Foundation Of Scientific Knowledge Research Articles

Ten-year evaluation of an immersive global health medical school course using a four-principle equity framework

IntroductionResponding to a growing need for health care professionals equipped with global expertise in local and international settings, an innovative global health medical school course was developed that combines rigorous didactics, mentorship, cross-cultural training, and international experiences to build students’ cultural humility and clinical skills.MethodsRecognizing that global health service trips and courses can unintentionally exacerbate inequities and power imbalances, this course was evaluated using the four principles of Melby et al.’s Guidelines for Implementing Short-term Experiences in Global Health. These principles include skill building in cross-cultural effectiveness and cultural humility, bidirectional participatory relationships, local capacity building, and long-term sustainability.ResultsThe course was developed with long-standing global partners and includes a capstone project that is intended to strengthen local capacity with benefits to the site and student. Student course evaluations, supervisors’ observations of students, and supervisor feedback forms indicate that this course achieves these principles. Furthermore, there is evidence that students developed cultural humility, acquired foundational science knowledge and relevant skills, and changed their medical practice.DiscussionThis approach could serve as a model for institutions seeking to enhance training in global health for medical students.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF THE SCIENCEREADY PREPARATORY SHORT COURSE ON STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Starting university can be a daunting experience representing a big adjustment for first year students. Facilitating a smooth transition to university sets students up for successful degree completion; however, if students struggle or become disengaged, they can underperform or drop out completely. An early support system, the 'ScienceReady' short course has been designed to assist with the transition to university study for nursing and midwifery students. It has been designed to provide essential academic skills and foundational science knowledge, reduce anxiety, and assist in the formation of early friendship groups, with the overall aim to improve student success. As well as improving background knowledge, the course also allows students to visit laboratories, meet staff and interact with their peers. Despite its scope, we knew little about the impact of attending ScienceReady on later academic outcomes. This study assessed the impact of ScienceReady attendance on first-year academic success, providing evidence for the importance of early support systems in tertiary success.

Что значит быть рациональным?

The article provides a critical overview on the question of what does it means to be rational and what are the foundations of reasonable thinking, as well as how it is related to the history and current state of affairs in science and philosophy. Ra­tionality is understood as the correspondence of actions and thinking to epis­temic rules. Traditionally, the rules of correct thinking are formulated by logic. The search for other universal laws of knowledge originates from the logic of Aristotle. In the epistemology and logic of science, pluralism still prevails, and parallel conceptual lines are developing. The ideals of rationality either de­scribe thinking algorithms that are successfully implemented in research, or they are prescribed to practice like philosophical ideals. The matter is complicated by the fact that there are no ahistorical ideals of knowledge. Does it mean that the search for ideals of rationality is doomed in advance, and rationality itself is irrational? Both the foundations of scientific knowledge and the foundations of human culture are interconnected with rationality. Moreover, one is insepara­ble from the other in the real world, in which a person acts and makes decisions. Considering different points of view on rationality, we will try to comprehend it simultaneously from the standpoint of historical variability and the presence of mechanisms for continuity and stabilization of acquired cultural experience.

Preparing the Future Nutrition Professional: Culinary-Focused Summer Internship for Nutrition Undergraduates

ObjectivesWe hypothesize that a culinary-focused summer internship for nutrition undergraduate students will increase their will and capacity to work in community settings to promote healthful and culturally appropriate eating patterns. This approach brings together the strong foundational science knowledge of nutrition, the art of culinary, and the interface of food, culture, and health. The specific aims include:•Increase knowledge of culinary aspects of ancient whole grains in mixed dishes•Increase knowledge of culinary wellness and aspects of working in a multicultural community•Transdisciplinary opportunities to better understand food environments•Transferable skill development MethodsThe Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) identified significant gaps in nutrition education related to culinary and culture. By creating a three-prong approach consisting of nutrition, culinary, and community, students can better understand the interaction between food, health, and culture. While practical cooking experience provides the foundation, it is insufficient for dietitians to be effective with clients especially related to unfamiliar foods and dishes. Four nutrition undergraduate students, two nutrition graduate students, and a local community chef participated in a 13-week summer internship. There were 6-weeks of virtual culinary modules followed by a week of training in a commercial kitchen. Students used culinary techniques to create ancient whole grain dishes, replace salt with spice combinations, and practiced plating techniques. Students used their new knowledge in a community tasting event and to facilitate peer-to-peer teaching in an undergraduate course. ResultsUsing thematic analysis, photovoice, video transcripts, student notebook analysis, and final reflections, themes emerged in increased confidence in the kitchen and increased ability to create recipes that meet sociocultural norms and dietary guidance. Further, students were able to use culinary terms, concepts, and practices to teach peers about the interface of culinary arts and nutrition. ConclusionsThe nutrition student benefits from culinary arts experiences as it bridges nutrition science content and an understanding of consumer-related messages. Funding SourcesUniversity of Minnesota Department of Food Science and Nutrition.

The phenomenon of qualitative theory in an interdisciplinary context

The qualitative theory was the completion of the classical and the transition to modern mathematics. This is not only new mathematics, but new mathematics in physics, economics, and humanities. It has transformed the face of mathematics itself and the scope of its applications. Qualitative methods have touched our understanding of the world by raising questions about the foundations of scientific knowledge.

Repurposing Immunopharmacology to Inculcate Pharmacist’s Professional Identity Formation in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Immunology and Immunopharmacology courses offer multiple opportunities to bridge didactic and theoretical exposition to “hands‐on” practice and application. In the United States, the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) is the entry‐level degree to practice as a pharmacist. In a majority of the four‐year PharmD programs, Immunology is taught in the first two professional years, followed by pharmacotherapeutic applications in the third year, while students are on clinical rotations in the final year. Student readiness for clinical rotations and patient‐centered care is critical though difficult to inculcate, especially from the perspective of their ability to integrate foundational science knowledge with practice. However, predictably, the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic has focused learners’ attention on several foundational science‐related aspects of Immunology and Immunopharmacology such as vaccine production techniques, immune cell responses to the SARS‐CoV‐2, the concepts of antigen presentation and processing, and the use of many immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of COVID‐19. Here, we leveraged the topical relevancy of COVID‐19 to engage pharmacy students in our third‐year PharmD Immunology course to devise strategies for overcoming vaccine hesitancy. Using published review articles assigned as pre‐reading assignments in our Team Based Learning pedagogy, we introduced 19 third‐year student teams composed of 5‐6 pharmacy students to complex social‐behavioral barriers to vaccination. The specific reasons for vaccine hesitancy included were 1) lack of awareness of vaccines, 2) fear and mistrust of vaccines, 3) distrust of health care professionals, 4) misinformation specific to COVID‐19 vaccines, 5) faith‐based and personal reasons for vaccine hesitancy, 6) misinformation about COVID‐19, and 7) historical reasons such as the Tuskegee experiment for the prevailing mistrust in African American communities. Next, using a design thinking approach, student teams were asked to formulate and present in class a potential solution to alleviate each of these vaccine hesitancy reasons in the setting of a community pharmacy. Following one week of preparation time after the initial posting of the review article, in two three‐hour‐long class sessions, student teams were divided into “anti‐vaxxers” and “pro‐vaxxers” and teams debated each of the vaccine hesitancy reasons using specific data and examples from the review articles, also examining the effect of the prevailing state and federal laws in the United States on vaccine outcomes. Student teams offered 1) patient education, 2) counseling, 3) partnership with local community leaders, 4) researching literature on vaccine side effects such as those related to autism or the anaphylaxis due to albumin in older influenza vaccines, and 5) sponsored awareness programs such as “walk for COVID” as novel mechanisms for overcoming barriers to vaccination. Student perception surveys indicated 90% of the students found the activity interesting, engaging, and challenging, while 93% found it an effective use of their time. 98% of students felt that the activity helped them appreciate their professional identity as future pharmacists while allowing them to apply foundational science knowledge to overcome problems encountered in real‐life situations.

Caring for the Patient.

Is there a simple secret to truly great patient care? Medical science is able to alleviate more diseases and mitigate more suffering than ever before, but physicians are left feeling less respected, more criticized, more judged, and more burned out. Too many patients say we just do not care about them, regardless of the expertise we trained so hard to give to them.Generational truths and personal experiences from a rural, community-based surgical practice in Mississippi suggest that the art and the science of medicine are inseparable and interdependent. It is indeed possible for a highly trained, teaching surgeon to sit with his patients every Sunday in church, take care of the local football team, and speak at funerals of those he fought to save. This level of emotional agility is a requisite character trait in a rural setting, and one that can serve all surgeons well, no matter where they practice. Genuine compassion and a hand on the shoulder, supported by a foundation of scientific knowledge and clinical judgment, will almost guarantee a strong, trusting bond between doctor and patient. The secret of great patient care is simply caring for the patient.

A Virtual Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Educational Program (VIP) for Pre‐Matriculated Doctor of Pharmacy Students to Bridge Prerequisite Pharmacology Content

COVID-19 vastly disrupted education across the globe, creating unique challenges for health professions education (HPE) programs. While in some instances, COVID was perceived to serve as a potential driving force for transformative change in HPE through necessary “disruptive innovation”, a number of challenges have been identified, particularly for pharmacy education in countries as diverse as Japan, Nigeria, the United States, and United Kingdom. Worldwide adoption of online education in response to the pandemic's disruption need careful and long-term evaluation to ensure that adequate learner acquisition of skills-based and didactic curriculum occurred during this time. Nowhere is this need more urgent than for curriculum associated with interprofessional pre-matriculation programs. In 2018, we created an interdisciplinary, one-week-long pre-matriculation program to help incoming pharmacy students be adequately prepared for the rigors of a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. In summer 2020, we modified and expanded this pre-matriculation program by adding primers introducing interprofessional education, and cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary aspects related to pharmacy school and conducted a case-controlled, retrospective, single-blinded (blinded to the teaching faculty) study analysis through a comparison of learning metrics between 2019 and 2020. The two-week-long virtual program, co-taught by ten faculty members, was offered for six hours daily during the summer of 2020 in the week preceding orientation week for first professional year students in our Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. Case Based Learning and aspects of Team Based Learning were incorporated to engage twenty-two pre-matriculation students enrolled for our Doctor of Pharmacy program. This virtual program was designed to overcome diversity in pre-requisite course content and identify and address gaps in students’ abilities to relate foundational science knowledge with pharmacy subjects. The following subjects were included: cardiovascular, neuro, and renal pathophysiology and pharmacology, and skills-based courses such as introduction to simulation, clinical decision making, interprofessional education, graduate writing. The third area we focused on included emotional and mental health and resiliency in the current pandemic. Mixed method evaluation was used including comparing student perceptions of their learning on a twenty-question survey instrument and comparison of the post-activity quiz data. Seventy-seven percent of the attending students from 2020 agreed and 22 percent strongly agreed that the virtual program helped them connect the dots between pathophysiology and pharmacology and pharmacology and skills-based courses such as interprofessional education. Post-activity quiz results did not show any significant difference between the two cohorts suggesting that the online learning environment was at least as effective as the in-person environment. The major limitation was the small class size, paucity of time for specific topics, and familiarity with technology.

Precision Cancer Medicine: Dynamic Learning of Cancer Biology in a Clinically Meaningful Context.

Precision medicine is revolutionizing healthcare practices, most notably in oncology. With cancer being the second leading cause of death in the USA, it is important to integrate precision oncology content in undergraduate medical education. In 2015, we launched a Clinical Cancer Medicine Integrated Science Course (ISC) for post-clerkship medical students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM). In this ISC, students learned cancer biology and clinical oncology concepts through a combination of classroom and patient care activities. Student feedback from mid- and end-of-course surveys and student match data were analyzed and used to develop ongoing course improvements. To date, 72 medical students have taken the Clinical Cancer Medicine ISC. Over 90% of students who completed end-of-course surveys agreed or strongly agreed that this course advanced their foundational science knowledge in clinical cancer medicine, that clinical relevance was provided during non-clinical foundational science learning activities, and that foundational science learning was embedded in course clinical experiences. Students who took this course most commonly matched in Internal Medicine, Pathology, Pediatrics, and Radiation Oncology. VUSM students who matched into Pathology and Radiation Oncology were more likely to take this ISC than students who matched in other specialties. The Clinical Cancer Medicine ISC serves as a model for incorporating precision oncology, cancer biology foundational science, and oncology patient care activities in undergraduate medical education. The course prepares students to care for oncology patients in their fields of interests during their future career in medicine.

Una epistemología dialéctica para el análisis de la ciencia

El objetivo de este artículo es encontrar una epistemología que permita fundamentar el conocimiento científico, responder las interrogantes que aparecen en su construcción y permita su ulterior desarrollo. Como metodología se utilizan métodos propios de la filosofía: la hermenéutica para la interpretación de textos, el análisis y síntesis para descomponer las ideas de los textos leídos y recomponerlos en una nueva visión dentro de la problemática analizada; y la deducción para obtener inferencias válidas a partir de esas ideas obtenidas. Se concibe a la epistemología no como una disciplina científica particular ni como una disciplina prescriptiva, sino como una rama de la filosofía que estudia la ciencia. Se propone el realismo dialéctico hermenéutico como marco filosófico que soporta y orienta esa epistemología buscada, por lo que se analizan el realismo, la dialéctica y la hermenéutica. Resultados: se justifican tanto un realismo alejado del dogmatismo estático que requiere un sujeto cognoscente pasivo, como un constructivismo apartado de subjetivismos y relativismos. Conclusiones: una epistemología realista dialéctica hermenéutica resulta útil para el análisis de la ciencia en general y de la ciencia de la información en particular ya que permite explicar el devenir de ambas y el problema de la relación entre teorías nuevas y antiguas; la inter y transdisciplina; así como el papel del sujeto y la sociedad en la construcción de la ciencia sin negar la objetividad.

Where Do We Go From Here? Assessing Medical Students’ Surgery Clerkship Preparedness During COVID-19

IntroductionThe impact of COVID-19 on surgical education has been profound, and clinical learning experiences transitioned to virtual formats. This study investigated the impact of virtual experiences created to facilitate learning during the pandemic for medical students.MethodsWe performed a cohort study to determine the perceived clinical preparedness for medical students enrolled in the preclinical surgery pilot course, surgical Extended Mastery Learning Rotation (EMLR), and longitudinal surgical clerkship (LC). The preclinical surgery pilot course took place before COVID-19 disruptions, and the EMLR and LC experiences took place virtually. Specialty choice was examined in the EMLR and LC cohorts. Performance on the NBME surgical assessments was analyzed among students enrolled in the traditional clerkship and pandemic-disrupted courses and compared to national data using a two-sample t-test.ResultsCompared to preclinical students, EMLR and LC students demonstrated improvements in their perceived surgical clerkship readiness. After the 3-week EMLR course, in the setting of completing only one-third of the clerkship year, students had an average NBME Surgical Self-Assessment Exam score of 72 (SD 12), comparable to the national average of 71 (SD 9) p = 0.33. The average shelf exam score for students (N = 24) enrolled in the traditional clerkship (block 1), prior to COVID-19, disruptions was 66 (SD 9) compared to an average score of 69 (SD 9) for the longitudinal clerkship students (N = 20) that took the shelf exam later in the year (p = 0.36). COVID-19 disruptions did not affect specialty choice. All LC students have decided on a specialty; 50% nonsurgical and 50% surgical. From the EMLR cohort, 36% and 38% plan to pursue surgical and nonsurgical specialties, respectively, with 26% still undecided.ConclusionsCourses were well-liked and will be implemented in future clerkships. Surgical educators demonstrated flexibility and creativity in the development of the EMLR. Despite COVID-19 disruptions, medical students made progress in their clinical skills and foundational science knowledge. COVID-19 disruptions did not appear to impact specialty choice.

University of Utah School of Medicine.

University of Utah School of Medicine.

Surgery Clerkship Curriculum Changes at an Academic Institution during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ProblemThe COVID-19 pandemic has suspended the surgery clinical clerkship for third-year medical students at numerous institutions across the world. As a result, educators and students have adapted rapidly. There is a paucity of precedents regarding urgent and brusque formal curricular changes for medical students enrolled in surgical clinical rotations.ApproachThe University of California, San Francisco Department of Surgery created a surgically focused extended mastery learning rotation (EMLR). The surgery clerkship leadership designed a curriculum consisting of multiple learning strategies compatible with virtual learning environments. The primary aims of the newly developed EMLR were to help students consolidate their foundational science knowledge before their return to clinical medicine in an altered learning environment. The EMLR is currently underway, and further studies are necessary to evaluate its effectiveness.

Integrated Histology‐Pathology Medical Education: What is it Good For?

Medical schools around the world now teach foundational anatomical sciences using integrated methods that have improved the content relevance in medical training and are more consistent with physicians’ clinical reasoning and practice. As stewards of one of these foundational sciences, histology experts at the University of British Columbia (UBC) medical school have embraced a renewed and integrated curriculum. Specifically, we have restructured our undergraduate medical curriculum and implemented an innovative competency‐based integration of years one and two histology with a more perceptibly clinical discipline, pathology. Results from faculty experiences, student outcomes on formative integrated examinations and educational research data from student learning surveys demonstrate the pedagogical effectiveness of our foundational science‐clinical integration.The next step is to establish how this pre‐clinical integration allows our medical students to utilize foundational science knowledge in subsequent clinical training. That is, how can we demonstrate that the relevance and application of this integration extends beyond the pre‐clinical curriculum and into the clinical years? In other words, what is integrated histology‐pathology medical education good for?This session will explore one answer to this question by describing our method of mapping histology‐pathology milestones and exit competencies to clinical knowledge and skills in a manner that illustrates the importance of integrated teaching in medical education. That is, by using milestones and exit competency‐based clinical scenarios, we are able to demonstrate how our integrated foundational (histology) and clinical (pathology) medical science approach enables students to progress to the level of clinical expertise expected of all graduating physicians.Our methods, experiences and outcomes can extend to other foundational science/clinical disciplines partnerships, and this session will prove useful for both educators and clinicians who are exploring or implementing interdisciplinary integrations in both undergraduate and post‐graduate medical training.

Balancing Parts: Integrating Uncertainty/Ambiguity into Anatomy Education

Tolerance of Uncertainty/Ambiguity (ToU/A) is a construct describing individuals’ responses to ambiguous stimuli. ToA is recognised as impacting healthcare outcomes, however, little is known about whether education may impact students’ ToA, and if so, how we can develop pedagogy to improve students’ ToU/A. Framework analysis of longitudinal qualitative data, collected via online discussions and semi‐structured interviews from 207 undergraduate medical students across three semesters of anatomy, identified anatomy pedagogy which either fostered or hindered students’ ToU/A. Anatomy curricula which integrates opportunities for students to distribute responsibility for knowledge (i.e. working in teams) and/or provide anonymity for those conveying knowledge (i.e. online anonymous discussion forums) appear to foster students’ ToU/A, while didactic educator approaches (suggesting that knowledge is finite and knowable) appear to hinder students’ ToU/A. Thematic analysis across time‐points suggest that active learning approaches can be effective stimuli for students’ ToU/A development. Active learning approaches within our study balanced communication of anatomy discipline knowledge with clinical applications, so that the context of knowledge became the stimulus of uncertainty. Exemplar anatomy curricula fostering ToU/A include “choose your own adventure” chest pain team‐based learning, where students elect which patient information they receive and in which order, engaging anatomical knowledge through the “adventure”. Another approach is using short clinical case scenarios wherein more than one underlying anatomical deficit may explain symptoms described in the scenario. Despite evidence that students develop ToA/U in their cognition and behaviour (e.g. through acknowledgement of the clinical importance of ToU/ToA, and perseverance when faced with ambiguous/unknown knowledge), student talk in this study suggests that emotionally, students remain negative about ToU/A (e.g. feeling overwhelmed, fearing errors). Together our data and examples illustrate that foundational science knowledge education can be balanced with effective student development of ToU/A, but student feedback may remain negative; an important consideration in evaluating effective curricula. Future work will focus on whether students’ negative emotions change with time and clinical exposure.Support or Funding InformationResearch supported by Monash Education Academy, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (Monash University) and a Medical Education Travel Fellowship

Investigating Whether Transfer of Learning in Pharmacy Students Depends More on Knowledge Storage or Accessibility

Objective. To investigate whether prior knowledge or reactivated marginal knowledge alone is sufficient for student pharmacists to transfer foundational science content to pharmacy application. Methods. In two experiments, transfer of foundational science knowledge was examined. Far transfer was examined by investigating the relationship between prior knowledge of chemistry and physiology to pharmacokinetic application. Near transfer was examined by investigating the relationship between foundational physiology content and its application to pharmacy. Participants completed fill-in-the-blank (FIB) items to assess accessible prior knowledge. Half the participants also received multiple-choice formats of the FIB questions to assess stored well but not readily retrievable information. Participants then answered application-type questions. Results. Participants were more successful in correctly answering multiple-choice questions than FIB questions. Participants could not apply stored and accessible nor stored but inaccessible knowledge in the far transfer condition (pharmacokinetics application). Participants were more successful in applying foundational science knowledge to the near transfer condition (pharmacy application of physiology) Conclusion. This study suggests some students may be able to transfer their prerequisite knowledge to pharmacy application, but most students probably cannot successfully transfer without formal instruction. In addition, reactivating the foundational knowledge through multiple-choice testing has been shown to be sufficient to cause retention of the knowledge, but this seems to be an insufficient stimulus to allow for transfer to occur. What this confirms is that even if students have the prior knowledge, transfer cannot be assumed to be an automatic process and probably requires specific instruction.

A proposal of topographic map symbols for large-scale maps of urban areas in Brazil

Abstract. This paper addresses a historical issue in Brazil that is that topographic mapping has been performed without application of the theories of cartography to local reality. With the lack of research on this subject, the rules and standards for topographic mapping in Brazil are based on solutions that have been developed in other countries. Even though topographic maps are not a frequent topic of cartographic research, as cited by Kent (2009), when the methods, techniques, and standards are imported from other countries, they are established by considering different natural, rural, and urban landscapes; different histories of land use and occupation; and different cultures. Consequently, it is essential to develop studies that address the theoretical issues of topographic mapping and to verify their suitability to Brazilian reality, considering the geographical aspects that must be represented in topographic mapping. Such a foundation of scientific knowledge is essential to producing solutions that are adapted to the environmental conditions and needs of Brazilian users and society.

Transition to First Year University Study: A Qualitative Descriptive Study on the Psychosocial and Emotional Impacts of a Science Workshop

Aim/purpose The purpose of this article is to discuss the psychosocial and emotional outcomes of an introductory health science workshop designed to support and assist incoming health science students before starting their university study. Background For the past two decades, a South Australian university offered an on-campus face to face workshop titled ‘Preparation for Health Sciences’ to incoming first-year students from eleven allied health programs such as Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medical Imaging. While many were locals, a good number came from regional and rural areas, and many were international students also. They consisted of both on-campus and off-campus students. The workshop was created as a new learning environment that was available for students of diverse age groups, educational and cultural backgrounds to prepare them to study sciences. The content of the four-day workshop was developed in consultation with the program directors of the allied health programs. The objectives were to: introduce the assumed foundational science knowledge to undertake health sciences degree; gain confidence in approaching science subjects; experience lectures and laboratory activities; and become familiar with the University campus and its facilities. The workshop was delivered a week before the orientation week, before first-year formal teaching weeks. The topics covered were enhancing study skills, medical and anatomical terminology, body systems, basic chemistry and physics, laboratory activities, and assessment of learning. Methodology In order to determine the outcomes of the workshop, a survey was used requiring participants to agree or disagree about statements concerning the preparatory course and answer open-ended questions relating to the most important information learned and the best aspects of the workshop. Several students piloted this questionnaire before use in order to ascertain the clarity of instructions, terminology and statements. The result of the 2015-2018 pre- and post-evaluation showed that the workshop raised confidence and enthusiasm in commencing university and that the majority considered the workshop useful overall. The findings of the survey are drawn upon to examine the psychosocial and emotional impacts of the workshop on participants. Using secondary qualitative analysis, the researchers identified the themes relating to the psychosocial and emotional issues conveyed by the participants. Contribution The contributions of the article are in the areas of improving students’ confidence to complete their university degrees and increasing the likelihood of academic success. Findings Of the 285 students who participated in the workshops from 2015 to 2018, 166 completed the survey conducted at the conclusion of the initiative, representing a 58% response rate. The workshops achieved the objectives outlined at the outset. While there were many findings reported (Thalluri, 2016), the results highlighted in this paper relate to the psychosocial and emotional impacts of the workshop on students. Three themes emerged, and these were Increased preparedness and confidence; Networking and friendships that enhanced support, and Reduced anxiety to study sciences. Some drawbacks were also reported including the cost, time and travel involved. Recommendations for practitioners Students found the introductory workshop to be psychosocially and emotionally beneficial. It is recommended that the same approach be applied for teaching other challenging fields such as mathematics and physics within the university and in other contexts and institutions. Recommendations for researchers Improving and extending the workshop to provide greater accessibility and autonomy is recommended. A longitudinal study to follow up the durability of the workshop is also proposed. Impact on society The impacts in the broader community include: higher academic success for students; improved mental health due to social networking and friendship groups and reduced anxiety and fear; reduced dropout rate in their first year; greater potential to complete educational degrees; reduced wastage in human and financial resources; and increased human capital. Future research Addressing the limitations of cost, time and travel involved, and following-up with the participants’ academic and workplace performance are future directions for research.

Integrating Foundational Sciences in a Clinical Context in the Post-clerkship Curriculum

To design, implement, and launch courses that integrate foundational science learning and clinical application in a post-clerkship undergraduate medical school curriculum. In Academic Year (AY) 15-16, as part of a comprehensive curricular revision, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) formally implemented "Integrated Science Courses" (ISCs) that combined rigorous training in the foundational sciences with meaningful clinical experiences. These courses integrated foundational sciences that could be leveraged in the clinical environment, utilized a variety of instructional modalities, and included quantitative and qualitative (competency-based milestones) student assessments. Each ISC underwent a rigorous quality improvement process that required input on foundational science content, student experience, and student performance assessment. Eleven ISCs were delivered to 173 students in AY15-16, with some students taking more than one ISC. Immediately after completing each course, 93% (n=222) of ISC enrollees completed a course evaluation. Students (91%; n=201) 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that foundational science learning informed and enriched the clinical experiences. Furthermore, 94% (n=209) of students thought that the clinical experiences informed and enriched the foundational science learning. Ninety-four percent of the students anticipated using the foundational science knowledge acquired in future clinical training and practice. The teaching of foundational sciences in the clinical workplace in the post-clerkship medical curriculum is challenging and resource-intensive, yet feasible. Additional experience with the model will inform the mix of courses as well as the breadth and depth of foundational science instruction that is necessary to foster scientifically-based clinical reasoning skills in each student.

Science knowledge needed for nursing practice: A cross-sectional survey of Australian Registered Nurses

BackgroundNursing practice is underpinned by science knowledge. While the literature is consistent in identifying limitations in teaching science content to nurses, there is a lack of consensus regarding what should be taught and to what level of detail. No studies to date have systematically surveyed registered nurses (RNs) for their perspectives about the science knowledge that should underpin nursing practice. AimTo establish the relative importance RNs place on science content taught to nurses. MethodPracticing RNs across Australia were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey administered online. The survey asked participants to prioritize 179 science topics according to the relative importance of each item to nursing practice. FindingsA total of 1583 RNs completed the survey. Participants indicated strong support for the inclusion of foundational science knowledge in undergraduate pre-registration nursing programs. The majority of topics (88%) were rated as a ‘high priority’ (a rating of 4 or 5), particularly anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology. No topic received a rating of less than 3 (of a possible 5). DiscussionRNs expressed different views about the prioritization of science content areas for nursing practice compared with the views of academics who teach science to nursing students. Identification of the science content areas that RNs regard as high priority for nursing practice can be used to guide improvements in nursing curriculum development. ConclusionThe results of this study demonstrate that practising RNs place high value on various science topics and the teaching of biological sciences generally. This study suggests the need for greater inclusion of key stakeholders, including practicing RNs, when integrating bioscience within nursing curricula.