Pilot Training Course Research Articles

Development of the capacity to communicate risks related to childhood exposure to fluorides through an online educational strategy

Fluorides are contaminants that occur frequently and, generally, naturally in groundwater, affecting countries that depend on these waters for irrigation and human consumption. Chronic exposure to fluorides generates various health effects; therefore, this research was based on education and risk communication to contribute to the resolution of the problem of fluoride exposure in the population. The objective was to develop the capacity to design risk communication programs for personnel involved in the response and management of environmental health risks, with emphasis on fluoride exposure. An online pilot training course on risk communication and fluoride exposure was designed and implemented. For the analysis of the risk perception and knowledge of the participants, before and after the course, a questionnaire was applied and a focus group was conducted. In addition, the participants carried out a series of activities and designed a risk communication program to assess the degree to which the capacity to develop risk communication programs was achieved. To improve the pilot course, two satisfaction surveys were designed and implemented, and a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis was conducted. The results showed an increase in the level of knowledge and changes in the participants' perception; regarding the ability to design risk communication programs, two participants were able to design them excellently. Previous experience, motivation, commitment to learn and the feedback provided during the course influenced the development of this ability.

Evaluation of a blended training solution for critical care nurses’ work environment: Lessons learned from focus groups in four European countries

AimThe aim of this study was to evaluate a blended pilot training course on Healthy Work Environments (HWEs) for critical care nurses as follows: 1) to explore the experience of trainees and trainers who took part in the training; and 2) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the training program in its potential transferability to nursing practice in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). BackgroundDespite the evidence supporting the association between HWEs and job satisfaction, nursing retention, and patient outcomes, nurses still have high rates of burnout, mental health problems and intent to leave. To address this challenge, a blended training was created and piloted with the aim to highlight the relevance and impact of HWEs, enhancing its transferability to daily practice. The training was based on the six standards of HWEs as proposed by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and created within an Erasmus + project. The pilot was delivered by trainers (critical care nursing educators) to critical care nurses and included six workshops of eight hours each (48 h in total) in each country. DesignAfter the pilot testing, a qualitative approach, with focus group discussions was used. MethodsAll the trainees (n=82), who had attended at least one workshop were invited to participate in the focus groups. Overall, eight focus groups were held with critical care nurses who participated as trainees (n=39) from four testing countries: Cyprus, Croatia, Spain and Poland. One international focus group was held with trainers who conducted the training (n=4). Four more trainers completed the questionnaire online. All focus group were video recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Then, the national transcripts were translated into English. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out. FindingsThree themes were identified: 1) Valuing the relevance of the training program and a positive learning experience; 2) A powerful insight leading to increased awareness and empowerment in personal and professional life; 3) Challenges identified in terms of training, follow up and management of change. Both trainees and trainers expressed a positive opinion with regard to the content of the training and the didactic methods used. They emphasized the strong influence of the training on their understanding of a HWEs, its impact in an ICU context and the need for action, mainly related to communication issues. ConclusionThe proposed blended training program may be used by trainers, who can enable nurses develop the competencies required to influence their work environment, in a context of shared responsibility.

Scrotal point-of-care ultrasonography: a UK cross-speciality pilot training course evaluation.

Scrotal point-of-care ultrasonography: a UK cross-speciality pilot training course evaluation.

Movement mechanisms for transport aircraft during severe clear-air turbulence encounter

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to present the movement mechanisms of transport aircraft response to severe clear-air turbulence to obtain the loss of control prevention for pilot training in IATA – Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) program. The transport aircraft in transonic flight is subjected to severe clear-air turbulence, resulting in a sudden plunging motion with the abrupt change in flight attitude and gravitational acceleration. The comparative analyses of the flight environment and aircraft response to severe clear-air turbulence for two four-jet aircraft are studied. The one with a larger dropped-off altitude during the plunging motion will be chosen to construct the movement mechanism. The nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic model of the chosen transport is established through flight data mining and the fuzzy-logic modeling of artificial intelligence technique based on post-flight data. The crosswind before the turbulence encounter will easily induce a rolling motion and then the sudden plunging motion during the turbulence encounter. The influences of the varying vertical wind and crosswind on loss of control are presented. To formulate preventive actions, the situation awareness of varying crosswind encountering for the operational pilot will be studied further in the future. The present study is initiated to examine the possible mitigation concepts of accident prevention for the pilot training course of IATA – Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) program.

Visibility of Scientific Production and Digital Identity of Researchers through Digital Technologies

The research process does not end with the publication of the results; on the contrary, it has to continue even further, when results are disseminated and scientific disclosure on the Web begins. The purpose of this article is to promote visibility of the scientific production and digital identity of the faculty and researchers at the Universidad Técnica del Norte (Ibarra-Ecuador). By implementing a quantitative documentary, descriptive, and quasi-experimental comparative approach, it was possible to determine the importance of scientific visibility, the most suitable digital platforms for this task (ORCID, Google Scholar, Academia, ResearchGate, ResearcherID (WoS), Author ID (Scopus), Sciprofiles, Mendeley, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Impactstory), and the level of knowledge that professors have of these platforms. With the results, a pilot training-course was planned and implemented for researchers and university professors of the Faculty of Education Science and Technology, with the purpose of registering their author profiles and incorporating their scientific production onto the platforms with the greatest impact and visibility. The results from the two stages (pre-test and post-test) of the pilot course show a significant difference regarding the creation and management of the research profiles; therefore, this strategy puts forward an alternative way to make research and digital/identity visible in the academic, scientific and social community.

A mixed-methods study on evaluating an updated, francophone version of ETAT+ training in Madagascar.

Background Madagascar needs major efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, despite the considerable reduction of child mortality during past years. In this context, implementation of emergency triage assessment and treatment (ETAT) plays an important role. In recent years, ETAT training activities rarely took place in Madagascar. To strengthen ETAT in Madagascar, a pilot training course was conducted in December 2019 at the University Hospital Mahajanga. Objectives This study aims to evaluate if the ETAT+ pilot training content matches clinical needs in Madagascar and whether participants achieved their learning objectives. Methods In this cross-sectional mixed-methods study, a 41-item questionnaire was used at the end of the ETAT+ training to evaluate their learning experience from the 12 participants (paediatricians, physicians, nurses and midwives). Six weeks after the training, guided interviews were conducted among five participants to describe how training content could be transferred into clinical practice in five health facilities. Results Results suggest that this pilot project designed to contribute to the re-establishment of ETAT in Madagascar meets participants’ needs and is adapted to clinical realities in terms of transmitted knowledge, skills and competencies. However, results also show that considerable multi-disciplinary efforts are needed to advance ETAT+ implementation in Madagascar. Conclusion Implementation processes of ETAT training programmes need re-evaluation to assure their validity to contribute to quality of care improvements efficiently. Further operational research is required to evaluate sustainable, innovative implementation strategies adapted to contexts in Madagascar. Contributions of the study This study aims to evaluate an updated Malagasy version of the Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment Plus (ETAT+). The training met the participants’ needs and was adapted to the clinical realities in Madagascar relating to transmitted knowledge, skills and competencies.

Spaniards in the Great Patriotic War

Hundreds of Spanish volunteers who had ended up in the Soviet Union in various ways during or after the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) took part in the Great Patriotic War. First, they were Spanish children, including teenagers. Secondly, several thousand members of the Spanish Communist Party and its leaders evacuated after the fall of the Republic. Thirdly, Spanish Republicans rescued by Soviet diplomats from French internment camps in 1939–1940. In addition, after the outbreak of war, the last of the pilots who had taken a pilot training course at the aviation school in Kirovabad remained in the USSR. The aim of this article is to systematise the information available in memoirs, archival sources and literature on the participation of Spanish volunteers in the war on the Soviet side and to draw conclusions as to the nature and forms of that participation. Soviet conscription centres did not have the authority to enrol Spaniards who did not have Soviet citizenship into the Red Army, and Spanish volunteers were allowed to go to the front thanks to several Soviet military officers who had fought in the Spanish Civil War. It is for this reason that the most massive and effective military efforts of the Spaniards behind enemy lines were in partisan and sabotage groups, as well as in the air force. The Spanish volunteers wrote a glorious chapter both in the history of their country and in the annals of the Great Patriotic War.

Implementation and assessment of a pediatric point-of-care ultrasound training course in Japan: a pilot study.

PurposeThe popularity of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has led to the creation of educational guidelines for its use. In Japan, however, a comprehensive training course for POCUS use in pediatric emergency medicine has yet to be developed. The present study aimed to implement a pilot course for pediatric POCUS training in Japan and to compare participants’ self-efficacy level before and after the course.MethodsA half-day training course in pediatric POCUS was implemented at a meeting of the Japan Society of Point-of-Care Ultrasound. A standardized training course, including pre-learning materials, live lectures, and hands-on sessions, was developed based on the US consensus educational guidelines. Physicians interested in pediatric POCUS were recruited for participation and completed a self-evaluation survey before and after the course to access their background, self-efficacy in performing selected ultrasound procedures before and after the course, and their overall satisfaction with the course.ResultsIn total, 31 physicians participated. Of these, 25 completed the survey. Ten participants were in post-graduate year (PGY) 1–2, 13 were in PGY 3–5, and eight were in PGY 6 or higher. The post-training self-efficacy score was significantly higher than the pre-course assessment score (86.0 [standard deviation (SD): 19.2] vs. 35.6 [SD 17.6], p = < 0.05, mean difference: 49.6 [95% confidence interval 39.6–61.2]). Furthermore, overall satisfaction with the course was high at 8.6 (SD 1.8).ConclusionThe present study implemented a pilot training course in pediatric POCUS and found the participants’ self-efficacy level to be significantly higher after the course.

Online Engineering Pedagogy: A Proposal for Specialization of the Teacher Training in Engineering

The context of the COVID-19 pandemic produced new immediate needs in the field of university teaching related to distance learning and forces the universities to transform their “traditional” face-to-face teaching methods, particularly with the implementation of online education. This situation represented a challenge not only for the universities but also for the teachers because they need to transform their teaching work in the classroom to online strategies for online learning environments. To meet these needs for effective online education an online pilot training course in Engineering Education based on the IGIP Curriculum of the TU Dresden was designed and implemented. The course “Introduction to online teaching and learning in engineering” (in Spanish: “Introducción a la Enseñanza-Aprendizaje Online en Ingeniería”) consisted of 4 modules implemented on a mix of online communication strategy of synchronous activities carried out on the Zoom platform, together with asynchronous work on a Moodle-based LMS platform. The course was offered between May and June 2020 for a group of academics of the Faculty of Engineering of a public Chilean University. This paper describes the designed online pilot training course in Engineering Pedagogy and presents the results of the evaluation of its implementation. For this a survey was applied and filled by the participants to evaluate the course and to know their per-ceptions about their competencies development to improve online learning in engineering.

Innovation, Entrepreneurial Skills and Ethics: The Impact of a Pilot Program on Students in European Union Aged 13 - 15

In the European Commission’s policy, entrepreneurship has emerged as the main responsibility of European education and special attention has been given to the development of entrepreneurial skills, such as critical and creative thinking, problem solving, decision making, innovation, risk-taking, etc. The purpose of this study is to present the impact of “ETHICSBOARD”, a 6-month pilot training course, designed in 2019 to teach entrepreneurial concepts accompanied with ethical practices, to school students aged 13 - 15 in Greece, Spain and Portugal. The training curriculum and learning materials were developed on six basic areas (personal empowerment, critical and creative thinking, effective decision making and problem solving, entrepreneurship and vocational training, Project-Based Learning and school-family-community partnerships), which were based on innovative, learner-centered pedagogical approaches and creative techniques. Specifically, one hundred and eighteen (118) students completed a questionnaire, developed by the researchers, before and after the implementation of the pilot course, in order to identify any changes in their knowledge, skills and attitudes towards ethics and entrepreneurship. The results showed that in the post-measure, compared to the pre-measure, the students showed higher mean values in many of the variables examined. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored.

Transesophageal Echocardiography Training of Emergency Physicians Through an E-Learning System.

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been shown to be a powerful tool that emergency physicians can use to guide resuscitation efforts during cardiac arrest. Currently, there is no standardized curriculum to teach TEE to emergency physicians. We hypothesized that the use of a pilot training course combining interactive e-learning and hands-on simulation would increase the percentage of students achieving a score of ≥80% on a multiple-choice test of knowledge and increase self-reported comfort using TEE. We designed a 2.5-h TEE course for emergency physicians and medical intensive care unit fellows. Participants took a test of knowledge and a survey of comfort-both online-before, just after, and 4weeks after taking the course. Survey responses measured participants self-reported comfort with using TEE in clinical practice. A normal binomial approximation was used to calculate the 95% confidence interval. Of the 3 tests of knowledge, 15 participants completed all tests. Of the surveys of comfort, 31 participants completed the precourse survey, 32 completed the postcourse survey, and 19 completed the 4-week follow-up survey. The proportion of students scoring ≥80% improved from 40% on the precourse test to 80% on the postcourse test (95% confidence interval 1-79). The proportion of students indicating comfort with using TEE improved from 3% precourse to 53% postcourse (95% confidence interval 28-71). A TEE training course resulted in a 50% increase in surveyed participants feeling comfortable using TEE in cardiac arrest and a 40% increase in participants scoring ≥80% on a test of knowledge.

Videoconferencing Technology to Facilitate a Pilot Training Course in Advanced Psychopharmacology for Psychiatrists.

Psychopharmacology requires practitioners to continually upgrade knowledge and skills, but attendance at live continuing medical education events presents many barriers. In addition, technology has generated new learning approaches. In response, a videoconference-based course on psychopharmacology was developed and evaluated for feasibility and acceptability. Specific goals included whether learners would engage and whether the technology would work well for both learners and instructors. Additional aims included providing guideline-concordant psychopharmacology training, enhancing patient safety, and fostering case discussion. The course used BlueJeans® videoconferencing technology. Each of the six weekly sessions was taught by a facilitator and a speaker. Every class incorporated a 1-h interactive didactic presentation, followed by 1h for case reviews. Topics included six major psychiatric disorders, managing key drug interactions, and pharmacogenomics. Three types of online self-report evaluations were conducted-individual session evaluation, overall evaluation, and faculty speaker evaluation. Nineteen participants enrolled, with 85% of respondents reporting course objectives were met as "very good" or "excellent." Moreover, 92% of respondents rated the course as "very good" or "excellent." Sixty percent of the faculty were "somewhat satisfied" and 40% were "extremely satisfied" with the videoconferencing tool. Qualitative responses from both participants and faculty were positive overall. This course provides preliminary evidence that an online, live longitudinal course in psychopharmacology is both acceptable and effective, both for CME learners and teachers. The authors plan to disseminate this model of CME to other institutions while extending the reach of the present course to more diverse practitioners.

Non-Veterinary Emergency Care of Law Enforcement Canines at Mass Gathering Events: A Pilot Training Course for Collegiate-Based EMS Providers

Non-Veterinary Emergency Care of Law Enforcement Canines at Mass Gathering Events: A Pilot Training Course for Collegiate-Based EMS Providers

Training social workers to enhance patient-centered care for drug-resistant TB-HIV in South Africa.

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is the epicenter of an epidemic of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection, characterized by low rates of medication adherence and retention in care. Social workers may have a unique role to play in improving DR-TB-HIV outcomes. We designed, implemented and evaluated a model-based pilot training course on patient-centered care, treatment literacy in DR-TB and HIV coinfection, patient support group facilitation, and self-care. Ten social workers participated in a 1-day training course. Post-training questionnaire scores showed significant overall gains (P = 0.003). A brief training intervention may be a useful and feasible way to engage social workers in patient-centered care for DR-TB and HIV coinfection.

Engaging Active Bystanders in Mass Casualty Events and Other Life-Threatening Emergencies: A Pilot Training Course Demonstration.

Emerging research indicates the critical role members of the public can play in saving lives and reducing morbidity at the scene in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It is anticipated that with training, more members of the public will be ready and able to assist should they be present at mass casualty events or other circumstances in which there are serious injuries or potential loss of life. This article describes a training course developed by multiple federal and nonfederal partners aimed at preparing the public to become "active bystanders" followed by a pilot demonstration project conducted by Medical Reserve Corps Units. The outcomes of the project indicated that the training was comprehensive and appropriate for members of the public with little or no first aid knowledge. National availability of the "Becoming an Active Bystander" training course is currently being planned.

Developing cross-specialty endovascular simulation training.

Simulation is increasingly recognised as a valuable tool in training tomorrow's doctors. This technology has the potential to improve patient safety and address some of the challenges posed by recent changes in doctors' training, yet the uptake has been slow in the majority of institutions. In our own centre, we noted existing equipment was used infrequently. We sought to address this problem through the development of a 1-day training course in simulation (SIM) and basic interventional skills aimed at trainees from across different endovascular specialties. A 1-day course for trainees in cardiology, interventional radiology and vascular surgery was piloted. A variety of endovascular simulators were used to teach core skills common to all three specialties, under the umbrella theme of safe access, safe navigation and safe closure. Independent continuing use of SIM-based training was encouraged. Trainee and faculty member experiences of SIM training in a cross-specialty environment were explored by interview and online questionnaire. Thirty-six trainees completed the pilot training course. Feedback was almost universally positive, with all trainees agreeing that SIM was useful in achieving the course's objectives, and that they would recommend the course to a colleague. Cross-specialty training was viewed positively by trainees and trainers alike, with benefits identified in knowledge and skills sharing, as well as fostering better clinical collaboration. SIM-based training was perceived as useful in promoting patient safety, and is considered to be a desirable component of future training. We present a SIM-based model that achieves economies of scale by delivering common skill-set training for doctors from different specialties. Through our experiences piloting this course we discuss how the recognised barriers to adopting this new technology may be addressed and offer insights into how SIM may be integrated into existing training programmes.

POSOW, Preparedness for Oil-polluted Shoreline cleanup and Oiled Wildlife Interventions

In case of a major oil spill, many countries will have to rely on volunteers, or, at, least, to cope with a significant flood of citizens willing to help. While some States will use these volunteers only for logistical tasks such as preparing and serving meals or secretarial tasks, others will orientate them towards NGOs in charge of wildlife rehabilitation, and others involve them directly in shoreline cleanup operations. Hence the necessity to train potential volunteers in advance, register them in a database, and create a network that can be activated in case of an accident. The project for Preparedness for Oil-polluted Shoreline cleanup and Oiled Wildlife interventions (POSOW) was a two year project co-financed by the European Commission to improve preparedness and response in marine pollution in Mediterranean regions. The project aimed at establishing a regional cooperation synergy through the enhancement of knowledge and capacities of operators, professionals and volunteers in the field of marine pollution, in European Mediterranean coastal countries, namely Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Spain. It was implemented by REMPEC (The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea) as coordinator, and its partners:- Cedre (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution)- ISPRA (Italy's Institute for Environmental Protection and Research)- Sea Alarm Foundation-The CPMR (Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions)A training package including a manual, several posters, Power-Point presentations and an instructor manual was produced on each of the following topics:-Oil spill volunteer management-Oiled shoreline assessment (SCAT)- Oiled shoreline cleanup-Oiled wildlife response. Once the training package ready, around 35 trainees (local authorities, civil protection and NGOs) from the regions involved attended train-the-trainer courses at Cedre, including 2 days of theoretical training on the 4 topics, delivered by the partners of the project, a pedagogical session and exercises (SCAT and cleanup) with real oil. These trainees will in turn become trainers in their regions, and organize national pilot training courses in autumn 2013, under supervision of the project partners, and hopefully other training sessions afterwards, with the aim of training as many people as possible. All volunteers thus trained will be invited to register into an international database. A video and a brochure presenting the project were also produced, and a dedicated website set up, from which the training documents can be downloaded: www.posow.org.

Early Identification of Unmanned Aircraft Pilots Using Measures of Personality and Aptitude

This study evaluated the extent to which personality measures (Self-Description Inventory+) could improve prediction of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) training outcomes, beyond currently used cognitive, psychomotor, and aviation knowledge and experience predictors included in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Pilot Candidate Selection Method 2.0. Participants were 170 USAF officers with RPA Initial Flight Screening (RFS) outcomes and 110 USAF officers with RPA Instrument Qualification (RIQ) outcomes. Both RFS and RIQ emphasize development of skills traditionally required for manned aircraft pilots, also considered essential for USAF RPA pilots. Results showed significant negative relationships between the Big Five personality trait of Openness and several RPA training outcomes, and significant incremental variance explained by Openness beyond other predictors. Additionally, RFS and RIQ training outcomes were generally predicted by measures traditionally used for selection into manned aircraft pilot training courses and careers. Together, these findings suggest that personality, specifically Openness scores, and scores on traditional pilot selection measures, can serve as useful indicators in the early identification of RPA pilot talent.

Evaluation of an interprofessional educational curriculum pilot course for practitioners working with post-stroke patients

This report describes the design and evaluation of an interprofessional pilot training course aimed at pre-licensure practitioners working with post-stroke patients in community-based settings. The course was developed by community-based practitioners from nine health professions. Course learning activities included traditional methods (lectures) and interactive modules (problem-based learning and exchange-based learning). The study’s aim was to assess the program’s effectiveness in adapting and incorporating knowledge, skills and self-confidence when delivering tertiary care in therapeutic pool environments; gauge adoption of course principles into practice, and assess overall course satisfaction. Methods of evaluation included conceptual mapping of course format, pre- and post-questionnaires, daily reflection questionnaires, course satisfaction survey and adoption survey, 10 weeks follow-up. Overall, the findings indicate students’ knowledge, skills and self-confidence in delivering effective post-stroke care increased following the training. Students reported adopting clinical practices in 10 weeks follow-up. Implications for designing interprofessional curricula are discussed.

Implementing School Health Promotion in Austria

A pilot training course on school health promotion in Austria focused on supporting teachers and school heads during the implementation of the health-promoting school (HPS) concept. The participants talked about their experiences during the implementation phase in focus groups held in a feedback seminar at the end of the training course. The focus groups were analyzed by using an inductive approach. A coding method for thematic analysis was applied. Compatibility of the training course with the school setting was examined and supporting and hindering structures and processes pertaining to the schools and the training course are described. The results can be displayed in a model showing connections between the themes. Internal and external collaboration structures were identified as central aspects in the implementation phase. Particularly collaboration within the faculty is shown to be of importance when implementing the HPS approach. Voluntary cooperation especially of teachers, which is often connected with work in their spare time, is another aspect influencing the sustainability and therefore also the compatibility of the training course with the school setting. For future designs of teacher training courses in health promotion, the aspects of collaboration, teamwork, and collective commitment have to be taken into consideration.