In addition, the inconsistent resources and content of the supplementary teaching materials needed to be carefully complied to meet the needs and a health education tracking system needed to be set up as well. As a result, specific strategies were developed to successfully decrease the rate of feeding route obstruction. The strategic procedures included consolidat­ing in-service education, remodeling teaching materials, creating a useful pictorial calendar and work cards, making instructor videos, creating QR code links for teaching materials, and designing standardized education protocols and checklists.</p> <p>Outcomes Evaluation: The completion rate of nursing guidance increased to 98.2%.</p> <p>Conclusions: Coherent and comprehensive nursing guidance was created by integrating multiple nursing guidance tools and health education materials. In addition to improving patients’ disease awareness and self-care ability, the im­plementation of the guideline also improves medical satisfaction and the quality of care.</p> <p> </p>

Индивидуальный подход при обучении в группе навыкам социального поведения дошкольников с РАС в структуре тяжелых множественных нарушений развития

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objectives. </strong>The significant heterogeneity of mental disorders in children with severe multiple developmental dis­orders (SMDD) makes the development of the unified methods of psycho-educational support comprehensive issue. The goal of the article is to report the results of group social adaptation training in children of primary preschool age with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and SMDD. Training was aimed at the development of social behavior skills with individualization of approach and differentiation of tasks for each child.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods. </strong>Article presents the procedure of the development of the social behavior in children from 3 to 8 years old in groups of short-term stay at the Center for Curative Pedagogics of the Pskov Region. Group work is based on the principles of a child-centered approach and the use of Special Individual Development Programs (SIDP). Methods of observation, differentiation of tasks were used to identify the individual characteristics of the child. The subject-activity approach as a special method of the development of social behavior skills was also used.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Results. </strong>The individualization of the general tasks of the SIDP which showed by the cases allows to set up specific goals for each of the participants. As a result of the individualization of tasks, a pronounced positive rehabilitation and developmental effect was observed. The reported result became possible by the step-by-step development of social behavior skills in all types of interaction between the teacher and the child.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions. </strong>This work demonstrates the comprehensive character of providing an individual educational track for each child. Such characteristics as the interests of participants, their opportunities and abilities and developmental aspects, manifested in a group session are declared as the important for the SIPD individualization. The importance of setting of a small, achievable goals to increase individual dynamics in the development of social skills is emphasized</p>

School health promotion and the consumption of water and sugar-sweetened beverages in secondary schools: a cross-sectional multilevel study

BackgroundOverweight among adolescents remains a serious concern worldwide and can have major health consequences in later life, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Still, 33% of secondary school adolescents in the Netherlands consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily and over 26% do not consume water every day. The Dutch Healthy School program was developed to support schools in stimulating healthier lifestyles by focusing on health education, school environments, identifying students’ health problems, and school policy. We examined the variation between secondary schools regarding the daily consumption of water and sugar-sweetened beverages and whether this variation can be explained by differences between schools regarding Healthy School certification, general school characteristics, and the school population.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional multilevel study. We used data from the national Youth Health Monitor of 2019 on secondary schools (grades 8 and 10, age range about 12 to 18 years) of seven Public Health Services and combined these with information regarding Healthy School certification and general school- and school population characteristics. Our outcomes were daily consumption of water and sugar-sweetened beverages. In total, data from 51,901 adolescents from 191 schools were analysed. We calculated the intraclass correlation to examine the variation between schools regarding our outcomes. Thereafter, we examined whether we could explain this variation by the included characteristics.ResultsThe school-level explained 4.53% of the variation in the consumption of water and 2.33% of the variation in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. This small variation in water and sugar-sweetened consumption could not be explained by Healthy School certification, yet some general school- and school population characteristics did: the proportion of the school population with at least one parent with high educational attainment, the educational track of the adolescents, urbanicity (only for water consumption) and school type (only for sugar-sweetened beverages consumption).ConclusionsThe low percentages of explained variation indicate that school-level characteristics in general (including Healthy School certification) do not matter substantially for the daily consumption of water and sugar-sweetened beverages. Future research should examine whether school health promotion can contribute to healthier lifestyles, and if so, under which level of implementation and school conditions.

Diverging Educational Aspirations Among Compulsory School-Leavers in Switzerland

Abstract Educational aspirations play an important role in shaping students’ educational trajectories and destinations. Drawing on longitudinal data from the TREE2 study, this paper investigates the effect of tracking on the formation and adjustment of the educational aspirations of Swiss students upon leaving compulsory school. We show that educational aspirations are highly responsive to the educational track attended in upper secondary education. While students in general education tend to stick to their aspirations, their counterparts in vocational programmes exhibit less stable aspirations.

Beyond Residents-as-Teachers: The Development of an Advanced Medical Education Pilot Elective for Pediatric Residents.

Introduction An advanced medical education elective can encompass themes that transcend traditional residents-as-teachers curricula. The literature is scarce regarding the development of such a curriculum for pediatric residents. Objectives To develop and implement an advanced medical education elective for pediatric residents and evaluate the effectiveness of the educational strategies and curriculum. Methods Kern's Six Steps were applied to create a two-week-long elective for pediatric residents. Residents worked through Kern's model to collaboratively develop the elective. Faculty were recruited based on expertise and content previously created. Residents developed teaching sessions for fourth-year medical students and received feedback. The curriculum was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative feedback with a five-point Likert scale and open-ended questions, group discussions, elective evaluations, and the New World Kirkpatrick Model. Results Five residents, 17 students, and 22 faculty participated. Lectures, expert panels, group discussions, and teaching sessions were seen as effective instructional methods. All residents were satisfied with the elective and its strategies and developed useful skills. Resident-led teaching sessions and interactive learning strategies were cited as a strength, while some redundancy was noted as a weakness. Faculty recommended more formal feedback on resident-led teaching sessions in the future. Conclusions Our medical education elective was designed collaboratively with residents on a medical education track. Strong faculty participation, asynchronous learning, and resident-led teaching sessions were strengths of the curriculum. The curriculum's reproducible components may serve as a foundation for institutions interested in improving their medical education didactics for residents. More research is needed to determine the external validity of this novel curriculum.

Self-Reported Stressors in Early Adolescence: The Role of Educational Track and Ethnic Background

The present study aimed to identify overall stress and salient stressors experienced by adolescents from different education tracks and self-perceived ethnic backgrounds. A total of 1489 adolescents ( M = 13.40 years; SD = 0.89 years) from nine Dutch secondary schools participated. Self-reported stressors were measured with the adapted version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire – Short. After controlling for age, gender, country of birth, and school classes, results showed that overall stress did not differ for educational track nor for ethnic background subgroups. Adolescents in academic education reported more stress from school-related stressors than adolescents attending vocational education. Adolescents with a mixed ethnic background (i.e., Dutch and another ethnicity) reported more stress regarding school-related stressors than adolescents with a Dutch ethnic background. These differences between adolescents of different educational tracks and ethnic backgrounds have implications for intervention programs targeting specific stressors.

Upper secondary school tracking and major choices in higher education: to switch or not to switch.

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of students who switch versus those who do not switch when they transition from upper secondary to higher education. The data from 1338 students randomly selected from 21 HEIs in Cambodia in 2020 found that upper secondary school students are more likely than not to switch academic majors when they enter higher education. The tendency to switch is more common for female students in science-track, most of whom chose non-STEM majors such as business, management, accounting and finance. Probit analysis revealed that the decision to switch is influenced by individual academic performance and interest in science and mathematics at upper secondary school, household's socioeconomic status, higher education institution (HEI)'s location and type. However, students whose like mathematics and physics and who have a higher technology readiness index score and those who were awarded scholarships are less likely to switch from science to non-STEM majors. Teaching approaches that create opportunities for students to engage in practical classroom activities and stimulate their curiosity in science and mathematics should be considered. Efforts to optimise learning experiences should therefore focus on creating a highly interactive teaching-learning environment as a cognitive-activation strategy for promoting students' interest and enjoyment of the subjects they are studying. Scholarship can also be an alternative to address the switching issue.

Immigrant generation, gender, and citizenship: evidence on educational track choices from Italy

ABSTRACT Children of immigrants in Europe are often found to make more ambitious track choices than native-origin peers, net of academic performance and socioeconomic status. However, literature is mostly limited to Nordic and Western European countries, and little is known about Mediterranean states. In this article we fill this gap using the 2015 survey ‘Integration of the Second Generation’ to study upper secondary track enrolment for a nationally representative sample of students in Italy. We focus on two understudied determinants of track choices, gender and citizenship status, and adopt an intersectional approach by studying differences by country of origin and migrant generation. Overall, we find that children of immigrants in Italy do not tend to make more ambitious track choices than their native-origin peers: second-generation students of both genders and 1.5 generation girls make similar choices as their native-origin peers, whereas 1.5 generation boys are less likely than native-origin boys to choose the academic track. The latter finding is mostly driven by students of Albanian, Moroccan, and Balkan origin. The only group with more ambitious track choices than native-origin students are second-generation students with the Italian citizenship – highlighting the importance of expanding the access to citizenship for (children of) immigrants.

Competency-based learning and formative assessment feedback as precursors of college students’ soft skills acquisition

ABSTRACT In recent years, researchers have highlighted the importance of students’ set of soft skills. However, although deemed important, the integration of those skills into educational systems’ policy remains ancillary in higher education. This is mainly due to the scant use of competency-based learning activities and the widely used instructional practices of back-to-basics across many higher education systems. This study set out to examine how undergraduate students perceive the extent to which competency-based learning accompanied by formative assessment feedback techniques are employed by their faculty, and the effect these methods have on their soft skills acquisition. Data were gathered from 303 Israeli undergraduate students of education, health management, and social work study tracks, and analyzed by using Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). According to the empirical model, competency-based learning was found to be positively connected to personal, social, and methodological soft skills. Another finding showed that formative assessment feedback was highly and positively connected to competency-based learning, whereas merely low results were indicated between this factor and soft skills. These findings suggest that soft skills can be enhanced by constructivist learning activities that take place in meaningful and relevant vocational situations, accompanied by detailed feedback, based on specific assessment criteria, provided in a timely manner, constructive, and aimed at reinforcing students’ learning towards soft skill acquisition.

The Study on the Influence of Academic Pressure on Academic Performance

The academic pressure of students is a hot issue concerned by the school, family and all walks of life. Academic pressure will have a lot of impact on students' psychology, physiology and so on, and then affect their academic performance. The study of the influence of academic pressure on academic achievement can help the society to correctly view the relationship between stress and achievement, provide the basis for reducing the burden and reducing pressure, and create a better learning environment. Based on the data of Chinese education tracking survey, this paper discusses the relationship between academic achievement and academic pressure, and analyzes the heterogeneity of different student groups. The study found that there is a "inverted U-shaped" relationship between academic performance and academic stress, appropriate academic stress can promote academic performance, when the stress exceeds a certain critical value, it has a negative impact on academic performance; at the same time, the compressive ability of boys is stronger than that of girls, and the Anti-stress ability of urban students is stronger than that of rural students.

Does Early Educational Tracking Contribute to Gender Gaps in Test Achievement? A Cross-Country Assessment

Abstract On average, boys score higher on math achievement tests and girls score higher in reading; these gaps increase between primary and secondary school. Using PISA, PIRLS, and TIMSS data, we investigate the role of early educational tracking (sorting students into different types of secondary schools at an early age) on gender gaps in test achievement in a cross-country difference-in-differences framework. We find strong evidence that early tracking increases gender differences in reading. For math test scores, we do not find consistent evidence that early tracking contributes to the gender gap.

Adolescents’ self-reported health status, behaviours and health issues addressed during routine school doctor consultations in Switzerland: an observational study

We aimed to investigate the self-reported health status and behaviours of 7th-grade adolescents, associations with gender and educational track, as well as health issues addressed during routine school doctor consultations in Switzerland. Data on health status and behaviours, specifically general well-being, stimulant and addictive substance use, bullying/violence, exercise, nutrition and health protection, and puberty/sexuality, were drawn from routinely collected self-assessment questionnaires from 1076 (of a total of 1126) students from 14 schools in the Swiss canton of Zug in 2020. Data on health issues addressed in school doctor consultations were collected by nine school doctors (for 595 individual consultations). Multilevel logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association of gender and educational track with unfavourable health status or behaviours. Although 92% (n = 989) of the students reported being happy or satisfied overall, 21% (n = 215) often or almost always felt sad, and 5-10% had repeatedly been seriously physically hurt (n = 67), sexually harassed with words (n = 88) or experienced uncomfortable physical contact (n = 60). Female gender and a lower educational track were associated with unfavourable health status. In 90% (n = 533) of the school doctor consultations, at least one topic of disease prevention or health promotion was addressed, whereby the topics addressed depended strongly on the individual school doctors. Our findings revealed that unfavourable health status and behaviours were prevalent among adolescents but the health topics addressed in school doctor consultations were not tailored to students' self-reported health issues. A school-based approach that strengthens adolescents' health literacy and provides opportunities for patient-centred counselling has the potential to improve the current and future health of adolescents and, ultimately, adults. To realise this potential, it is essential for school doctors to be sensitised and trained to address students' health concerns. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of patient-centred counselling, the high prevalence of bullying, and gender and educational differences.

Mobile Applications to Support Diabetes Self-Management Education: Patient Experiences and Provider Perspectives.

Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) is a critical component of diabetes care, but time for it is often limited. Digital tools, such as mobile applications (apps), show promise in extending efforts and supporting self-management education, but have not been fully used. Objectives of this multi-phase study were to (1) evaluate an app designed to support patients with insulin therapy and (2) examine provider perspectives on DSMES apps. Phase 1: Thirty-two adult patients with type 2 diabetes new to or having difficulties with insulin therapy were introduced to the BDTM Diabetes Care App. Three-month app use and satisfaction and changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and diabetes distress were assessed. Phase 2: Sixty diabetes providers completed a survey about their experiences with and perspectives on DSMES apps. Phase 1: Patients reported satisfaction with the app, and significant improvements in HbA1c and diabetes distress were observed. Phase 2: Most providers viewed apps as adjuncts to diabetes education. Only 33% had previous app experience; however, 100% would consider recommending apps to their patients. Most would spend 5-15 minutes introducing apps to patients. All respondents agreed that the following DSMES app features-evidence-based educational content, data logging and tracking features, customizable user experience, digital coaching via goal setting or reminders, and ability to share data with providers-are key components to consider. Findings suggest DSMES apps can play a role in self-management support and provide guidance on factors to consider when introducing digital tools into clinical practice. Clinicaltrials.gov, #NCT03999268.

Interprofessional education tracks: One schools response to common IPE barriers

BackgroundImplementing meaningful interprofessional education (IPE) experiences into the curriculum often requires overcoming barriers and challenges. To overcome these challenges on a non-medical center campus, school of pharmacy IPE faculty implemented a longitudinal, three-semester, multi-track series. The goals of forming a multi-track series were: (1) to overcome the pharmacy class size compared to the other available disciplines, (2) to utilize disciplines available on a liberal arts campus, and (3) to address varying academic calendars between disciplines. Interprofessional activityIn 2018, the IPE course series was developed and imbedded within the first- and second-year, required, one-credit hour IPE courses. Tracks included community wellness involving accelerated bachelor of science in nursing students on the liberal arts campus, health law involving juris doctorate candidates on the liberal arts campus, and quality management involving masters of science in nursing administration and doctor of medicine students on the medical campus. Each pharmacy student was assigned a track spring semester of the first year based on preference. DiscussionCreation of the track series successfully overcame barriers for IPE implementation. The use of multiple partners, smaller cohorts, and virtual technology allowed faculty greater flexibility, smaller student cohorts, and group autonomy to determine best time and method for meetings, assignment completion, and events. ImplicationsUtilization of a non-traditional course structure allowed for creative solutions to common barriers related to implementation of IPE on a liberal arts campus. This concept can be applied to a wide variety of curriculums to implement meaningful interprofessional experiences.

The Role of Digital Technologies in Foreign Language Learning in the Context of Life-Long Learning Paradigm

Introduction. The article explores the importance of digitalization in foreign language studying within the concept of life-long learning. The authors underscore the need to create integrated educational space, based on building efficient educational tracks, embracing various forms of e-learning and applying distant educational technologies. The high degree of relevance of life-long learning is attributed to rapid updating of information and knowledge as well as rising competition on the labour market and increasing requirements for professional competence.It is underlined that digital technologies can only be efficient once they are employed within a particular educational framework, designed to achieve specific goals and meet students’ needs and requirements. The paradigm of life-long learning and creation of unitary educational space with regard to foreign language learning suggest that higher educational institutions, which possess the necessary scientific and teaching capacities, should take the leading role in designing, applying and spreading educational digital technologies. The accomplishments and experience of universities and institutes in that sphere should be employed in all the stages of education. Such institutions enjoy sufficient resources and competencies to create online and distant learning courses, which provide access to high quality further education to various categories of students. The authors come to the conclusion that ensuring human right to lifelong learning, including foreign language learning, requires timely meeting changing labour market requirements, building individual educational tracks, and applying modern digital technologies.Materials and methods. The methodical approach of the research refers to the specified and known empirical and theoretical methods in digital linguodidactics. The analysis of mapping out foreign language learning in the framework of the digital educational system is extensively used in the article. Other general and specific research methods – dialectical, comparative, modeling, ect.-have also been applied in this study.Results. The high degree of relevance of creating digital educational environment and life-long learning is attributed to rapid updating of information and knowledge, which stimulates motivation for their acquisition, specification and application. Moreover, rising competition on the labour market and increasing requirements for professional competence, including excellent command of a foreign language, create a powerful incentive for continuous learning, achieved within integrated digital educational system.Discussion and conclusion. The research, that has been carried out in the article makes it possible to conclude that creation of the integrated digital educational environment based on modern learning techniques encourages life-long education, particularly in the context of foreign language learning.

Retrieval‐based learning in special education

AbstractRetrieval‐based learning has been investigated in various populations. The present study examined retrieval‐based learning in a sample of students at a special‐needs school with educational tracks for learning and mental development. In addition, a comparison group of students at a regular school was examined. Learning conditions were manipulated within participants. In a first session, participants either received restudy cycles only, or they received alternating test and restudy cycles. A second session then comprised the opposite form of practice. In both sessions, a final test assessed memory after a short distractor phase. This procedure was the same in two experiments but with different kinds of item material. For both kinds (images and image‐word pairs), a testing effect occurred, that is higher recall of tested items. These results show that lower cognitive ability or lack of experience with regularly being tested in school do not prevent students from benefiting from retrieval‐based learning.

The role of writing motives in the interplay between implicit theories, achievement goals, self-efficacy, and writing performance.

It is well established that students' motivation for writing is a key predictor of their writing performance. The aim of the current study is to study and map the relations underlying different motivational constructs (i.e., implicit theories, achievement goals, self-efficacy, and writing motives) and to investigate how these contribute to students' writing performance. For that, 390 Flemish students in stage three of the academic track of secondary education (16-18 years old) completed questionnaires measuring their implicit theories of writing, achievement goals, self-efficacy for writing, and writing motives. Furthermore, they completed an argumentative writing test. Path analysis revealed statistically significant direct paths from (1) entity beliefs of writing to performance avoidance goals (β = 0.23), (2) mastery goals to self-efficacy for writing (β argumentation = 0.14, β regulation = 0.25, β conventions = 0.18), performance-approach goals to self-efficacy for writing (β argumentation = 0.38, β regulation = 0.21, β conventions = 0.25), and performance-avoidance goals to self-efficacy for writing (β argumentation = -0.30, β regulation = -0.24, β conventions = -0.28), (3) self-efficacy for regulation to both autonomous (β = 0.20) and controlled motivation (β = -0.15), (4) mastery goals to autonomous motivation (β = 0.58), (5) performance approach and avoidance goals to controlled motivation (β = 0.18; β = 0.35), and (6) autonomous motivation to writing performance (β = 0.11). This study moves the field of writing motivation research forward by studying the contribution of implicit theories, achievement goals, and self-efficacy to students' writing performance, via writing motives.

Gendered ethnic choice effects at the transition to upper secondary education in Switzerland.

Positive ethnic choice effects, namely a higher likelihood of attending more demanding educational tracks among students of immigrant origin compared to their native peers, are observed in many countries. Immigrant optimism, and thus the striving for upward social mobility, is seen as a key mechanism for explaining ethnic choice effects. However, research on this topic often ignores gendered educational pathways and trajectories. Based on data from German-speaking Switzerland on two school-leaver cohorts, our interest is on whether ethnic choice effects are observable for both female and male students whose parents were born in the Balkans, Turkey or Portugal. In addition, we examine the extent to which aspirations contribute to explaining ethnic choice effects for both genders. To disentangle the direct effect of a migration background and the mediating effect of aspirations on educational attainment at upper secondary level, we apply the reformulated KHB method in our analyzes. Overall, our findings indicate that migrant women have made up ground on their native peers between the two school-leaving cohorts, contributing to the widening of the gender gap within the migrant group of interest. Of particular importance, however, is our finding that ethnic choice effects are observed only for men, while we do not observe any evidence of ethnic choice effects in the sample of women. Consistent with previous findings, our results show that aspirations mediate part of the ethnic choice effect. Our findings support the consideration that the room for ethnic choice effects is related to the proportion of young men and women striving for academic education, with gender differences in this regard being particularly pronounced in education systems with a high degree of vocational specificity.

Trends in Race and Sex Representation Among Entering Orthopaedic Surgery Residents: A Continued Call for Active Diversification Efforts.

Multiple studies have analyzed the diversity of surgical subspecialties, in which orthopaedic surgery consistently lags behind in female and minority representation. This study aims to examine contemporary data on trends in sex and racial representation among entering orthopaedic surgery residents. The American Association of Medical Colleges' Graduate Medical Education Track data set was queried for all individuals entering surgical residencies in the United States from 2001 to 2020. Deidentified data on self-reported sex and race (American Indian or Alaska Native [AIAN]; Asian; Black or African American, Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish Origin; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander [NHOPI]; White; and Other) for individuals across all surgical subspecialties were collected. Sex and race proportions for newly matriculating surgical residents were analyzed and aggregated across the study period. From 2001 to 2020, there was a 9.2% increase in the proportion of new female orthopaedic surgery residents, with approximately one in five identifying as such in 2020. By contrast, surgical specialties in aggregate saw a 16.3% increase. A 11.7% decrease was observed in entering orthopaedic residents who identified as White with a corresponding increase in representation by multiracial (9.2%) individuals and those identifying as "Other" (1.9%). The proportion of Asian (range: 10.4 to 15.4%), Black (2.5 to 6.2%), Hispanic (0.3 to 4.4%), AIAN (0.0 to 1.2%), and NHOPI (0.0 to 0.5%) new trainees has largely remained unchanged throughout the study period. A similar trend was observed among surgical specialties in aggregate. Of the identities most represented by the multiracial cohort, the most common were Asian (range: 7.0 to 50.0%), Hispanic (0.0 to 53.5%), and White (30.2 to 50.0%). Although orthopaedic surgery has improved in sex diversity in its entering class of residents, measures to increase racial diversity have been less successful. Efforts at improving the recruitment of a diverse class of trainees are necessary and will require acknowledging the importance of both racial and sex representation diversity metrics.

How is Linguistic Accommodation Perceived in Instant Messaging? A Survey on Teenagers’ Evaluations and Perceptions

This study examines Flemish teenagers’ perceptions and evaluations of linguistic accommodation in instant messaging: people adapting their language use to (that of) their interlocutor. We conducted a survey among 254 pupils in Belgian secondary education, and compare the results to teenagers’ online writing practices in a reference corpus. Our findings yield insight in the indexicality of accommodation, with (more) mirroring evoking (more) positive evaluations of the relationship between interlocutors. As for self-reported mirroring, the socio-demographic variable of education stands out: while the participants report a frequent online contact with people who differ from them regarding age, gender, or educational track, they only report to accommodate in the first two situations. Furthermore, they perform quite poorly at recognizing accommodative adjustments made by their peers, especially for mixed-education interactions. Finally, while teenagers appear to hold largely the same opinions on accommodation, the analyses reveal some socio-demographic variation.