General Student Population Research Articles

Academic Performance, Health and Support Needs: Comparing Foster Care Alumni and Peers in Higher Education in Norway

The completion rates of higher education are low among young adults with a history of foster care. Understanding how students from foster care alumni fare is imperative for facilitating attainment and preventing drop-out. The aim of this study was to compare students from foster care alumni and the general student population by examining (1) sociodemographic characteristics, academic functioning and need for special assistance; (2) contextual factors important for student life; and (3) mental and somatic health, loneliness, life satisfaction and use of cannabis and alcohol. Data comprised self-reports from the Norwegian national survey Students’ Health and Well-being Study 2022. Reports from foster care alumni students (n = 508) were compared to those of the general student sample (n = 59,036). Compared to the general sample, twice as many foster care alumni students reported receiving or needing special assistance in their studies. Moreover, they reported substantially higher economic burden than their student peers, by higher frequency of work income, more financial worries, and less parental financial support. Foster care alumni students also reported a higher load of informal care responsibilities, poorer mental and somatic health, more loneliness and lower life satisfaction. Foster care alumni students fare comparably well in terms of grades and study progression despite the reported economic burden and impaired health and well-being. As these are factors shown to impact study completion, policies need to be put in place to ensure that care-experienced students receive adequate support through their young adulthood and specifically in higher education.

Beyond disability. Are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students overrepresented in the Spanish special education system? An intersectional data-based approach / Más allá de la discapacidad. ¿El alumnado con diversidad cultural y lingüística (DCL) está sobrerrepresentado en el sistema español de educación especial? Un enfoque interseccional basado en datos

In this paper, we use the concept of intersectionality to explore the situation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students attending special education units or schools in Spain from 2009 to 2019. Using the general Spanish student population as our reference group, we calculate the relative risk index for CLD students in special education. In addition to revealing clear equity gaps, the results also indicate that gender intensifies both oppression and nationality effects, pointing to the existence of a mutable structure of inequality that has a stronger effect on male students from non-European countries, particularly Pakistan and the Dominican Republic. We conclude that educational trends, which remained unchanged during the years comprising the study period, reveal the historicity of educational inequality, confirming its structural, multifaceted and intersectional nature. As a possible means of overcoming the barriers faced by foreign students, we propose a reorganization of the conceptual framework of inclusion from an intersectional perspective.

Virtual reality hypnotherapy for healthcare students: a feasibility trial

PurposeThere is evidence that both hypnotherapy and virtual reality (VR) can be helpful in reducing perceived stress in the general population. This is a feasibility and acceptability trial of an intervention combining hypnotherapy and VR to establish its acceptability in students. This study aims to establish whether students found the experience acceptable, described any adverse effects and whether they reported feeling calmer after the experience.Design/methodology/approachThe study was testing the hypothesis that students would attend the sessions and find the experience acceptable. A secondary hypothesis was that preliminary qualitative and quantitative evaluation of measures of stress and wellbeing would signal potential improvements.FindingsAll participants completed all three sessions. No side effects were reported. Visual analogue scales recorded each day assessing the immediate effect improved. At the end of the intervention, there was an increase in wellbeing of 2.40 (95% CI: 1.33, 3.53, p = 0.006), and a decrease in depression of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.40, 1.07, p = 0.010), reflecting large effect sizes of 0.76 and 0.83, respectively. Qualitative feedback was generally very positive.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is small with just 15 students and was over a short period of time. The recruitment method meant there was no way to establish whether the volunteer students were representative of the general student population in terms of mental wellbeing. There was no control arm.Practical implicationsThe preliminary results suggest that a larger controlled trial is justified.Social implicationsThis VR experience may have benefit to university students and to the wider population.Originality/valueThis described the evaluation of a novel intervention for perceived stress combining hypnotherapy and virtual reality in a group of healthcare students, with promising results suggesting further evaluation is needed.

Ready or not…here we grow! Evaluating the competency of nursing faculty in supporting nursing student mental health: A quantitative investigation

BackgroundCollege students are amid a mental health crisis with campuses seeing the highest rates of mental health disorders in over a decade. College nursing students stand out as particularly affected, experiencing elevated levels of anxiety, stress, and depression compared to the general student population. At the forefront of addressing this issue are college faculty, especially nursing faculty, who play a unique role in identifying and referring students with mental health needs due to their close interactions in smaller teaching-learning settings such as clinicals, simulations, and one-on-one validations. AimThis study evaluated the perceived competency, knowledge, engagement, and fear levels of nursing faculty in supporting the mental health of Bachelor of Science in Nursing students. Additionally, the study explored whether faculty members with prior MH training differed in these levels. MethodsSurvey data from 63 faculty members employed across six prominent nursing schools in the southeast region of the United States, all offering Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs, were analyzed. Employing a cross-sectional design, the study utilized the “College Mental Health Perceived Competency Scale” (CMHPCS) to assess faculty's competence, knowledge, engagement and fear in supporting student mental health. ResultsAmong the 63 participants, significant differences were observed in engagement levels between nursing faculty with and without prior mental health training (p < .012). Overall, the surveyed nursing faculty demonstrated high levels of competence, engagement and knowledge and low levels of fear in supporting the nursing student's mental health. ConclusionThe results prompt recommendations for future research aimed at developing a comprehensive approach to equip nursing faculty with effective mental health training and interventions. Such efforts seek to empower student nurses with the tools necessary to support their own mental health, enabling them to competently care for patients and communities.

Effectiveness of a Therapeutic Program in the Light of Meichenbaum's Theory to Reduce Conduct Disorder and Increase Psychological Flexibility among Adolescent Students

Objective: This study aimed to design and assess a therapeutic program based on Meichenbaum's theory, focusing on reducing conduct disorder and enhancing psychological flexibility among intermediate-stage adolescent students in Riyadh. Additionally, the research sought to evaluate the program's continued effectiveness for two months post-implementation. Methods: The sample comprised 26 students aged 12 to 17 years, with an average age of 14.3 years, equally divided into experimental and control groups. The conduct disorder scale and psychological flexibility scale were administered to both groups pre- and post- intervention. Intervention: The therapeutic program, based on Meichenbaum's theory, was exclusively applied to the experimental group. Results: The program resulted in a notable decrease in conduct disorder scores and an increase in psychological flexibility scores post-intervention in the experimental group. However, the experimental group showed no significant changes between pre-intervention and follow- up. The study also noted a 23.2% increase in conduct disorders among the general student population, highlighting the necessity of counseling and therapeutic programs. Conclusion: These findings underscore the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy-based programs in a school environment and emphasize the importance of targeted interventions to address behavioral and psychological issues. The study provides valuable insights into using cognitive-behavioral strategies in education and advocates for their application.

Effectiveness of ballistic exercises for increasing upper body explosive power in physical education lessons for university students

Background and Study Aim. Explosive power is an important element of fitness levels, with fast muscle contractions being required in most physical activities. Study implements and verifies the effects of ballistic exercises with medicine balls of various weights on upper body explosive strength for non-sporting university students. Material and Methods. The study involved 184 male and 143 female undergraduate students, all 21 years old. These students had no medical contraindications to participating in the activities required by the physical education program. The development of upper body explosive strength was conducted using ballistic exercises, specifically various types of medicine ball throws, over one academic year. The evaluation comprised six tests: Overhand Ball Throw, Overhead Medicine Ball Throw-forward, Overhead Medicine Ball Throw-backward, Medicine Ball Chest Throw, Shot Put - Track and Field, and 30 s Plyometric Push-Ups. These tests were scheduled at three different times during the academic year: October, December, and May. Results. The results of the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measurements indicate F values associated with statistically significant thresholds (p &lt; 0.05). In contrast, partial eta squared (η²p) values demonstrate a stronger effect of ballistic exercise application for the male group. Significant improvements in results were observed for both genders from one test to another. The differences were notably larger between the test conducted before the winter holiday (December) and the test at the end of the second semester (May) compared to those between the test at the beginning of the academic year (October) and the one before the winter holiday (December). This pattern indicates a clear improvement in muscle strength in the second semester (January-May). The only test where high percentages of men, and especially women, encountered problems was the 30-second Plyometric Push-Ups. In the final tests, 10% of males and 40% of females scored zero. Conclusions. Ballistic exercises based on various medicine ball throws prove to be an attractive and effective solution to improve upper body muscle strength for non-sporting university students. The application of these exercises can significantly enhance physical education programs by providing clear benefits in terms of strength development. This is particularly evident in environments aimed at general student populations rather than athletes. Furthermore, while the exercises are broadly beneficial, they may require modifications to address the challenges some students face.

Self-reported exertional heat illness and risk factors among collegiate marching band artists

Marching band (MB) artists are often part of the general student population and not required to complete a pre-participation health screening to identify predisposing medical conditions or risks for injury/illness. Anecdotally, exertional heat illnesses (EHI) are a concern for MB artists. As more athletic trainers provide MB healthcare, research is needed on EHI occurrence and MB associated EHI risk factors. We utilized an exploratory cross-sectional study design to determine EHI risk factors, including previous EHI occurrence, among collegiate MB artists. MB artists (n ​= ​1 207; age ​= ​[19.6 ​± ​1.3] years) actively participating in their college/university's MB during the 2019 football season completed an online survey to characterize demographics, medical history, medication and supplement use, and nutrition behaviors. Chi-square and binomial logistical regressions assessed associations between categorical variables. Previous EHI was reported by 50.6% of MB artists, with 466 (76.3%) experiencing exertional heat exhaustion and 31 (5.1%) exertional heat stroke. More females reported exertional heat exhaustion overall (68.2%, p ​< ​0.001) and in the previous year (73.3%, p ​< ​0.001). Experiencing a previous EHI was significantly associated with having a mood/neurological condition (63.5%, p ​< ​0.001), diagnosed (74.3%, p ​= ​0.004) or perceived eating disorder (66.7%, p ​< ​0.001), and taking prescription medications (59.4%, p ​< ​0.001), over-the-counter medications (58.9%, p ​= ​0.002), and supplements (55.4%, p ​= ​0.037). Half of collegiate MB artists reported experiencing previous EHIs and engaged in behaviors known to increase EHI risk. MB artists should complete pre-participation examinations to identify pre-existing medical conditions and risks for adverse medical events. Healthcare providers working with MB artists should develop policies and procedures to mitigate EHI risks and occurrence.

Pagans on campus: A cursory exploration

AbstractPaganism, despite growing as a religious affiliation over recent decades, has rarely been the subject of study within higher education. Due to the general lack of cohesive organizations, a persistent social stigma, and a number of ill‐defined identity labels, they have proven difficult to study even within the general population. This chapter will provide a descriptive snapshot of the population of Pagan college students in the United States and offer guidance for higher education practitioners working with this often‐invisible religious demographic group on their campuses.Practical Takeaways Pagans remain a small population, which can be an isolating experience for students, particularly given their tendency for solitary practice. Even for Pagan students who want to practice in a community, their small numbers—as well as their social stigma—can make organization difficult. For these and other reasons, social isolation is a pressing concern for Pagan students. Demographically, Pagan students appear to identify as LGB and with gender identities outside of the binary norm at higher rates than the general population of college students. Expressions of these identities may be sources of tension with other religious groups on campus, as well as with individual student peers. Campus professionals should note this tendency when considering the power dynamics at play in their campus spaces. Spiritual customs for Pagans are often personal, personalized, and frequently private. The holidays, practices, and symbols may be strange or even alarming to outsider peers and campus professionals, so it is not unusual for Pagans to conceal them.

Impact of a Food Skills Course with a Teaching Kitchen on Dietary and Cooking Self-Efficacy and Behaviors among College Students.

College students may face barriers to eating healthy foods. Educational interventions providing practical knowledge and skills may help students to overcome financial barriers or other barriers to acquiring, preparing, and consuming healthy foods. We evaluated the association between participation in a semester-long food skills course with an interactive teaching kitchen and dietary and cooking self-efficacy and behaviors. Participants were recruited from course enrollees (intervention) and the general student population (comparison). We assessed differences in pre-post changes in the outcomes between groups using the propensity score weighting and mixed effects linear or Poisson regression. Course participation was associated with improved self-efficacy around cooking (group × time β-coefficient [SE]: 3.25 [0.57], p < 0.0001) and fruit (6.33 [1.19], p < 0.0001), vegetable (5.43 [1.42], p = 0.0002), and whole grain (5.83 [1.40], p < 0.0001) consumption. Course participants reported smaller pre-post decreases in vegetable consumption compared to non-participants (0.35 [0.16], p = 0.03), increased cooking frequency (0.22 [0.10], p = 0.03) and a decreased frequency of skipping meals (-0.47 [0.16], p = 0.003). There were no changes associated with the intervention in the consumption of fruit or whole grains, or in eating out frequency. Participation in a semester-long, personal food skills course with a teaching kitchen may improve self-efficacy, cooking, and vegetable consumption among college students.

The Italian version of the 16-item Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) and its psychometric features in help-seeking ultra-high-risk subjects and in the general population.

Increasing attention to the early stages of psychosis and the identification of symptomatic prodromal states have led to the development of a growing number of screening tools. The 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) is a worldwide used self-administered tool for this purpose. However, to date, fundamental psychometric properties of PQ-16 were not thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to examine the structural validity, measurement invariance, reliability and other psychometrical properties of the Italian version of the PQ-16 (iPQ-16) in help-seeking individuals and in the general population. The iPQ-16 was administered to 449 young outpatients attending six community mental health services and to 318 control participants enrolled in educational environment. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), measurement invariance (MI) between the help-seeking group and the general population sample, convergent validity, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and prevalence analyses were performed. Lastly, the validity of the adopted PQ-16 cut-offs through Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves plotted against CAARMS diagnoses was also tested. CFAs confirmed the single-factor structure for the iPQ-16 and scalar MI was reached. The iPQ-16 showed high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and acceptable diagnostic accuracy. ROC analysis suggested a score of ≥4 as best cut-off. The iPQ-16 represents a valid and reliable questionnaire for the assessment of high mental risk in both Italian outpatients and general student population. It has good psychometric properties and is easy to implement as UHR screening for clinical as well as research purposes.

Problematic overstudying, Big Five personality, and music performance anxiety: associations with well-being and GPA.

Problematic overstudying is a compulsive and pathological overinvolvement in studying leading to harm and considerable functional impairments. It is conceptualized as "study addiction," a precursor to work addiction. It has been investigated within the addictive behaviours framework in general populations of students for over a decade. A previous study analysed the problem among young musicians as a particularly vulnerable group. It found some important differences in potential personality risk factors among music academy students compared to general populations of students and showed an important role of social anxiety. The current study aimed to validate these findings in a separate larger sample and extend them by investigating the role of music performance anxiety (MPA). The study was conducted among 213 students of music academies. Valid and reliable measures of study addiction, MPA, Big Five personality and well-being were used. The results showed that MPA played a similar role as social anxiety in terms of being a predictor, mediator, and moderator of the main replicated effects supporting the hypothesised mechanisms regulating study addiction. However, extraversion was not associated with study addiction in multiple hierarchical regression analysis, but conscientiousness and neuroticism were. Study addiction was associated with indicators of decreased well-being, above and beyond MPA, and personality. These results show that MPA plays an analogous role to social anxiety and that the role of Big Five personality in study addiction among young musicians requires further investigation due to inconsistent findings.

Relationship Between Attitude Towards Euthanasia and Perceived Social Support

The purpose of the research was to examine the relationship between attitudes toward euthanasia and perceived social support. The study also identified gender differences and their attitude towards social support. It was a cross-sectional correlation research. The sample size was 200, and the data was collected from a general population of male and female university students through a questionnaire of Attitudes Towards Euthanasia-ATE and Perceived Social Support-PSS along with an informed consent form and a demographic sheet. The study significantly highlighted a negative correlation between ATE and PSS. It predicted that social support would be stronger, and people would receive it from family members to maintain their lives instead of terminating it. Social support was a primary source to help the patients mitigate their attitude towards euthanasia. Due to gender differences, the women received less social support, and the score on the scale of attitude toward euthanasia differs among men and women. Society, parents, family, and other peer members should be supportive to help the patient maintain their life and daily functioning.

Implementing Public Health Modules as an Approach to Improve Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical Students: A Student-Led, Multiyear Study.

Public health is a necessary focus of modern medical education. However, while numerous studies demonstrate benefits of public health education during medical school among self-selected students (i.e., those interested in public health), there are few educational models shown to be effective across the general medical student population. This study examined the effect of a multiyear, case-based, longitudinal online public health curriculum required for all medical students at an urban, research-focused U.S. medical school. The authors created 11 short public health modules to supplement a year-long, organ-based preclerkship course at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Beginning in 2020, all students were required to complete these modules, with repeated surveys to assess changes in attitudes and knowledge of public health over time. The authors compared responses for these domains before and after each module, across multiple time points throughout the year, and cross-sectionally to a 2019 cohort of students who were not provided the modules. Across 3 cohorts, 405 of 420 (96.4%) students provided responses and were included in subsequent analyses. After completing the modules, students reported perceiving a greater importance of public health to nearly every medical specialty ( P < .001), more positive attitudes toward public health broadly ( P < .001), and increased knowledge of public health content ( P < .001). These findings were consistent across longitudinal analysis of students throughout the year-long course and when compared to the cohort who did not complete the modules. Case-based, interactive, and longitudinal public health content can be effectively integrated into the required undergraduate medical education curriculum to improve all medical students' knowledge and perceptions of public health. Incorporating evidence-based public health education into medical training may help future physicians to better address the needs of the communities and populations in which they practice.

Crisis-related stimuli do not increase the emotional attentional blink in a general university student population

Crises such as natural disasters or pandemics negatively impact the mental health of the affected community, increasing rates of depression, anxiety, or stress. It has been proposed that this stems in part from crisis-related stimuli triggering negative reactions that interrupt daily life. Given the frequency and prominence of crisis events, it is crucial to understand when crisis-related stimuli involuntarily capture attention and trigger increased stress and distraction from obligations. The emotional attentional blink (EAB) paradigm—in which emotional distractors hinder report of subsequent targets in streams of rapidly displayed stimuli—allows examination of such attentional capture in a rapidly changing dynamic environment. EABs are typically observed with generally disturbing stimuli, but stimuli related to personal traumas yield similar or greater effects, indicating strong attentional capture by stimuli related to individual trauma history. The current study investigated whether a similar comparable or increased crisis-related EAB exists within a community affected by large-scale crisis. Specifically, effects of conventional emotional distractors and distractors related to recent crises were compared using EABs in university students without a mental health diagnosis. Experiment 1 used images related to Hurricane Harvey, evaluating a crisis 4 years prior to data collection. Experiment 2 used words related to the COVID pandemic, evaluating an ongoing crisis at the time of data collection. In both experiments, the conventional EAB distractors yielded strong EABs, while the crisis-related distractors yielded absent or weak EABs in the same participants. This suggests that crisis-related stimuli do not have special potency for capturing attention in the general university student population. More generally, crises affecting communities do not necessarily yield widespread, strong reactivity to crisis-related stimuli.

Closing Reporting Gaps: A Comparison of Methods for Estimating Unreported Subgroup Achievement on NAEP

ABSTRACT The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) program only reports state-level subgroup results if it samples at least 62 students identifying with the subgroup. Since some subgroups constitute small proportions of many states’ general student populations, these minority subgroups are seldom sufficiently sampled to meet this sample size requirement. Consequently, education researchers and policymakers are regularly left without a comprehensive understanding of how states are supporting the learning and achievement of different subgroups of students, including underserved subgroups. Using grade 8 mathematics results in 2015, this study compares the performance of two separate techniques in predicting mean subgroup achievement on NAEP. Results demonstrate that a small area estimation technique, known as the Fay-Herriot (FH) model, represents a promising approach. Follow-up research should employ the FH technique with math achievement data from other testing years, as well as data from NAEP reading to evaluate the technique’s generalizability.

Student motivation to study music and sport - a comparison between study subjects and study programs on intrinsic and extrinsic motivational aspects.

In both subjects, music and sport, the engagement with the subject content - learning an instrument or training in a sports club - usually begins in early childhood. This makes these subjects special and similar. It is therefore of interest to examine the motivation for choosing music and sport as subjects for university study. In the present investigation, 151 students at the beginning of their university studies were examined. Among these were 110 music university students in the Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) and music teacher education program, and 41 sport university students in the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) and sport teacher education program. The study contained a custom-made questionnaire on sociodemographic data, questions on study choice alternatives and biographical musical or sporting background, as well as two standardized questionnaires on motivation for enrollment (STUWA) and on aspects that are important for the profession. Music and sport students were at a rather high and similar level of intrinsic motivation to study their subjects. However, materialistic goals motivated the teacher education students more than the bachelor's students with an artistic program. The difference between the study programs was also found in the context of extrinsic-social motivation, where the teacher training students answered with higher scores. With regard to socially-induced motivation, it was shown that music students and sport teacher education students were more socially induced to study the respective subject compared to the general student population. With regard to uncertainty when choosing a course, it was found that Bachelor of Music students were more certain that they wanted to study exactly their particular subject. The ages at which music and sport were started in childhood were similar, but the first-year music students were younger than the sport students were. Compared to sports students, music students decided their area of study earlier, and bachelor's students in music in particular had fewer alternative study options than sports students. The results provide a differentiated picture of student motivation to study and thus allow a deeper insight into the subject cultures of music and sport. They also open up opportunities for follow-up studies in comparison with other study subjects and programs.

Environmental characteristics and type 1 diabetes: students' perspectives on diabetes management in college

IntroductionType 1 diabetes is a chronic illness requiring immense lifestyle changes to reduce the chance of life-threatening complications, which can be especially challenging during the time of transition to college. This study applies a communication design perspective to explore how students with type 1 diabetes interpret their experiences in college and what meanings they attribute to those experiences. Specifically, this study sheds light on physical and social environmental components affecting students' diabetes management.MethodsStudy participants were recruited from the College Diabetes Network (CDN). A total of twenty students with type 1 diabetes participated in the study. A qualitative descriptive study design with an ethnographic interview approach was applied.ResultsFour cultural themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Food environment, (2) Structural environment, (3) Academic life, and (4) Social life. The findings illustrate how food outlets and food accessibility, safe spaces for insulin injections, comfortable living spaces, availability of health support services, and diabetes-friendly classroom regulations constitute a higher-level environmental system affecting students' wellbeing. They also highlight a complex relationship between structural barriers to diabetes management, health disclosure, and public stigma.DiscussionResults from this study advance scholarship on diabetes care in the population of emerging adults by offering insights into how college students with T1D transition to college and manage type 1 diabetes. Overall, students with T1D have specific needs beyond those of the general student population. Thus, necessary modifications in the designs of existing structures should be introduced to facilitate students' assimilation into new organizational environments.

Students with disabilities as ideal graduates: universities' obligations to support extracurricular involvement

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) and their impact on student employability has become a focus of the higher education sector, with a recent emphasis on experiences such as global exchange and skill acquisition that prepares graduates for the workforce. Despite the initiatives and effort put into supporting the general student population, students with disabilities are underrepresented in these opportunities. This causes such students to have less access to employability opportunities that set them apart from their peers and leads to a distinct disadvantage when seeking to enter the workforce. The literature suggests that there are various benefits of participating in extracurricular activities for university students, including some literature about students with disabilities. However, there is a distinct lack of focus on how the scarcity of support for participation in these programs fails to address equality and discrimination legal obligations, as well as the failure of disability specific initiatives to include these activities as essential to their core mission. This paper aims to examine how Australian University strategic plans addressing disability inclusion and supports for students with disabilities extend to the extracurricular space, and what more can be done to include these students in all aspects of campus life. Through a search and policy analysis of University Strategic Plans, Disability Action Plans, and scholarships for students with disabilities to participate in extracurricular activities, it was revealed that this issue is not being sufficiently addressed through university strategic responses to disability inclusion. This paper provides practitioners and universities with recommendations to improve their compliance with antidiscrimination measures and address this deficit to improve student outcomes.

How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Simulation Training in Surgery?

Simulation training in surgical procedures is an important part of the training of surgeons. The goal of simulation training is to develop the ability of physicians to perform surgical procedures in real practice. The assessment of simulation training programs is needed to analyze to improve outcomes; requirements for assessment of simulation training include an assessment of the application of surgical procedures in practice, in the general population of students. A method of assessment of surgical procedures has been developed by means of a structured interview of listeners with an assessment of practical results. The method revealed the high efficiency of the laparoscopic intracorporeal suture training program.

Knowledge and Attitudes towards Epilepsy of Croatian General Student Population and Biomedical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Epilepsy causes a significant burden to patients as it is linked with various somatic and psychiatric comorbidities, social issues, impaired quality of life, and increased mortality. Improving the population's knowledge and attitudes about epilepsy patients could be beneficial as it could raise social awareness and lead to more social support for patients. For those reasons, a survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted to determine Croatian students' knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy. A previously developed survey questionnaire was adapted for the Croatian setting and distributed online to the students (n = 544). Croatian students generally had positive attitudes towards people with epilepsy (median score 28.0, interquartile range 29.0-26.0, with the minimum possible score being 0.0 and the maximum 30.0), with the female gender (B (male) = 0.664 (95% CI -1.158, -0.170), p = 0.009), biomedical education (B (other) = -0.442, (95% CI -0.823, -0.061), p = 0.023), and personal experience in the form of witnessing the seizure (B = 0.519 (95% CI 0,098, 0.940), p = 0.016) as predictors of more favorable attitudes. Overall knowledge was satisfactory concerning most items, with the exception of first aid measures and risk factors. Educational intervention targeting bio-medical students and other students who might, in their future professional lives, be responsible for people suffering from epilepsy is needed to improve the gaps in their knowledge.