Network Of Trainees Research Articles

Design and evaluation of a visual genomic explainer: a mixed-methods study

ObjectiveTo design and assess a visual genomic explainer focusing on plain language and engaging imagery. The explainer aimed to support doctors’ comprehension of complex genomic concepts and results and act...

The effects of climate change and environmental pollution on human reproduction: A scientific review commissioned by the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG)

The European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) and the European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ENTOG) express their concerns on the effect of climate change and environmental pollution. This paper reviews the impact on reproductive health and the contribution to climate change by the field of obstetrics and gynaecology. It concludes that its contributors and the effects of climate change cause definite adverse consequences to fertility and adverse obstetric outcomes. Mankind, and obstetrics and gynaecology personnel as well, must be aware and responsible of its contribution to climate change and consider the impact of their actions and interventions.

Induction of labour care in the UK: A cross-sectional survey of maternity units.

To explore local induction of labour pathways in the UK National Health Service to provide insight into current practice. National survey. Hospital maternity services in all four nations of the UK. Convenience sample of 71 UK maternity units. An online cross-sectional survey was disseminated and completed via a national network of obstetrics and gynaecology specialist trainees (October 2021-March 2022). Results were analysed descriptively, with associations explored using Fisher's Exact and ANOVA. Induction rates, criteria, processes, delays, incidents, safety concerns. 54/71 units responded (76%, 35% of UK units). Induction rate range 19.2%-53.4%, median 36.3%. 72% (39/54) had agreed induction criteria: these varied widely and were not all in national guidance. Multidisciplinary booking decision-making was not reported by 38/54 (70%). Delays reported 'often/always' in hospital admission for induction (19%, 10/54) and Delivery Suite transfer once induction in progress (63%, 34/54). Staffing was frequently reported cause of delay (76%, 41/54 'often/always'). Delays triggered incident reports in 36/54 (67%) and resulted in harm in 3/54 (6%). Induction was an area of concern (44%, 24/54); 61% (33/54) reported induction-focused quality improvement work. There is substantial variation in induction rates, processes and policies across UK maternity services. Delays appear to be common and are a cause of safety concerns. With induction rates likely to increase, improved guidance and pathways are critically needed to improve safety and experience of care.

Reflections of an MSc health psychology mentoring pilot

Supporting students during Covid-19 restrictions was a priority across UK academic institutions, and evidence demonstrates that peer mentoring can be an effective resource. This paper reflects on a pilot peer mentoring scheme for MSc Health Psychology 2021/22 students at the University of Stirling and the associated evaluation study. The pilot provided mentors from the previously graduating cohort to support student transition by sharing experiences, signposting resources and facilitating intra-cohort connection. The evaluation study involved a mixed-method survey design based on the Kirkpatrick training model. Fifteen mentees (60% of programme participants) and five mentors participated in the online survey. Analysis indicated the perceived benefit of a peer mentoring programme, with mentees emphasising the value derived from learning about mentors’ recent experiences. The limited improvements to perceptions of community within the cohort, however, suggest that balancing information provision with interaction opportunities is a key consideration for future mentoring programme delivery. The challenge for translating this pilot scheme into wider institutional provision will rely on creating space for programme development and management within overburdened academic workloads. In the short term, however, the Health Psychology Trainee Network hopes to relieve institutional burden and offer support to stage 1 trainees.

The evolution of ScotRIGHT: The first pan-Scotland physician trainee research network.

Scotland has a distinguished track record in foundational clinical research. From the completion of the first clinical trial undertaken in scurvy to cloning the world's first whole mammal, Scottish basic and clinical research is world leading. More recently, challenges in access to research skills, funding and programmes by clinical trainees led to the development of alternatives to these typical avenues of accessing research opportunities. Trainee networks evolved to meet the needs of trainees looking to access projects and collaboratives beyond audit and quality improvement commonly performed during structured training. These networks have enjoyed enormous success and have succeeded in progressing projects which have impactful outputs for patients, and improving clinical services. Here, we describe the foundation of the first pan-Scotland physician trainee research network; Scottish Trainees Research In Gastroterology and Hepatology (ScotRIGHT). We outline the foundational efforts, requisites and foundations required to develop a research network.

DE04 Large-scale virtual dermatology teaching for internal medical trainees across the UK

Abstract Dermatology is often overlooked within the internal medical training (IMT) programme. Although dermatology represents only 0.8% of inpatient admissions, over 54% of the UK population experience a skin condition in any 12-month period. IMT trainees self-report a lack of knowledge and confidence in dealing with patients presenting either primarily or with coexistent dermatological conditions. This is likely to stem from a lack of undergraduate dermatology exposure, reported to be, on average, only 6 days. This leads to missed opportunities to improve patient care and unnecessary referrals to dermatology. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a shift toward virtual teaching, albeit of varying quality. The Medical Trainee Network (MTN) designed virtual dermatology teaching sessions to deliver national teaching on common and acute emergency dermatoses. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a virtual platform as a means of delivering dermatology teaching and establish whether this is comparable with traditional face-to-face teaching. We developed a standardized protocol with sessions delivered live by specialty registrars, case-centred with a focus on interactivity, using live-polled multiple-choice questions and question-and-answer sessions. The sessions are recorded and available to view afterward. Feedback is collected via anonymous online surveys (consented). A preliminary questionnaire conducted with 369 trainees revealed that only 43% felt digital teaching would be as effective as face-to-face teaching. The sessions ran twice, 1 year apart, with 184 and 315 attendees, respectively. Feedback showed, on average, that 99.5% would recommend this teaching to others, 88% reported that digital teaching was as effective as face-to-face teaching, and 88% felt able to ask questions. Feedback was positive, highlighting the interactivity and engagingness of the teaching. Specific comments included ‘interactive with Slido and case-based discussions’, ‘great focused sessions with clear explanations…in a topic that is not frequently covered’ and ‘super talk, very engaging, knowledgeable speaker’. A national survey of the MTN teaching revealed trainees preferred digital teaching and found it more engaging than face-to-face teaching, but the loss of social engagement was criticized. We have demonstrated that by using a standardized protocol with a focus on interactivity to maintain engagement, successful high-quality dermatology teaching can be provided using a digital platform. Although we acknowledge that this was undertaken during the pandemic and the feedback is subjective, virtual teaching can reach large audiences, reduce the spread of communicable disease and save travel costs, fossil fuel emissions and clinician time. This teaching has the potential to be applied to dermatology trainees, general practitioners and foundation trainees with the aim of improving care, the understanding of dermatological diseases and the quality of dermatology referrals beyond the pandemic.

The World Network of Psychiatric Trainees’ Human Rights Curriculum Initiative

AbstractDr. Pereira-Sanchez, Founder and Executive Director of the World Network of Psychiatric Trainees (WNPT) and responsible for the WNPT Human Rights Curriculum Initiative, will present an overview of the same, which aims at understanding the current state of human rights education for psychiatric trainees across the world and at partnering with relevant organizations to develop international standards on the topic. The talk will highlight pilot results and achievments of the initiative and invite feedback, discussion, and further collaboration.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

International collaboration and networking in academic medicine through social media

AbstractDr. Pereira-Sanchez will draw upon his experience of use of various major social media platforms for professional networking and collaboration in international psychiatry and global mental health. These platforms offer opportunities to connect with colleagues worldwide individually and in groups and open avenues for peer support, research and advocacy. Specific examples the speaker will bring from his own experience include the World Network of Psychiatric Trainees and the Global Mental Health Think Tank, both of which gather hundreds of colleagues across continents.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Integrative approaches to methods training for early-career scientists: Rationale and process evaluation of the first cohort of the Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequality Training Program.

The Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequality (MIWI) Training Program aims to provide state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary training to enhance the methodological skills of early-career scientists interested in integrative approaches to understanding health disparities. The goals of this paper are to describe the scientific rationale and core design elements of MIWI, and to conduct a process evaluation of the first cohort of trainees (called "scholars") to complete this program. Mixed methods process evaluation of program components and assessment of trainee skills and network development of the first cohort (n = 15 scholars). The program drew 57 applicants from a wide range of disciplines. Of the 15 scholars in the first cohort, 53% (n = 8) identified as an underrepresented minority, 60% (n = 9) were within 2 years of completing their terminal degree, and most (n = 11, 73%) were from a social/behavioral science discipline (e.g., social work, public health). In the post-program evaluation, scholars rated their improvement in a variety of skills on a one (not at all) to five (greatly improved) scale. Areas of greatest growth included being an interdisciplinary researcher (mean = 4.47), developing new research collaborations (mean = 4.53), and designing a research study related to integrative health (mean = 4.27). The qualitative process evaluation indicated that scholars reported a strong sense of community and that the program broadened their research networks. These findings have implications for National Institutes of Health (NIH) efforts to train early-career scientists, particularly from underrepresented groups, working at the intersection of multiple disciplines and efforts to support the formation of research networks.

Self-mentoring: A new deep learning pipeline to train a self-supervised U-net for few-shot learning of bio-artificial capsule segmentation

Background:Accurate segmentation of microscopic structures such as bio-artificial capsules in microscopy imaging is a prerequisite to the computer-aided understanding of important biomechanical phenomenons. State-of-the-art segmentation performances are achieved by deep neural networks and related data-driven approaches. Training these networks from only a few annotated examples is challenging while producing manually annotated images that provide supervision is tedious. Method:Recently, self-supervision, i.e. designing a neural pipeline providing synthetic or indirect supervision, has proved to significantly increase generalization performances of models trained on few shots. The objective of this paper is to introduce one such neural pipeline in the context of micro-capsule image segmentation. Our method leverages the rather simple content of these images so that a trainee network can be mentored by a referee network which has been previously trained on synthetically generated pairs of corrupted/correct region masks. Results:Challenging experimental setups are investigated. They involve from only 3 to 10 annotated images along with moderately large amounts of unannotated images. In a bio-artificial capsule dataset, our approach consistently and drastically improves accuracy. We also show that the learnt referee network is transferable to another Glioblastoma cell dataset and that it can be efficiently coupled with data augmentation strategies. Conclusions:Experimental results show that very significant accuracy increments are obtained by the proposed pipeline, leading to the conclusion that the self-supervision mechanism introduced in this paper has the potential to replace human annotations.

The First Year of Hematology Oncology Fellows -- a Social Media Community for Hematology/Oncology Trainees

Background: While resources exist to address the needs of graduate medical trainees, online resources to assist trainees with specialty-specific professional development have not been fully developed or described in the past. The Hematology-Oncology Fellows Network (@HemOncFellows) is an online community for hematology-oncology trainees in all stages of training, including medical students, residents, fellows, and doctoral students. The network's goals are to provide professional development in hematology-oncology, create a community and safe space for hematology-oncology trainees, and amplify the voices and needs of trainees. In addition, the network is contributing to educational development of fellows by conducting twitter spaces, which are informal discussions on twitter, educational and professional development. Methods: The Hem Onc Fellows community was founded in February of 2021. Demographics of newsletter subscribers were gathered, and qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed. Twitter analytics data was used to see the outreach and engagement with the @hemoncfellows twitter account. Results: Since its inception, the Hem-Onc Fellows Network has grown to more than 3400 followers. The highest impressions per month have been 93.4K with mean twitter 263 impressions per tweet in the month of July 2022. The mean engagement per tweet was 3.4%. The network hosts Twitter Spaces (TS) with guests every two weeks and distributes a newsletter. During the first season, 22 TS were held between July 2021 and June 2022. The average attendance of twitter spaces is 49.6 persons per session (range 22-187). The most popular twitter spaces events were pre ASH and pre ASCO special events. The hem-onc fellows network contributed to two professional development opinions in ASH hematopoiesis and two in ASCO connections. One hundred twenty-one people subscribed to the newsletter. 53% of subscribers were male. 34% were internal medicine residencies, 31% were hematology-oncology fellows, 9% were attendings, 5% were Advanced Hematology-Oncology Fellow and 5% were medical students. Subscribers were from 21 different countries. Most participants were United States-based, but there were participants from 21 countries worldwide. Conclusions: We demonstrate that implementing a trainee network on Twitter attracted participation and engagement from a diverse pool of trainees worldwide. TS represents a novel educational tool for engaging trainees and facilitating professional development. We expect further expansion and engagement continuing to the season two of hem-onc fellows network Figure 1View largeDownload PPTFigure 1View largeDownload PPT Close modal

The implementation of the European Working Time Directive in Europe and its impact on training in obstetrics and gynaecology: A ten year follow-up

ObjectiveTo reassess the compliance with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) in the member countries of the European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ENTOG) and to investigate the impact of the EWTD on training. Study designIn this observational, cross-sectional study, an online questionnaire, containing multiple-choice questions and open questions, was distributed among Obstetrics and Gynaecology trainees in 33 ENTOG member countries. The questionnaire was designed as a follow-up of a similar survey conducted by ENTOG in 2009 and assessed the overall compliance with the EWTD, the adaptations needed to achieve this compliance, the impact of the EWTD on the quality of training and the well-being of trainees. The answers were analysed using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel. Results59 responses from 28/33 (84.8%) ENTOG member countries were collected. Only 5 out of 28 (17.9%) countries were found to be nationally compliant with EWTD. There were no clear differences in the compliance between different types of the hospitals (university/teaching/district), but a trend was observed towards higher rate of implementation in smaller hospitals (<1500 deliveries per year). Regarding the changes needed to become EWTD-compliant and yet maintain high-quality training, the most common suggestions were: hiring extra junior doctors, restructuring training, having less doctors on duty simultaneously, consultants performing more hands on work, dedicated training sessions, reduction of administrative tasks and simulation training for surgical skills. The majority of trainees, 7 out of 12, (58.3%) in the EWTD-compliant hospitals experienced a positive effect on their training, whereas the majority of trainees in non-compliant hospitals, 31 out of 47, (66%) were uncertain about the impact of the EWTD on the quality of training. Among the positive changes, better work-life balance and more consultants available out of the daily working hours were listed. ConclusionsDespite the introduction and implementation of the EWTD over two decades ago, the compliance rates across Europe remain low and seem not to have altered in the last ten years. In order to ensure the quality of training and, most importantly patient safety, we suggest that European nations keep striving to implement the EWTD for doctors in training. We also suggest for nations that have yet to implement this directive to use the strategies as an exemplar in countries that follow EWTD.

Interdisciplinary trainee networks to promote research on aging: Facilitators, barriers, and next steps

ABSTRACT Interdisciplinary education and research foster cross disciplinary collaboration. The study of age and aging is complex and needs to be carried out by scholars from myriad disciplines, making interdisciplinary collaboration paramount. Non-formal, extracurricular, and interdisciplinary networks are increasingly filling gaps in academia’s largely siloed disciplinary training. This study examines the experiences of trainees (undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students) who belonged to one such network devoted to interdisciplinary approaches to education and research on aging. Fifty-three trainees completed the survey. Among respondents, some faculties (e.g., Health Sciences) were disproportionately represented over others (e.g., Business, Engineering, and Humanities). Most trainees valued their participation in the interdisciplinary network for research on aging. They also valued expanding their social and professional network, the nature of which was qualitatively described in open-text responses. We then relate our findings to three types of social capital: bonding; bridging; and linking. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for the intentional design and/or refinement of similar networks to maximize value to trainees, provide the skills necessary for interdisciplinary collaboration, and foster egalitarian and representative participation therein.

Postgraduate Training in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology: Trainees' Perspectives

The purpose of this study was to evaluate resident trainees' perspectives on the pediatric and adolescent gynecology (PAG) training in obstetrics and gynecology training programs in Europe. This study was a cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire, on the basis of the PAG training in obstetrics and gynecology section of the European Board & College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Project of Achieving Consensus in Training curriculum. We aimed to survey the national programs in 35 European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ENTOG) member countries. Taking part in the survey was voluntary. The questionnaire was shared on the ENTOG online platforms. Ninety obstetrics and gynecology trainees in 33 of 35 countries responded to our questionnaire. Of the 35 ENTOG member countries, 33 participated in the survey, and a total of 90 responses were collected, giving a response rate of 9% of all European trainees and representing 94% of the member countries. Only 27% of trainees reported having a PAG rotation during their training program, and a PAG elective was only available to 34% of the trainees. Forty-one percent reported that PAG training was not included in their curriculum (no official rotations or lectures planned). Despite the lack of formal training, 72% of trainees felt able to diagnose and manage prepubertal vaginal bleeding and adnexal masses in children and adolescents by the end of their training. Most (58%) also confirmed that they could determine indications for treatment of vulval, vaginal, perineal, and rectal conditions. However, despite scoring positively for the management and counseling of subjects that often overlap with adult patients, such as "contraception in adolescents with health problems," "acute abdominal pain," "menstrual abnormalities," and "vaginal discharge," the study revealed poorer scores when the trainees were asked about more specific PAG topics such as "premature puberty" and "developmental disorders of the genital tract." Most core training programs across Europe do not include formal PAG training, and trainees reported a need to improve the provision of core PAG training in Europe.

042 PAG in EBCOG-PACT

The European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has recently revised its postgraduate training requirements, through a program called “Project for Achieving Consensus in Training”, known as EBCOG-PACT. The need for revision originated from feedback from the European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics and Gynecology concerning the disparities in postgraduate training across Europe [ [1] Aabakke A.J.M. Kristufkova A. Boyon C. Bune L.T. Van de Venne M. Workforce planning and training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology across Europe: a survey of national trainee societies. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2017; 214: 156-161 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar ], as well as from the realization that changing societal demands of doctors necessitate changes in the training of gynecologists [ [2] Scheele F. Novak Z. Vetter K. Caccia N. Goverde A.J. Obstetrics and gynaecology training in Europe needs a next step. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2014; 180: 130-132 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (11) Google Scholar ].

Professional development in a Twitter hematology/oncology network for trainees.

11034 Background: While resources exist to address the needs of graduate medical trainees, online resources to assist trainees with specialty-specific professional development have not been fully developed or described in the past. The Hem-Onc Fellows Network (@HemOncFellows) is an online community for hematology-oncology trainees in all stages of training, including medical students, residents, fellows, and doctoral students. The network's goals are to provide professional development in hematology-oncology, create a community and safe space for hematology-oncology trainees, and amplify the voices and needs of trainees. Methods: The @HemOncFellows Twitter account was created in February of 2021. The hashtag #HOFellows was registered and certified with healthcare Symplur. The network hosts Twitter Spaces (TS) with guests every two weeks and distributes a newsletter. Fifteen TS were held between July 2021 and February 2022. For each TS, a specific topic of professional development was discussed. At least one content expert was invited to each TS to provide additional commentary. Demographics of TS participants and newsletter subscribers were gathered and qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed. Results: Since its inception, the Hem-Onc Fellows Network has grown to more than 2200 followers. Symplur has over 500 #HOFellows tweets from November of 2021 to early February of 2022. The network organized 15 TS: 14 in professional development topics and one meet-and-greet for new matched fellows in December. TS had an average of 41 participants per event. Most participants were United States-based but there were participants from 21 countries worldwide. Forty-eight participants attended three or more spaces, including 15 hem-onc fellows and 17 internal medicine residents. The newsletter has 48 subscribers. Conclusions: We demonstrate that implementing a trainee network on Twitter attracted participation and engagement from a diverse pool of trainees worldwide. TS represents a novel educational tool for engaging trainees and facilitating professional development.

Growing academic global surgery: opportunities for Canadian trainees.

Summary Global surgery has seen exponential growth over the past few years, and Canadian trainees’ interest in the field has followed. Global surgery is defined by a commitment to health equity and community partnership. Engagement with its core principles is relevant for all Canadian surgical trainees and offers a perspective into inequities in surgical access and outcomes for patients and communities, both locally and globally. Several opportunities in academic global surgery for trainees have emerged in Canada, but appear to be underutilized. This article highlights existing Canadian global surgery initiatives, including formal postgraduate curricula, research and policy collaborations, trainee networks, advocacy projects, dedicated fellowships, and conferences. We identify areas in which institutions and departments of surgery can better support trainees in exploring each of these categories during training. Canadian trainees’ exposure to global surgery can nurture their roles as future health advocates, communicators, and leaders locally and beyond.

467 Access to antenatal care in europe

Introduction: Differences in the way healthcare is delivered across countries or populations may have important impacts on health outcomes, and can result in inequalities. The European Board & College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG), the European Association of Perinatal Medicine (EAPM), and the European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ENTOG) formed a study group to investigate and review existing differences in the provision of antenatal care throughout Europe. Materials and methods: A questionnaire of 37 questions was developed by the study group and shared via email with the representatives of EAPM and EBCOG national scientific societies. Results: A total of 53 responses were received from 26 countries. The majority of countries [18/26] routine antenatal care is primarily delivered by medical staff, involving obstetric specialists or family doctors. Delivery of care in government-run facilities constitutes the largest proportion of antenatal care in most countries, usually combining peripheral and hospital outpatient clinics. Twenty countries had provision whereby the women could self-refer themselves for antenatal care in the government-run facilities. Almost all countries reported that women from minority groups can access public sector antenatal care services easily. Less than 10% women did not attend antenatal care throughout pregnancy. The larger majority of those booking for antenatal care [>60%] do so in the first trimester. The majority of countries provide antenatal care opportunities with 6-10 reported routine visits for low-risk nulliparous and multiparous cases. Life-style advice is generally given to the mother at her first antenatal visit. Conclusion: While antenatal care is relatively standardized throughout Europe, important differences still exist in the healthcare providers involved, access to care, and in the frequency of routine antenatal visits. Despite variations, antenatal care is primarily provided by medical practitioners across many European nations. Factors leading nonattendance require further exploration.

Establishing the Health Psychology Stage 1 MSc conversation cafes

This article introduces the newly established Stage 1 MSc Health Psychology Conversation Cafes, run by students, for students and supported by the Health Psychology Trainee Network (HPTN) and the Division of Health Psychology (DHP).

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on obstetrics and gynecology residency training in Turkey

Objective:This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic on obstetrics and gynecology residency in Turkey.Materials and Methods:A 40-item questionnaire was prepared by the European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The survey included four parts, namely, workload, training aspects, trainees’ health and safety, and women’s and maternal health, conducted between April 2020 and September 2020. The submission of the questionnaire was voluntary.Results:A total of 103 trainees from 28 cities responded to the survey. The mean duration of training was 2.5 years, and first- to fifth-year residents were included. In this study, 66 trainees (65.3%) were deployed in COVID-19 units, and the number of working hours was 84 hours per week. Moreover, 67% of the trainees reported insufficient outpatient clinic experience to meet education targets. Almost all trainees (101 of 103) trainees reported that the number of surgeries and/or elective surgeries decreased or were canceled. In addition, 63% and 68% of the trainees reported that their surgical skills were hindered by the reduced number of surgeries and dissatisfaction by not achieving a sufficient number of surgeries, respectively. Overall, 71% (n=73) were worried about their training. Only 45 trainees (43.6%) have raised their concerns to their program coordinators. Trainees in Turkey experienced a decrease in the workload during the first COVID-19 wave by 62% (n=64). In average, trainees worked nearly 30 h less than their usual workweek. Only 5% of the trainees (n=5) worked from home. Trainees claimed to have used sufficient personal protective equipment, and 66% (n=68) could keep their social distance in the hospital. The availability of health care was different between departments, and the family planning and reproductive medicine departments were the most affected.Conclusion:The obstetrics and gynecology training in Turkey has significantly been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.