Professional Medical Education Research Articles

Pushing, standing and bringing to light: How medical trainees conceptualise professional resistance.

Much of the literature on harm and injustice in medical education focuses on the impact of oppression rather than trainees' efforts to create change. To acknowledge and make visible these efforts, medical education professionals must grasp how trainees perceive resistance and their role in effecting change. Employing functional linguistic and 'everyday' resistance theories, this critical qualitative study aims to understand trainees' conceptions of resistance practices and their representational choices in moments when they talked about and conceptualised resistance. Gathering participants through professional networks and snowball sampling, this study employed in-depth interviews to explore the conceptualisations of resistance among North American medical trainees (9 medical students, 9 residents and fellows). With the use of an applied functional linguistic analysis framework, we analysed the representational metafunction in trainees' conceptualisation of their resistance efforts against social injustice. We began with open coding for 'everyday' acts of resistance and then shifted to focused coding on verbal process types in participants' language to characterise their conceptualisations of resistance. Participants conceptualised their resistance practices in three distinct ways: first, an almost physical pushing back, drawing largely on material process types (doing); second, an embodied standing up and being present, based predominantly on material and relational process types (being); and third, an epistemic bringing to light, grounded mostly in mental and verbal process types (thinking). These processes of resistance reflect participants' conceptualisations of their efforts to challenge the status quo around inequity, harm and injustice in medical education. This study builds on resistance literature, offering a potential typology of resistance practices as pushing back, being and bringing to light. Because these are 'everyday' acts of resistance, these are tactics available to everyone, including faculty; we all have the power to resist, whether it is in teaching and learning or interacting with larger structures in medicine.

Ideas and Opportunities for Radiologists--Career and Professional Advising and Medical Education

This article is about two highly diverse radiologists, who fortuitously came together by working as Career and Professional Advisors in the Student Affairs Department of a U.S. medical school. This job opportunity offered each radiologist, albeit for markedly different reasons, a means to transition from full-time Radiology to the opportune world of medical school education. The focus of this paper will be on Career and Professional Advising, while also highlighting the many opportunities for radiologists in current medical school education.

Ethics in Health Care

Ethics has the task not only to acquaint people with the concept of morality, but also to take a critical view of existing moral practice. The purpose of ethics as a philosophical discipline is precisely to know and explain the essence of human action, human practice with regard to its moral quality, to know the action and shaping of moral consciousness. Medical ethics plays an important role in medical education and later in medical careers. It prepares students to be able to discern ethical problems and issues and to analyze and solve them in a logical way. The ability to make ethical decisions is a fundamental attribute for the education of medical and health professionals. Making quality decisions is often impossible without considering certain ethical issues.

Comprehensive pharmacoepidemiological and clinical-economic analysis of antibacterial drugs consumed during the pandemic at the hospital level in Aktobe, Kazakhstan

<b>Aim: </b>The study aimed to analyze the frequency and structure of antibacterial drug consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic at a dispensary hospital in Aktobe, Kazakhstan. It sought to identify the most frequently used and most costly antibacterial drugs, assessing their economic impact and usage patterns.<br /> <b>Methods:</b> This descriptive, retrospective clinical, economic, and pharmacoepidemiological study was conducted using data from the dispensary hospital's pharmacy and patient records between March 13, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The ABC/VEN analysis and ATC/DDD methodology were applied to evaluate the consumption of antibacterial drugs. Antibiotics were classified according to WHO AWARe criteria.<br /> <b>Results:</b> The study found that 27 different antibacterial drugs were used, representing 2.2% of all medications. The ABC/VEN analysis revealed that the majority of the budget was spent on a few high-cost drugs. Ceftriaxone was the most commonly used antibiotic, with a significant financial impact. According to the WHO AWaRe classification, most antibiotics fell into the Access and Watch categories.<br /> <b>Conclusion:</b> The study highlights a high rate of antibacterial drug usage, with significant financial implications for the hospital. The predominance of certain high-cost antibiotics, like ceftriaxone, indicates a need for more rational and cost-effective use of these medications. The findings call for improved adherence to clinical guidelines, enhanced education for medical professionals, and optimized antibiotic utilization to prevent resistance development and ensure better patient outcomes, especially in pandemic situations.

Political Legal Studies Related To Medical Professional Education In Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to analyze legal politics related to Medical Professional Education in Indonesia which has one important and strategic aspect, namely in relation to the existence of doctors / dentists as a pillar in realizing national health as one of the requirements or indicators in realizing people's welfare as mandated in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution, which is also a national goal. Its implementation is driven according to the provisions of the applicable laws and regulations in Law No. 17 of 2023 concerning Health, as well as Law No. 20 of 2013 concerning Medical Education. The method used is Normative Juridic. As part of the health service system, the quality of doctors / dentists as health workers is very strategic in health services. In this study, further research will be examined Legal Politics related to Medical Professional Education which is still experiencing obstacles in terms of the length of education travel time and there has not been an even distribution of medical personnel to various regions in Indonesia.

NEW CHALLENGES OF DISTANCE TEACHING AT THE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL FACULTY DURING THE WAR AND CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN UKRAINE

The aim of this work is to address specific challenges related to the organization and future prospects of distance teaching in medical higher education institutions, especially pertinent amidst the current military situation in Ukraine. Materials and methods. In our analysis, we reviewed relevant experiences and documentation, considering the participation of medical students in higher education. The data analysis on student’s performance and engagement in online courses to assess the effectiveness of current distance teaching methods was performed. Results and discussion. The education of medical professionals at international faculties holds significant national importance, contributing to addressing various societal challenges and enhancing Ukraine's educational reputation. However, recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and martial law have posed new challenges for distance teaching practices in pedagogy. Ii is crucial for educators who work with international medical students to possess high levels of professionalism and moral integrity. Across the globe, simulation technologies are increasingly employed in medical training, offering innovative methods for preparing highly skilled medical personnel. One such technology is the "virtual patient," which allows learners to engage in realistic clinical scenarios, make diagnostic and treatment decisions, and understand the consequences of their actions without compromising patient safety. The development of communication and language skills among future medical professionals remains a pressing concern within higher education institutions. Utilizing technological storytelling methods to illustrate the journeys of successful specialists can provide valuable insights and inspiration for students. In the context of distance learning, maintaining prompt feedback channels between students and departmental teachers is essential for effective learning outcomes. Conclusion. Practical application of innovative methodological approaches provide with opportunity for teachers of medical higher education institutions to implement and improve the novel methods of work, to increase the effectiveness of the educational process and the level of knowledge of students of the international faculty. Innovative distance learning technologies stimulate the teacher's work, increase his/her professional level, since the organization of the educational process requires preparation for each class, constant pedagogical research, development and use of additional new materials, study of innovative technologies.

DISTANCE LEARNING METHODS FOR INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL STUDENTS

In response to contemporary challenges and the imperative to adapt medical education to a distance learning format, particularly for international students, there arises a pressing need to develop and implement effective teaching methodologies. This article is aimed at investigating and discussing modern approaches to distance learning tailored for medical students, especially those from abroad. The highlights recent literature sources exploring current teaching methods in distance education for international medical students and outlining the most promising strategies for ensuring high-quality medical education through online platforms. For this analysis, a variety of sources including scientific articles, pedagogical reports, and personal experiences in teaching medical disciplines such as general surgery, nursing practice in surgery, and patient care with a surgical focus in an online format were consulted. It is imperative to underscore that the success of distance education for medical professionals hinges not only on the utilization of technology but also on the cultivation of interactive medical communities. Collaborative problem-solving of clinical tasks and case discussions foster the development of professional identity. The analysis indicates that employing interactive virtual lectures, online simulation workshops, and virtual clinical cases enables medical students to acquire practical skills in real-time. Based on this analysis, it can be inferred that effective distance education for foreign medical practitioners demands a comprehensive approach. Interactive methodologies, teacher support, and the integration of virtual tools facilitate not only the assimilation of theoretical knowledge but also the development of practical skills essential for future medical professionals. The conclusions of this work can be used for the further development of distance medical education, ensuring the high quality of training of specialists in the field of medicine.

The Impact of Health Communication Research on Medical and Health Professional Education and Training

ABSTRACT In this essay, we review how health communication scholarship has been translated into various communication skills trainings (CSTs), we present four case studies of how health communication research informed the development and implementation of specific CSTs, and we reflect on how we can productively define “impact” in looking back as well as looking forward within this line of research.

Modelling of patient journey in chronic spontaneous urticaria: Increasing awareness and education by shorten patients' disease journey in Germany.

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is both physically and emotionally stressful, and guideline recommendations are often not optimally implemented in clinical practice. The objective of this study was to provide an overview on the patient journey in CSU and to develop a mathematical model based on solid data. The journey of CSU patients in Germany was traced through literature review and expert meetings that included medical experts, pharmacists and representatives of patient organizations. The current situation's main challenges in the patient journey (education, collaboration and disease management) were discussed in depth. Then, a probabilistic model was developed in a co-creation approach to simulate the impact of three potential improvement strategies: (1) patient education campaign, (2) medical professional education programme and (3) implementation of a disease management programme (DMP). Chronic spontaneous urticaria patients are severely burdened by delays in diagnosis and optimal medical care. Our simulation indicates that in Germany, it takes on average of 3.8 years for patients to achieve disease control in Germany. Modelling all three optimization strategies resulted in a reduction to 2.5 years until CSU symptom control. On a population level, the proportion of CSU patients with disease control increased from 44.2% to 58.1%. In principle, effective CSU medications and a disease-specific guideline are available. However, implementation of recommendations is lagging in practice. The approach of quantitative modelling of the patient journey validates obstacles and shows a clear effect of multiple interventions on the patient journey. The data generated by our simulation can be used to identify strategies for improving patient care. Our approach might helping in understanding and improving the management of patients beyond CSU.

Некоторые проблемные вопросы организации выполнения научных исследований в области медицины катастроф

Summary. The objectives of the study are to analyze and give a general assessment of the organization of scientific research on the problems of disaster medicine, including within the framework of dissertation works carried out mainly by specialists of the Disaster Medicine Service (QMS) of the Russian Ministry of Health; outline the main directions for its further improvement. Materials and methods of research. Research materials – regulatory, program and methodological documents regulating the procedure for organizing scientific research on the problems of disaster medicine in 1994–2020: all (116) dissertation works defended in the dissertation council in the specialty 05.26.02 “Safety in emergency situations (medicine) disasters)”, which operated in 1996–2020. at the All-Russian Center for Disaster Medicine “Zashchita” (VTsMK “Zashchita”); data from expert assessment cards on the research topic, filled out by the teaching staff of the departments: disaster medicine, mobilization training of health care and disaster medicine, disaster medicine and life safety of educational organizations of higher medical and additional professional education of the Ministry of Health of Russia; scientific works and publications devoted to the study of problematic issues in disaster medicine. When carrying out the study, the following methods were used: methods of content analysis and expert assessment; statistical, analytical, bibliographic methods and field observation method. Research results and their analysis. The results of the study are presented, characterizing the state of the organization of scientific research on problematic issues of disaster medicine, including within the framework of dissertations carried out by specialists from medical organizations subordinate to the Ministry of Health of Russia. Reasonable proposals were made to improve the organization of scientific research in disaster medicine.

The process of formation of medical education in the Voronezh province and its impact on the stuff problem in the region in the second half of the XIX – early XX century

The object of the study is the medical education system of the Voronezh province in the second half of the XIX – early XX century. The subject of the study is medical educational institutions and their impact on the personnel problem in the healthcare sector of the region. The regional aspect of the study, involving a set of sources from the local archive of the Voronezh region, allows for a deeper study of the history of the development of certain types of professional educational institutions of the Russian Empire and the problems to which their quantitative deficiency in a particular region has introduced. Based on the materials of archival documents of the State Archive of the Voronezh Region, the most important medical educational institutions for the Voronezh province in the second half of the XIX – early XX century were identified: the Zemsky paramedic school and the obstetric school, which tried to solve the problem of shortage of qualified medical personnel in the region. The methodological basis of this work includes the principles of historicism, consistency and objectivity. The analysis of a wide range of sources allowed us to build a logical chain of interrelations between the development of professional medical education and the state of healthcare in the Voronezh province. The formation of medical education led to an increase in human resources in this area – already in the 1880s, the educational institutions of the province trained from 70 to 100 specialists in the field of medicine. By the beginning of the 20th century, there was an increase in the average standard of living of the population, both in the region and throughout the country. The author concludes that the improvement of the health care in the region became possible due to an increase in the number of medical personnel trained in professional educational institutions of the Voronezh province, as well as educational and explanatory work on sanitary and hygienic issues, which was carried out by prominent public figures, doctors, teachers among the entire population. The novelty of the research lies in the introduction of new archival materials into scientific circulation and a more detailed study of the issue of the relationship between vocational education and personnel policy in the region.

Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.

Medical ethics and professionalism are two essential parts of building up the identity of a competent physician. This study was conducted to determine the nature, content, and methods of medical ethics and professionalism education in Saudi public and private medical schools. It also sought to identify the challenges and obstacles in teaching and assessing medical ethics and professionalism and suggest appropriate changes. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi private and public medical schools. To achieve the study's aim, an assessment tool in the form of a novel self-administered questionnaire was developed, piloted, and then used. A representative from each of the 28 Saudi medical schools participated in the study. Twenty-four (82.1%) responding medical schools have no medical ethics department. Most of the medical schools (64.2%) have 25% or less of their faculty staff who teach ethics holding a qualification in medical ethics. Most schools have a specific course for medical ethics and professionalism (85.7% and 57.1%, respectively). Multiple-choice questioning is the most popular assessment method in medical ethics and professionalism courses (89.3% and 60.7%, respectively). The need for more qualified staff and clear guidelines/resources is a significant drawback to the teaching of medical ethics. Therefore, the study recommends developing national guidelines dedicated to the undergraduate teaching curriculum from which courses would be designed to enhance medical ethics and medical professionalism.

Establishing consensus on nutrition competencies for medicine: a Delphi study

BackgroundSignificant research, regulatory bodies and even governmental resolutions have identified meaningful nutrition education for medical and other healthcare professionals as a priority. Doctors are well placed to provide nutrition care, yet nutrition education in medicine remains inadequate regardless of country, setting, or year of training. There remains a need to establish an accepted benchmark on nutrition competencies for medicine, as without consensus standards there is little likelihood of uniform adoption.ObjectiveThis study aimed to establish consensus on nutrition competencies using a Delphi process to inform a framework for nutrition education in medicine.MethodsA three-round modified online Delphi survey of experts in healthcare practice, education and training, and experts by experience (service users) was conducted to provide a comprehensive consensus on nutrition competencies for medical practice.ResultsFifty-two experts (15.1% response rate) participated in Round 1, 42 completed Round 2 and 47 completed Round 3. Participants included medical professionals, dietitians, academics working in health professions education and policymakers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Northern Ireland. Twenty-seven service users (57.5% response rate) completed the Round 1 questionnaire, 19 completed Round 2 and 16 completed Round 3. By consensus, 25 nutrition competencies for medicine were defined. The service user panel identified an additional seven skills and attributes considered important in the receipt of nutrition care. Competencies that achieved consensus broadly fell into themes of team-based care, communication, professionalism (eg, attributes) and health promotion and disease prevention. This informs broad skills that may be taught in a nutrition context but could be included in other domains.ConclusionsThe findings suggest doctors need the knowledge and skills to consider the findings from nutrition screening and assessment, coordinate nutrition care when an individual may benefit from further assessment or intervention and provide support for advice delivered by other experts as part of a multidisciplinary approach.

Patient Perceptions of Medical Students' Involvement in Clinical Classes: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

A crucial aspect of the education of prospective medical professionals is their interaction with patients. The study aimed to explore patients' perspectives on the interaction between medical students and themselves. It sought to understand how patients perceive this dynamic within clinical classes. The goal was to gather insights into the most favorable behavior and demeanor of medical students during these sessions, with the overarching objective of enhancing patient comfort. The authors collected a total of 403 surveys from patients of a teaching hospital, regarding their perception of students as healthcare providers. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 92. 53.83% of the participants were female, and 46.17% were male. The surveys were collected between April 8th, 2022, and August 10th, 2022. The results of the anonymous survey undergone statistical analyses using the Mann‒Whitney U-test for comparing two groups and the Kruskal‒Wallis test for comparing more than two groups, because the Shapiro‒Wilk test indicated that the data did not follow a normal distribution. The study delved into patients' assessments of students' external presentation, adherence to behavioral norms, empathetic qualities, consideration during intimate examinations, and preferences for the organization of clinical classes. Our research indicates notable differences in responses based on age. Specifically, the senior demographic prioritizes students' external presentation, communication and the utilization of courteous language more often than younger individuals (p<0.05). Attendees exhibit varying levels of interest in participating in educational sessions with students based on the ward. Significantly, individuals in the gynecology ward display the least enthusiasm for engagement (p<0.05). Notably, the majority of patients perceive their involvement in the education of future healthcare professionals to be essential (83.38%). The study found that generally, patients voluntarily engage in educational classes with students. The relationship between patients and students is amicable, and the majority of students display a respectful demeanor toward patients. Nonetheless, preserving patient confidentiality and ensuring the proper management of classes remain persistent issues. This is particularly crucial, especially when the clinical classes pertain to intimate and personal health matters of a patient. Upholding and enriching the organization of such sessions, along with the attentiveness and knowledge of medical students regarding patient comfort, assumes heightened significance.

Socio-culturally responsive medical professionalism and ethics education: A curriculum co-creation approach

ABSTRACT Medical professionalism and ethics (MPE) are critical components influencing how medical practitioners provide patients with the highest standard of care. As a result, a structured attempt has been undertaken to enhance the content and teaching delivery of the medical professionalism and ethics education (MPEE) in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning theory, Harre and Van Langenhove’s positioning theory and Taba’s principles of curriculum development, a curriculum co-creation project was organized with the aim of developing a socio-culturally responsive MPEE. A total of fifteen medical students agreed to participate in the project where they co-created MPE curriculum with a medical educator over the course of three months. Upon completion of the project, a co-created, socio-culturally responsive MPE curriculum was presented. The thematic analysis revealed positive changes in the participants’ attitudes, skills, and behaviors towards co-creating the MPE curriculum. They also reported feeling a sense of fulfilment after having a transformative experience as curriculum co-creators and after receiving positive feedback from the faculty, staff, and other students on the co-created MPE curriculum. The project’s success demonstrates the importance of curriculum co-creation as a strategy to promote co-creation efforts among students and educators in developing a socio-culturally responsive curriculum. The project’s framework and practical recommendations can be adopted by other medical educators and faculties to encourage students’ participation and their role on curriculum development using the co-creation approach.

Features of medical university students’ professional value orientations

Objective. To identify the features of medical university students’ professional value orientations.Material and methods. Methods of theoretical analysis of philosophical, psychological and pedagogical literature on the research problem were used; G. E. Leevik’s questionnaire “Value orientations of personality 8” (VOP-8); methods of statistical analysis of empirical data (generalization and grouping of data, Spearman’s rank correlation method).Results. The analysis of professional value orientations of junior medical university students showed that the participants of the study are characterized, first of all, by such value orientations as labor and material values, the desire to be financially secure, a good specialist, to have a vast professional experience, to improve themselves in the profession. At the same time, there is an underestimation of the importance of moral and moral qualities of effective professional communication of a doctor.Conclusion. To ensure high quality of professional medical education it is important to form in students value orientations and professionally important qualities, which are necessary for successful professional activity and effective communication with patients, their relatives, colleagues and administration of medical institution.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Scale of Perception of Respect for and Maintenance of the Dignity of the Inpatient (CuPDPH) to Brazilian Portuguese and its psychometric properties—A multicenter cross-sectional study

ObjectiveTo adapt the Scale of Perception of Respect for and Maintenance of the Dignity of the Inpatient (CuPDPH) to the Brazilian language and culture and to assess its psychometric properties. ResultsThe scale was evaluated by 15 experts, and 239 patients from three tertiary hospitals in Rio de Janeiro. All participants signed a consent form. Data have shown adequacy of the model (KMO=0.839, Bartlett's test of sphericity: χ2(171) = 2241.3, p = 0.000010), good adjusted content validity (CVCa ≥ 0.90), internal consistency and reliability, such as α = 0.927. DiscussionCuPDPH is a rating scale on observable professional attitudes. Illnesses change lives and impose adaptation to a new situation, perceived as depersonalization, leading patients to try to regain control of their lives. Patients expressed “ill will” to fill out the scale. Psychiatric patients’ scale filling time was higher than others. A sample from three Rio de Janeiro third-level hospitals may not reflect the country's population; also, this adaptation may not comprise all linguistic variations of Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese-speaking countries. ConclusionThe Portuguese version of the Scale of Perception of Respect for and Maintenance of the Dignity of the Inpatient (CuPDPH), a 19-item, six-component version is a reliable instrument to measure the perception of internal medicine, surgical, and psychiatric patients on the maintenance of their dignity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This knowledge could be used in advancing research on patients’ perception of dignity, as well as professional ethical competencies, staff-patient relationship skills, and leadership development in medical and other healthcare professional education.

Performance of ChatGPT on Stage 1 of the Taiwanese medical licensing exam.

Since its release by OpenAI in November 2022, numerous studies have subjected ChatGPT to various tests to evaluate its performance in medical exams. The objective of this study is to evaluate ChatGPT's accuracy and logical reasoning across all 10 subjects featured in Stage 1 of Senior Professional and Technical Examinations for Medical Doctors (SPTEMD) in Taiwan, with questions that encompass both Chinese and English. In this study, we tested ChatGPT-4 to complete SPTEMD Stage 1. The model was presented with multiple-choice questions extracted from three separate tests conducted in February 2022, July 2022, and February 2023. These questions encompass 10 subjects, namely biochemistry and molecular biology, anatomy, embryology and developmental biology, histology, physiology, microbiology and immunology, parasitology, pharmacology, pathology, and public health. Subsequently, we analyzed the model's accuracy for each subject. In all three tests, ChatGPT achieved scores surpassing the 60% passing threshold, resulting in an overall average score of 87.8%. Notably, its best performance was in biochemistry, where it garnered an average score of 93.8%. Conversely, the performance of the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT)-4 assistant on anatomy, parasitology, and embryology was not as good. In addition, its scores were highly variable in embryology and parasitology. ChatGPT has the potential to facilitate not only exam preparation but also improve the accessibility of medical education and support continuous education for medical professionals. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated ChatGPT's potential competence across various subjects within the SPTEMD Stage 1 and suggests that it could be a helpful tool for learning and exam preparation for medical students and professionals.

Effect of prebriefing in cardiopulmonary resuscitation education for laypeople on educational effectiveness and satisfaction

Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is important for improving survival rates and neurological outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, laypeople often have psychological barriers to performing CPR, even if they have received training. Prebriefing provides psychological stability to the participants, enabling them to concentrate more comfortably during simulation. However, previous studies have mainly focused on simulation-based education for medical professionals, and no study has focused on prebriefing for laypeople. Therefore, we developed a structured prebriefing for laypeople and applied it to their CPR education to investigate its effect on educational effectiveness and satisfaction. This group randomization study was conducted from 09 November 2022 to 09 December 2022. Individuals aged ≥18 years who participated in CPR training as non-medical personnel were included. A 60-min CPR education focusing on hands-on skills was conducted. The Prebriefing Experience Scale for laypersons (PESL) was developed and surveyed using a 5-point Likert scale by modifying the Prebriefing Experience Scale for medical personnel based on existing research. During the study, a total of 382 people applied for education in 29 classes. Owing to logistical constraints resulting in randomization failure within the cohort of 10 classes, 82 participants were affected and subsequently excluded. In addition, 12 participants were excluded because of incomplete responses in the PESL survey. Ultimately, the experimental cohort consisted of 139 participants distributed across 10 classes, and the control group comprised 149 participants within the 9 classes. No difference in age and sex was found between the two groups. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups across all categories of the PESL assessment. In this study, when structured prebriefing was conducted on the general public, no statistically significant differences were found in PESL compared with conventional prebriefing. However, more improved research is needed.

Investigating the Integration of Anatomical Variabilities into Medical Education as a Potential Strategy for Mitigating Surgical Errors

Introduction: Surgical errors burden health-care systems globally, with anatomical variations being a significant contributor. This review examined the role of these variations and offers valuable insights for medical practitioners, educators, and policymakers to develop strategies to address and mitigate challenges posed by these variations. Materials and Methods: They keywords were generated from the title and online databases were searched with the help of a search string of keywords and Boolean operators. Results: A total of 13 articles were included in the present review. Thematic data analysis identified seven key themes highlighting the significance of anatomical variations in medical education. These include incorporating variations, determining optimal introduction and contact levels, identifying significant variations, teaching methods, visualization techniques, and challenges in integrating them. This systematic review has shown that earlier literature underscores the importance of anatomical variations in the context of medical education. However, there is evidence that students and trainees lack the necessary skills to effectively understand the concepts of anatomical variability and their application in the clinical setting. The final theme discusses potential solutions to enhance students’ understanding of human anatomy. Conclusion: Medical education aims to produce qualified physicians who provide competent and safe patient care. However, students and trainees often lack the skills to understand anatomical variations, leading to misdiagnoses and health-care malpractice. Active medical education professionals should ensure familiarization with anatomical variations to clear misconceptions about the human body, provide valuable knowledge about patient uniqueness, and spark interest in physicians.