Pre-course Survey Research Articles

Teaching the Labor Theory of Value in China: Addressing Challenges with Effective Methods

This article explores effective teaching methods for the labor theory of value in Chinese economic education, with a focus on addressing students’ negative perceptions of Marxist economics. While Marxist economics remains one of the most widely taught heterodox approaches in Chinese universities, its prevalent treatment as ideological-political education has led to students’ stereotypical perceptions of the subject. To address this issue, the teaching design prioritizes the concept of surplus and uses the video game “Don’t Starve” as a scenario to illustrate the distribution of total social labor under various production relations. This approach highlights the social dimensions of the labor theory of value, enhancing engagement, and rectifying stereotypical misconceptions. Pre-course and post-course surveys indicate that these methods improve students’ understanding and critical thinking regarding the labor theory of value. JEL Classification: A22, B51

Effects of support systems on the mental health of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mental Health has been declining over the last three years, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. A person’s support system can either improve or worsen their mental health. Nursing students likely have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and their support system may impact their mental health. This study used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Social Support Scale to measure the effects of a positive and negative social support system on undergraduate nursing students at a university in the Western United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistics and correlations were used to examine the relationships between stress, anxiety, and depression and support systems among undergraduate nursing students. Data were collected from students prior to the start of their program through two pre-course surveys, including the DASS-21 symptom measure and a 11-item Social Support Scale. Both surveys had established reliability and validity. Results showed that 17.8% of participants scored with severe or extremely severe anxiety, 6.6% with severe or extremely severe depression and 6.7% with severe or extremely severe stress. The average score for instrumental support was M = 4.22 (SD = 0.72), positive support was M = 4.29 (SD = 0.73) and negative support was M = 3.96 (SD = 0.87). The correlational analyses support a significant relationship between negative support and stress (r = .26). The results indicate that nursing students had a strong positive and instrumental support system in place. The results also show a low number of students reporting negative social support. However, the significant correlation between negative social support and stress indicates the harmful effects of a negative support system on a student’s mental health when it did occur. These results help us to further understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental health of undergraduate nursing students.

Evaluation of a new out-of-hospital newborn life support (OH-NLS) course in the UK South West region: a mixed-methods survey study

Introduction: Unplanned out-of-hospital births (UOHBs) are associated with poorer outcomes for babies, especially those born prematurely. The current Newborn Life Support (NLS) course offered by Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) is not designed to address the challenges associated with birth out of hospital. A new course was developed to address these challenges. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of this course on attendees’ knowledge and confidence in supporting transition, resuscitation, stabilisation and onward transfer of newborns in an out-of-hospital setting.Methods: A convergent mixed-methods approach was used consisting of pre-, post- and follow-up surveys and a post-course multiple-choice questionnaire (MCQ). The surveys asked participants to rate their confidence, on a five-point Likert scale (from ‘Underconfident/fearful’ to ‘Very confident’) across seven domains of NLS, as well as making an individual assessment of provider confidence before and after the course. Free-text comments were collected and analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Attendees comprised multidisciplinary staff from the South West of England. The pre-course survey was completed by 32 of the 33 participants, the post-course survey by 31 and the MCQ by all 33. A total of 18 participants completed the follow-up survey. Analysis showed a significant, positive change in confidence across NLS domains between the pre- and post-course surveys (p <0.0001).The follow-up survey data showed self-reported increases in knowledge and largely sustained confidence. The qualitative analysis revealed themes relating to the participants’ feelings about managing babies born out of hospital.Conclusion: The proof-of-concept OH-NLS course appears to address the learning needs of the target professional group, and the results suggest improved knowledge and confidence in the immediate management of babies born out of hospital. Further evaluation is required to determine whether such training has a long-term impact and translates into improved outcomes across a larger group of participants.

Attitudes towards learning English for specific purposes (ESP): A study on changes in attitudes of international studies students at Saigon university

English for specific purposes (ESP) is absolutely indispensable in any university programs in countries where English is not an official language. After finishing ESP courses, students are expected to approach the best practices that have already been in place around the world. However, students’ attitudes towards ESP are considered as one of the challenges in ESP teaching practice. On this account, this study was conducted to investigate the changes in students’ attitudes towards ESP courses to make some significant suggestions to the future practices in ESP teaching and learning. To achieve this objective, two surveys, called pre-course and post-course ones, were conducted at Saigon University with the participation of 165 students in the pre-course survey and 146 students in the post-course one. They all major in International Studies and have completed an ESP course. The findings show that there are negative and positive changes in students’ attitudes towards the ESP course after they took the ESP course, compared to the result of the survey conducted before the ESP course. The negative changes in students’ attitudes are mainly due to teaching methods and partly due to assessment methods whereas the positive changes in students’ attitudes are partly due to the content of the course. From these findings, the program managers need to make necessary changes to teaching methods to foster students’ motivation, to assessment methods to increase students’ satisfaction, and to the content of the ESP course to improve students’ learning outcomes.

Impact of High-Fidelity Simulation on the Confidence Level of Pediatric Residents to Manage Pediatric Emergencies

Background: Children having seriously ill health conditions pose new challenges to healthcare professionals in pediatric emergencies. The training based on simulation is a promising procedure for equipping junior professionals with the required potential. Objectives: Studying the impact of High-Fidelity Simulation (HFS) on the confidence levels of pediatric residents for taking care of patients having complications that are critical and also considering emergency procedures. Methodology: A quasi-experimental design utilized having surveys done before and after training to evaluate confidence levels. The research was executed in October 2023. The evaluation model of Kirkpatrick was supposed to evaluate the training program impact. After that, data was collected and entered into MS Excel and then analyzed on SPSS. Results: The research executed two sorts of surveys, including a pre-course survey and a post-course survey. Out of 40 residents, only 30 gave responses with a 75% rate. Descriptive analysis revealed varying levels of confidence across different domains of pediatric care. However, statistical analysis revealed no significant changes in confidence levels post-training in certain areas. These findings suggest that while the training program may have positively influenced confidence in some domains, further investigation is needed to determine its comprehensive impact on the confidence of residents. Conclusion: Our study emphasizes the effectiveness of HFS in enhancing the confidence of pediatric residents in managing critically ill patients and emergency procedures. While statistical significance was not achieved across all domains, the overall trend indicates a positive impact on residents' perceptions of their abilities in pediatric emergency care. Research in the future should revolve around more strategies augmenting the confidence of the residents in the care of pediatric emergencies.

Effect of peer facilitation in anatomy small group curriculum on academic performance and retention: A pilot study.

Peer-assisted learning and group facilitation have been proven to foster active participation in small-group learning, and these effective teaching modalities have been shown to enhance learning outcomes. This study introduced a student peer facilitator role in an anatomy small-group curriculum for pre-clerkship medical students and explored its impact on academic performance and retention. Students were required to rotate through this facilitator role and lead their small group during their designated sessions. Data collection methods included pre-course and post-course surveys, individual quiz grades, and retention quizzes sent 1 month after each quiz. Overall, the data revealed a significant increase in the overall combined quiz averages across the curriculum for facilitators compared to participants despite having no notable increase in preparation time (p = 0.004). While facilitators scored significantly higher on the course quizzes, the slight increase in their average retention quiz scores was not significant. This study was unable to identify any significant benefits to retention for either facilitators or participants. In all, this study suggests that a peer facilitation paradigm can be an effective educational modality for medical students, and future studies should explore ways to improve knowledge retention through this role.

Impact of a National Virtual Oncology Course on Medical Student Competency and Interest in Oncology.

Globally, surveys have identified that medical learners of all levels perceive their oncology instruction to be inadequate. To address these gaps, we systematically developed and implemented the Oncology National Course for Advocacy, Research, and Education (ONCARE), a novel, nationally organized virtual course available to all Canadian medical students and evaluated its impact on oncology competency and interest. ONCARE was designed utilizing Kern's Six-Step Model for Curriculum Development. Components of ONCARE included lectures, career panels, and a mentorship program. Pre-course and post-course survey responses were collected to determine course impact on oncology knowledge and interest. Between October 2023 and March 2024, ONCARE enrolled 235 students representing 14 Canadian medical schools. One hundred forty (60%) students enrolled reported having only 0 to 10h of formal oncology instruction. Baseline interest in a career in oncology was high (mean Likert score 3.9/5) and remained unchanged following course completion. ONCARE increased both self-perceived knowledge in clinical oncology (mean Likert score 3.9/5 vs 2.9/5, p < 0.001) and confidence in oncology communication skills (mean Likert score 3.6/5 vs 3.1/5, p < 0.001). Ninety-seven percent of students were satisfied with the course (mean Likert score 4.6/5). The implementation of ONCARE as a proof-of-concept initiative builds upon previous educational interventions in oncology and highlights important principles for the development of related initiatives. Future work will target greater interdisciplinary and multinational collaboration as well as long-term follow-up of the ONCARE cohort.

Impact of a Geriatric Pharmacy Elective on Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Empathy Regarding Older Adults

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of a Geriatric Pharmacy elective on pharmacy students’ knowledge, attitudes, and empathy regarding older adults. MethodsEnrolled students in a 15-week Geriatric Pharmacy elective during 3 consecutive academic years were invited to complete a precourse and postcourse survey. The survey consisted of the revised Palmore facts on aging quiz, the University of California at Los Angeles geriatric attitudes scale, the Kiersma-Chen empathy scale, and demographic questions. The presurvey and postsurvey data were compared and the impact of demographic factors on student knowledge, attitudes, and empathy was assessed in an exploratory analysis. ResultsSixty-six students participated in the study. Scores on the revised Palmore facts on aging quiz and the University of California at Los Angeles geriatric attitudes scale increased significantly postsurvey compared with presurvey. Student scores on the Kiersma-Chen empathy scale increased on the postsurvey compared with the presurvey, but this increase was not statistically significant. Student self-reported experience with older adults, race, and the course year impacted student performance. ConclusionA geriatric elective positively impacted the students’ knowledge and attitudes toward older adults. Future research should include validity and reliability testing of geriatric assessment scales in a diverse student population to ensure effective assessment of student knowledge, attitudes, and empathy in this patient population.

It Takes Two: Online and In-person Discussions Offer Complementary Learning Opportunities for Students.

Discussions play a significant role in facilitating student learning through engagement with course material and promotion of critical thinking. Discussions provide space for social learning where ideas are deliberated, internalized, and knowledge is cocreated through socioemotional interactions. With the increase of internet-based and hybrid courses, there is a need to evaluate the degree to which online discussion modalities facilitate quality discussions and enhance student achievement. We assessed the effectiveness of asynchronous online discussion boards and traditional face-to-face discussions via qualitative (thematic coding and discussion network analysis) and quantitative (Bloom's taxonomy) techniques and evaluated student perceptions via precourse and postcourse surveys. We found differential strengths of the two formats. Online discussions increased response complexity, while in-person discussions fostered improved connections with course material. Themes related to sharing of personal identity, humanity and verbal immediacy were more frequent throughout in-person discussions. Survey responses suggested that a sense of community was an external motivator for preference of in-person discussions, while anxiety was a factor influencing online discussion preference. Our findings suggest that online and in-person discussions are complementary, and work in tandem to facilitate complex student thinking through online environments and social learning within the classroom.

Empowering Early Career Neurosurgeons in the Critical Appraisal of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: The Design and Evaluation of a Pilot Course

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a greater role in neurosurgery. There is a need for neurosurgeons capable of critically appraising AI literature to evaluate its implementation or communicate information to patients. However, there are a lack of courses delivered at a level appropriate for individuals to develop such skills. We assessed the impact of a 2-day (non-credit bearing) online digital literacy course on the ability of individuals to critically appraise AI literature in neurosurgery. We performed a prospective, quasi-experimental non-randomized, controlled study with an intervention arm comprising individuals enrolled in our 2-day digital health literacy course and a waiting-list control arm used for comparison. We assessed participants' pre- and post-course knowledge, confidence, and course acceptability using Qualtrics surveys designed for the purpose of this study. A total of 62 individuals (33 participants, 29 waitlist controls), including neurosurgical trainees and both undergraduate and post-graduate students, attended the course and completed the pre-course survey. The 2 groups did not vary significantly in terms of age or demographics. Following the course, participants significantly improved in their knowledge of AI (mean difference=3.86, 95% CI=2.97-4.75, P-value < 0.0001) and confidence in critically appraising literature using AI (P-value=0.002). Similar differences in knowledge (mean difference=3.15, 95% CI=1.82-4.47, P-value < 0.0001) and confidence (P-value < 0.0001) were found when compared to the control group. Bespoke courses delivered at an appropriate level can improve clinicians' understanding of the application of AI in neurosurgery, without the need for in-depth technical knowledge or programming skills.

Effect of a short compulsory course on teachers’ active learning practices

ABSTRACT We investigated the impact that teachers’ participation in a short compulsory course on active learning had on their teaching practice. The course was offered at all departments of a STEM faculty with a total of 516 participants. Evaluations showed that teachers especially appreciated collegial discussions and examples of teaching practices in the course. In a survey, 64% indicated the course had led them to implement active teaching. Comparing large-scale pre-course and post-course student surveys with up to 2389 individual responses revealed a significant increase in the number of courses with active learning. The course as a change strategy contains aspects of both middle-out and top-down approaches and organising the course at departments, enables movement from individual to structural level.

Impact of a 1-day disease overview session on knowledge and preparedness for incoming hematology/oncology fellows.

e21011 Background: The start of hematology/oncology fellowship involves an abrupt transition in disease management and a steep learning curve. Many fellowship programs have introductory lecture series over the first weeks or months, but fellows often need specialty knowledge prior to the completion of these. Methods: A 1-day session for incoming first year fellows at our institution was developed to provide brief overviews of common conditions in classical hematology, malignant hematology, and oncology, subdivided into a total of 12 topics. Fellows were surveyed before and after the session regarding their feelings of preparation for fellowship and having good disease frameworks for each of the 3 major content areas. Fellows also evaluated the content and length of each topic. Pre- and post-course knowledge assessments were conducted. Feedback was sought later in the year as well. Results: The session was well-received by fellows. Post-course assessments increased by a mean of 32% (SD 6%). The majority of topics were well-reviewed for length and content. Fellow responses to feelings of preparedness and disease frameworks were improved or unchanged from pre-course surveys. All fellows agreed that it was a good use of their time and would recommend it being a part of future orientation sessions. Fellows recommended splitting the session into 2 days. Conclusions: A 1-day introductory course for incoming hematology/oncology fellows is feasible and rapidly improves baseline knowledge to prepare fellows for clinics, consults, and being on call.

Promoting durable well-being among healthcare professionals via an interactive, online, wellness initiative.

Burnout is recognized as a negative contributor to well-being within healthcare. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether participation in the Peace Education Program (PEP), a 10-week wellness course, promoted durable improvement of burnout and wellness in a large academic medical center. We deployed PEP virtually through a series of free, interactive, online wellness sessions focusing on 10 domains: peace, appreciation, inner strength, self-awareness, clarity, understanding, dignity, choice, hope, and contentment. Two weeks before and six months following the sessions, we distributed de-identified surveys based upon the validated Schwartz Outcome Scale-10 (SOS-10) with Likert scale scores 0-6 to assess participant wellness. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze statistical differences between post- and pre-course data. Sixty-nine faculty, trainees, and staff registered to participate, 21 participants completed the pre-course survey and 10 completed the post-course survey. The pre-course mean + standard error (SE) SOS-10 score was 43.2 ± 0.8, which improved to 51.0 ± 0.7 post-course (P < 0.001). Overall, all 10 domains demonstrated improved mean scores over time, with the five domains of "inner strength" (P = 0.008), "understanding" (P = 0.030), "peace" (P = 0.048), "choice" (P = 0.026), and "hope" (P = 0.020) demonstrating statistically significant score improvements six months after course completion. Participants completing ≥7 sessions benefited more than their counterparts and achieved statistically significant improvement in SOS-10 wellness scores (8.77 points) six months after course completion. Our findings demonstrate improved wellness in participants following peace education course completion. This free, interactive, online course may be utilized at other medical centers to improve wellness.

Enhancing care: evaluating the impact of True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining for healthcare providers working with prostate cancer patients and partners.

Educational programs that enhance healthcare providers' competence in managing the care of patients with sexual dysfunction following prostate cancer treatments are needed to facilitate comprehensive sexual health treatments for patients and their partners. In this study we evaluated the impact of a real-world online sexual health educational intervention called the True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining Program. This program is designed to increase healthcare providers' knowledge and self-efficacy in providing sexual healthcare to prostate cancer patients and their partners. Healthcare providers were invited to join a 12-week virtual training program. Participants completed precourse surveys (n = 89), retrospective prepost surveys (n = 58), and a 3-month follow-up survey (subset n = 18) to assess retention of relevant outcomes. Additionally, a course satisfaction survey was administered to participants (n = 57) at the end of the course. The main outcomes focused on participants' perceived knowledge and self-efficacy in conducting assessments and providing interventions for various relevant physical, functional, psychological, and relational domains of sexual dysfunction in prostate cancer patients and their partners. According to the retrospective analysis of post-then-pre-survey results, graduates perceived that their knowledge of and self-efficacy in providing sexual health counseling improved after completing the course. The 3-month follow-up survey indicated that the course graduate self-efficacy remained high 3 months after the course. Furthermore, the satisfaction survey indicated that a vast majority (98.2%) of participants were satisfied with the educational intervention. This real-world sexual health educational intervention can increase self-efficacy and knowledge in healthcare providers who are supporting prostate cancer patients dealing with sexual dysfunction. The use of a retrospective post-then-pre-survey helped to mitigate response shift bias while minimizing data gaps. However, it is important to note that this investigation was not a traditional research study and lacked a control group, thus limiting causal attributions. The True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining program acts as an accessible and effective resource for healthcare providers seeking specialized training in providing sexual healthcare for prostate cancer patients and their partners.

Evaluation of a Pilot Wellness Elective for Master of Public Health Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Graduate student wellbeing is a public health issue in the United States. The COVID-19 outbreak exacerbated the mental health burden on graduate students worldwide. Culture of Wellness (PH 104) is a 2-week wellbeing elective course that teaches evidence-based wellbeing strategies for graduate students at a university in the United States. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of this pilot wellbeing elective on Master of Public Health students' mental health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 22 Master of Public Health students from the class of 2021 at a university in the United States. We provided a pre-course survey to students that assessed their perception of their own personal wellbeing, their knowledge about various wellbeing strategies, and their confidence in applying 13 wellbeing strategies before taking the course. Post-course students completed the same survey following course completion, as well as a matching evaluation and a five-month follow up survey. Of the 13 strategies taught, students reported significant improvements in their ability to apply 10 strategies. There was a significant increase in self-reported emotional and physical wellbeing, as well as a significant decrease in burnout. Five months post-course, more than three quarters of respondents used strategies taught in the course on a weekly basis or more. This pilot study is limited by its small sample size, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings. The PH 104 Culture of Wellness course was effective in improving graduate students' wellbeing and confidence in applying wellbeing strategies.

Talk the talk and walk the walk: a novel training for medical students to promote decoloniality in global health

To date, the history of colonialism has permeated nearly every aspect of our conceptions, structures, and practices of global health; yet, there are no published medical school curricula aimed at promoting decoloniality in global health. We developed a pilot course for medical students to examine the history of colonialism, power, and positionality; promote self-reflection; and teach strategies for dismantling coloniality in global health. This five-part course was offered to students completing a scholarly project in global health with a mixed in-person/virtual format and online pre-session preparation materials. A pre-course survey on prior experiences in global health and self-efficacy was administered, and a reflection piece was analyzed for themes. After completion of the course, the students again completed the self-efficacy questionnaire, a course feedback survey and a semi-structured interview that was analyzed for themes. On average, the students felt that the course was relevant to their global health scholarly project and that the course met their learning objectives. There was a trend toward increased self-efficacy in decoloniality knowledge and skills following the course. In the post-course structured interviews, students raised issues reflected in the course materials including local project leadership; how identity, privilege and positionality influence relationships and the ability to attain mutual trust; project sustainability; and power dynamics. Undergraduate medical education in global health equity and decoloniality can play an important role in teaching future generations to dismantle the colonialism ingrained in global health and reimagine a global health practice based on equitable partnerships, community needs, and local leadership.

Advocacy Connection Team-Now educational program for headache fellows and patients/caregivers: Assessment of educational objectives.

To assess for improvement in comfort in participating in advocacy for migraine and headache disorders and knowledge needed for successful advocacy. The Advocacy Connection Team (ACT)-Now program is an educational program offered through Miles for Migraine, a non-profit advocacy organization. It is designed to teach headache fellows and patients advocacy skills. In a cross-sectional pre-test-post-test design, the 2021 ACT-Now cohort of 98 participants were administered a set of 11 pre-course survey questions identifying their role (healthcare provider/headache fellow or patient/caregiver), baseline knowledge of migraine-related disability and stigma, and baseline engagement and comfort with advocating. The post-course survey questions were the same as the pre-course questions, with the addition of one question assessing knowledge of migraine-related disability, additional questions addressing comfort levels advocating with insurance and policymakers, as well as creating an advocacy plan. For the pre-course survey, 69 participants responded and for the post-course survey, 40 participants responded. Compared to the pre-course survey, participants were able to correctly identify epidemiological data about migraine following the ACT-Now course (pre-course 46% correct, post-course 58% correct, p = 0.263). There was also an increase in the comfort level of participants in advocacy activities, including the creation of an advocacy action plan (pre-course 23% were "very comfortable" advocating, post-course 63%, p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that ACT-Now is effective at improving advocacy skills in a mixed cohort of patients and headache fellows, giving them the skills to create advocacy plans and engage with other patients and physicians, payers, and policymakers to create a more understanding, equitable and compassionate world for persons with migraine and other headache diseases.

A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students&amp;apos; Knowledge and Career Perspectives

Anesthesiology stands out as one of the rapidly growing and highly competitive medical specialties, necessitating students to cultivate an interest in anesthesia early and prepare extensively for clinical electives. Pre-clinical electives that introduce students to anesthesia and ready them for clinical settings in the early stages of their academic journey may confer benefits and enhance their competitiveness as residency applicants. This study implemented an eight-week pre-clinical elective titled &amp;quot;The History of Anesthesia&amp;quot; for first- and second-year students at Baylor College of Medicine. Eighty-eight students participated in the elective, with thirteen completing both pre-course and post-course surveys. The survey, consisting of thirteen questions related to anesthesia interest and relevant clinical knowledge, was analyzed, and statistical significance was calculated. The survey results demonstrated significantly elevated levels of self-assessed knowledge in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey (p &amp;lt; .05). Notably, topics considered more clinically relevant, such as modern anesthetic techniques, regional anesthesia, and obstetric anesthesia, exhibited significantly higher average survey results in the post-course compared to the pre-course results. The implementation of pre-clinical electives focusing on success in clinical settings appears beneficial for students aspiring to apply to an anesthesiology residency. Institutions should consider exposing students to anesthetic topics earlier in their academic journey to adequately prepare them for the competitive residency application process.

O52: Empowering Medical Students and Early Career Surgeons in Critical Appraisal of AI Research: Design and Evaluation of a Pilot Course

Abstract Introduction As artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasing role in surgical practice, there is a need for surgeons to understand and evaluate literature surrounding the use of AI. There is currently a lack of training in this area for medical students and surgical trainees. We designed and assessed the impact of a short educational course. Methods A two-day online course was held, consisting of lectures and small-group discussions surrounding the fundamentals and appraisal of AI literature with a focus on neurosurgery. Participants included individuals working in neurosurgery (trainees, consultants and researchers) and medical students interested in surgery. A Qualtrics survey was distributed before and after the course. Participants’ knowledge was assessed before and after using 15 multiple-choice questions. Individuals allocated to the course’s waiting list completed a control survey. Results 62 participants (33 participants, 29 waitlist controls) attended the course and completed the pre-course survey. After the course, participants significantly improved in their knowledge of AI (mean difference = 3.86, 95% CI = 2.97-4.75, p-value &amp;lt; 0.0001) and confidence in critically appraising AI literature (p-value = 0.002). Differences in knowledge (mean difference = 3.15, 95% CI = 1.82-4.47, p-value &amp;lt; 0.0001) and confidence (p-value &amp;lt; 0.0001) were also found when compared to the control group. Significant differences were maintained when medical students or researchers were excluded from analysis. Conclusion Short courses that are tailored to the specialty and experience of surgical trainees and medical students can improve their understanding of AI, without the need for in-depth technical knowledge or programming skills.

Integrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) competency into the dental school curriculum.

Decreasing healthcare disparities in marginalized communities requires healthcare providers who understand and appreciate social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. This includes care and education focused on individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ). This study examined dental students' and residents' self-reported clinical preparedness, prejudicial attitudes (implicit and explicit), and knowledge of health disparities that exist in the LGBTQ community using the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Development of Clinical Skills Scale (LGBT-DOCSS) prior to and after the presentation of an LGBTQ competency course. A total of 178 dental students at a private US dental school ranging from D1 to first-year postdoctoral residency participated in the course and completed both pre-course survey and post-course survey. Sixty-seven percent of the students reported having formal training in LGBTQ competency prior to completing the pre-training survey. The results of the LGBT-DOCSS in this population following intervention training revealed an increased feeling of clinical preparedness in treating LGBTQ patients, decreased bias toward LGBTQ, and increased knowledge of health disparities in the LGBTQ community. A more significant percentage of male respondents self-reported prejudicial beliefs. Knowledge of LGBTQ health issues increased significantly among pre-clinical students. Introducing an early intervention LGBTQ competency course in the dental curriculum is an effective method of improving students' awareness and self-confidence in working with LGBTQ patients while decreasing biases that may have existed prior to a training course.