Career Stages Research Articles

A technology-enabled collaborative learning model (Project ECHO) to upskill primary care providers in best practice pain care

Background The South Australian (SA) Chronic Pain Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Network was established to upskill primary care providers in best practice pain care aligned to a patient-centred, biopsychosocial approach using didactic and case-based virtual mentoring sessions. The aims of this study were to assess: (a) participation, satisfaction (relevance, satisfaction with format and content, perceptions of the mentorship environment), learning (perceived knowledge gain, change in attitudes), competence (self-confidence) and performance (intention to change practice, perceived practice change) of the ECHO Network clinician participants; and (b) self-perceived barriers at the clinical, service and system level to applying the learnings. Methods A mixed methods, participatory evaluation approach was undertaken. Data sources included analysis of program records (learning needs assessment, enrolment survey data, program participation data and online surveys of healthcare professionals including a satisfaction survey after each ECHO session (n = 106 across the ECHO series of 10 sessions; average response rate = 46%), a case presenters survey (n = 7, response rate = 78%) and an outcome survey after all 10 ECHO sessions (n = 11, response rate = 25%). Results Forty-four healthcare professionals participated in the ECHO Network from a range of career stages and professional disciplines (half were general practitioners). One-third of participants practised in regional SA. Participants reported that the ECHO sessions met their learning needs (average = 99% across the series), were relevant to practice (average = 99% across the series), enabled them to learn about the multidisciplinary and biopsychosocial approach to pain care (average = 97% across the series) and provided positive mentorship (average = 96% across the series). Key learnings for participants were the importance of validating the patient experience and incorporating psychological and social approaches into pain care. More than one-third of participants (average = 42% across the series) identified barriers to applying the learnings such as limited time during a consultation and difficulty in forming a multidisciplinary team. Conclusions The ECHO Network model was found to be an acceptable and effective interdisciplinary education model for upskilling primary care providers in best practice pain care aligned to a patient-centred, biopsychosocial approach to pain managment. However, participants perceived barriers to translating this knowledge into practice at the clinical, service and system levels.

Ethical Considerations in Substance Use Treatment for Youth: Assessing Clinical Practices and Policy Frameworks for Potential Harm.

The current conceptual review highlights considerations surrounding the potential for non-beneficence and undue coercion within the practices of psychologists and other clinicians providing substance use treatment for youth. The potential for nonbeneficence and undue coercion is assessed at three key stages of treatment for youth with substance use disorders (SUDs): the informed consent process, maintaining confidentiality, and treatment planning. We explore these concerns as they relate to the ethical principles of psychologists as outlined by the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association [APA], 2017), as well as pertinent state and national legislative guidelines. The paper culminates in actionable recommendations to resolve these inconsistencies in practice and emphasizes opportunities for professionals at all career stages to engage in ethical policy initiatives. These endeavors aim to reduce potential for undue coercion and nonbeneficence from psychologists treating youth with substance use disorders and to elucidate beneficial treatment pathways for youth navigating substance use challenges.

Progressive Palaeontology 2024 conference report.

The 20th instalment of the Progressive Palaeontology conference was held from 17th-20th of June 2024 at the University of Bristol, UK. Progressive Palaeontology gives postgraduate students experience of presenting at a conference to an audience of their peers, and the opportunity to form networks with researchers at their career stage. The conference was organised on behalf of the Palaeontological Association by Hady George, Thomas Farrell, James R. G. Rawson, Isaura Aguilar-Pedrayes, Benton Walters and Kirsten E. Flett, all of whom are postgraduate students in the Bristol Palaeobiology group. The meeting was a great success, featuring a high standard of research presentations on a wide range of topics, and inclusive and educational events hosted throughout the conference.

Survey of common deep brain stimulation programming practices by experts in Parkinson's Disease.

Identify consensus and variability in deep brain stimulation (DBS) programming practices for Parkinson's disease. DBS programming relies on the personal experience and skills of programmers. Despite consensus statements, there aren't official guidelines for DBS programming, making it likely for protocols to vary among providers. We administered an online survey to the Functional Neurosurgery Working Group of the Parkinson's Study Group to capture those actively programming DBS patients. We performed descriptive statistics and comparisons of responses based on career stage: early (0-10years) versus later (>10years). Boston Scientific (n=15/31, 48%) and Medtronic (n=14/35, 40%) are the two DBS systems ranked as most used, with less reported frequency of Abbott devices (n=4/32, 12.5). Traditional monopolar review ranked as the most common initial programming strategy by 23/29 (79%) respondents, regardless of the device type implanted. Monopolar omnidirectional testing was the most often used approach for contact configuration at initial programming (24/33, 73%).For treating dyskinesia, tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, speech-related side effects, non-motor adverse effects, or swallowing-related side effects, the most likely optimization strategy selected was to modify amplitude of the active contact. When treating freezing of gait, there was a divergence between first modifying amplitude (n=11/29, 38%) or frequency (n=12/33, 36%). Initial programming practices generally align with published recommendations, which can reassure less experienced clinicians in practices with near consensus and allow them to devote more time to areas with wider variety of practice. Our data also highlights aspects of DBS programming with less consensus, demonstrating the need for future evidence.

How do Australian veterinarians perceive professional conduct in their profession?

ObjectiveProfessional skills required for meeting standards of veterinary professional conduct demanded by the public, colleagues and the community are recognised as being equally important to the technical skills required of a veterinarian. To reflect current standards in the profession, this project describes how Australian veterinarians perceive aspects of veterinary professional conduct.MethodsUsing an anonymous survey, opinions of Australian veterinarians were sought on perceptions of importance of professional conduct criteria derived from the eight standards listed in the Australian Veterinary Association's Code of Professional Conduct. Participants rated the importance of 15 statements on a six‐point Likert scale. Univariable analysis of 98 completed responses was conducted where impacts of age, gender, career stage and the industry on the dependent variable (response to each statement) were evaluated using ordinary logistic regression analysis in R studio where odd ratios (ORs) were determined, and significance was at P < 0.05.ResultsThe statement revealing the highest mean score with respect to perceived importance was ‘that veterinarians hold the health, welfare and respectful treatment of animals as a key concern’. Results indicated high levels of consensus with nine of 15 statements revealing no significant differences based on age, gender, career stage, and for all statements no significant difference based on nature of work. Six statements demonstrating significant differences were based on either gender, age or career stage.ConclusionsThis study provides insights into how Australian veterinarians perceive professional conduct. Results provide an aid for future study development and contribute to the discussion of veterinary professionalism.

The Emergence and Effects of Sponsors for Women Leaders

ABSTRACTSponsoring activities are crucial for women leaders' career advancement. We explore who the sponsors of women are, the nature of their sponsoring activities, and how these activities have influenced women careers' advancement. Based on semi‐structured interviews with women leaders in France and Spain, we show the importance of combined assistive and appreciative support in sponsoring activities by superiors and by informal networks inside and outside the organization for women leaders in their early‐ and mid‐careers. We show that women in leadership positions are predominantly sponsored by men, which differs from existing literature that advocates for homophilous propensities and the establishment of same‐sex sponsoring relationships. We argue for a more structured approach to offering challenging assignments to women at every stage of their careers, and to move toward a constellation of sponsors both within and outside the organization, who can offer diverse sponsoring opportunities to women leaders at various career stages.

Pathfinder: A Semantic Framework for Literature Review and Knowledge Discovery in Astronomy

The exponential growth of astronomical literature poses significant challenges for researchers navigating and synthesizing general insights or even domain-specific knowledge. We present pathfinder, a machine learning framework designed to enable literature review and knowledge discovery in astronomy, focusing on semantic searching with natural language instead of syntactic searches with keywords. Utilizing state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs) and a corpus of 385,166 peer-reviewed papers from the Astrophysics Data System, pathfinder offers an innovative approach to scientific inquiry and literature exploration. Our framework couples advanced retrieval techniques with LLM-based synthesis to search astronomical literature by semantic context as a complement to currently existing methods that use keywords or citation graphs. It addresses complexities of jargon, named entities, and temporal aspects through time-based and citation-based weighting schemes. We demonstrate the tool’s versatility through case studies, showcasing its application in various research scenarios. The system’s performance is evaluated using custom benchmarks, including single-paper and multipaper tasks. Beyond literature review, pathfinder offers unique capabilities for reformatting answers in ways that are accessible to various audiences (e.g., in a different language or as simplified text), visualizing research landscapes, and tracking the impact of observatories and methodologies. This tool represents a significant advancement in applying artificial intelligence to astronomical research, aiding researchers at all career stages in navigating modern astronomy literature.

Securing Meaningfulness in Corporate Social Responsibility: Exploring meaning-making mechanisms via economies of worth

The current literature on meaningful work has attempted to capture the dynamic interplay between individuals’ subjective perception of the meaningfulness of their work and the broader societal and cultural context, employing tensional and temporal approaches. Yet, understanding of how individuals develop their justifications for the worthiness of their work by transcending subjective and social accounts of meaningful work remains limited. To enrich the justification approach to individuals’ tensional and dynamic experiences of meaningful work, we rely on the economies of worth (EW) framework to explore how individuals engage in meaning-making within their work when its worthiness is challenged. Focusing on the experiences and meaning-making of 46 practitioners working in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) field in Vietnam, we identified three meaning-making mechanisms (prospective deferring, localizing and diverging) enacted in three morally challenging situations experienced by CSR practitioners (self vs belonging, self vs societal perceptions, and self vs external stakeholders’ changing interests). The study makes three contributions: (1) it enriches the meaning-making literature by advancing a justification approach via the EW framework; (2) it clarifies the micro-dynamics of compromise-building mechanisms at different career stages within organizational studies of the EW framework; and (3) it expands micro-CSR research by unpacking the relational tensions and meaning-making experiences of CSR practitioners.

How to assess the impact of fellowships on academic careers? Latent transition analyses for funding programmes of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

AbstractAlthough fellowship programmes continue to be seen as an effective means of advancing young researchers' academic careers, the impact of fellowship programmes on fellows' career development is still unclear. The central question of this article concerns the evaluation of fellowship programmes: What methodological challenges does the evaluation of fellowship programmes pose with regard to career development, and how these can be addressed in the context of evaluations? Specifically, there are three key methodological challenges facing research evaluation in the context of career development, which can be described by the terms 'impact', 'validity and fairness', and 'tailored programmes'. A career is understood as a transition between positions over time; career stages can be understood as latent categorical variables, i.e. types of career stages (temporary, full-time). Transition is modelled statistically using latent transition analyses within a person-centred approach. Covariates, such as funding programmes, can impact both the initial configurations (i.e. the frequency of fellows in different career stages) and the transition itself. A funding programme is fair if all fellows, regardless of their characteristics (gender, career stage, cohort), have the same chances of success. Different types of fellows with different career trajectories indicate heterogeneous subpopulations that require tailoring of funding programmes. The approach is illustrated with data on the career development of 1418 fellows from three Alexander von Humboldt Foundation programmes. The majority of fellows benefit in their academic careers from the funding, but the null hypothesis of no specific effects (e.g. programmes, age, gender) could not be rejected (endogenous and homogeneous trajectories).

Unpacking the gender wage gap in the U.S.: The impact of rural employment, age, and occupation

AbstractThis paper examines three dimensions influencing the gender wage gap: rural employment, type of occupation, and workers' career stage. The findings suggest that (1) rural workplaces are associated with lower wages; (2) women face a higher wage penalty than men in rural, low‐paying jobs; (3) wage determinants differ between low‐ and high‐paying jobs, leading to variable impacts on the gender wage gap; (4) gender wage gaps are significantly narrower for early‐career workers than for older workers; and (5) even minor annual wage disparities contribute to significant wealth gaps by the end of the working life.

Statistical Physics and Random Surfaces

This conference featured a diverse group of participants, from various career stages, to study problems in several hot topics that have grown increasingly prominent and interrelated in recent years. These included the following: (1) random surface models (Liouville quantum gravity, random planar maps, etc.) (2) random curve models (Schramm–Loewner evolution, conformal loop ensembles, etc.) (3) gauge theory models (various forms of lattice Yang–Mills, other approximations) (4) spin models and height functions (including delocalization problems) (5) dimer models (two and higher dimensions versions) (6) conformal field theory (Liouville theory, other theories related to SLE) The conference enabled participants to communicate about the most recent break-throughs and lay the groundwork for further collaborative progress.

A Network Analysis of Emotional Intelligence in Chinese Preschool Teachers

Emotional intelligence significantly influences various aspects of teachers’ professional and personal lives, notably affecting preschoolers’ social skills and emotional development during formative years. This study utilizes a network analysis approach to explore the complex relationships among four components of emotional intelligence: emotional labor, emotional regulation, professional well-being, and professional identity. Participants included 2069 frontline Chinese teachers (34 males, 2035 females; M = 28.64, SD = 5.98; M years of teaching = 6.88, SD = 5.29) with no leadership roles, categorized into three stages of their careers based on years of teaching experience: novice (0–3 years; n = 612), advanced beginners (4–6 years; n = 537), and competent (7–40 years; n = 920). Findings revealed that joy of teaching, role value, and professional value were identified as the most critical elements within the emotional state network of early childhood education teachers. The strongest connections in teachers’ emotional networks were found between school connectedness and joy of teaching (r = 0.474), surface acting behavior and natural acting behavior (r = 0.419), and professional value and professional behavior (r = 0.372). Furthermore, teachers across different career stages exhibited similar characteristics and intrinsic connections among emotional state components. These findings deepen our understanding of the emotional state networks of ECE teachers, highlighting shared features and interconnected mechanisms, and suggest that enhancing teachers’ emotional intelligence through targeted professional development can improve both teacher well-being and preschoolers’ social–emotional outcomes. Policies that foster strong school connectedness and reduce emotional labor are key to promoting sustained joy in teaching, particularly for novice and advanced beginner teachers.

Navigating Queer Narratives: Student Teachers’ Perspectives on LGBT+ Picture Books

ABSTRACT This study employs a queer theoretical framework to explore three student teachers’ interpretations and perceptions of two LGBT+ picture books, including their considerations on integrating these texts into classroom pedagogy. The participants are nearing completion of their initial teacher training at a university in the northern part of England. The picture books that are the focus of the study were purposefully selected owing to their exploration of varied queer themes. Discussion is anchored in metaphor of picture books functioning as either “window” or “mirror,” depending on children’s individual experiences or identities, therefore necessitating acknowledgment of children’s potential future queerness. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the study uncovers multifaceted perspectives. Participants respond positively to both texts and express interest in incorporating these into their teaching practices. However, they additionally demonstrate awareness of potential limitations and complexities, including negative reactions from stakeholders and promoting heteronormativity. Uncertainty is expressed around navigating these issues within existing curriculum and policy frameworks. The study concludes by advocating for enhanced exploration of these difficulties in initial teacher training and early career stages, if aiming to adequately support these emerging educators in effectively promoting LGBT+ inclusivity in their future classrooms.

Trend in areas of practice of family physicians by career stage in Ontario, Canada from 2018 to 2022

Trend in areas of practice of family physicians by career stage in Ontario, Canada from 2018 to 2022

Asian American Representation in Medicine by Career Stage and Residency Specialty.

Asian American individuals are not underrepresented in medicine; however, aggregation in prior workforce analyses may mask underlying disparities. To assess representation by Asian race and disaggregated subgroups in the US allopathic medical school workforce. This cross-sectional study used Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) special reports, generated using the AAMC Applicant-Matriculant Data File, Student Records System, Graduate Medical Education Track Survey, and faculty roster. Participants included medical school applicants, matriculants, graduates, residents, and faculty enrolled or employed at US allopathic medical schools between 2013 and 2021. Data were analyzed between March and May 2024. Asian race or ethnic subgroup as per AAMC and US Census Bureau Office of Management and Budget criteria, including Bangladeshi American, Cambodian American, Chinese American, Filipino American, Indian American, Indonesian American, Japanese American, Korean American, Pakistani American, Taiwanese American, and Vietnamese American. Representation quotients (RQ) were used to indicate representation that was equivalent (RQ of 1), higher (RQ greater than 1), or lower (RQ less than 1) than expected representation based on US population estimates. One-way analysis of variance and linear regression models assessed mean RQ differences by career stage and over time, with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. In this study, Asian American individuals accounted for 94 934 of 385 775 applicants (23%), 39 849 of 158 468 matriculants (24%), 37 579 of 152 453 graduates (24%), 229 899 of 1 035 512 residents (22%), and 297 413 of 1 351 187 faculty members (26%). The mean (SD) RQ was significantly greater among Asian American residents (3.44 [0.15]) and faculty (3.54 [0.03]) compared with Asian applicants (3.3 [0.04]), matriculants (3.37 [0.03]), or graduates (3.31 [0.06]). Upon disaggregation, RQ was significantly lower among residents and faculty in 10 of 12 subgroups. Although subgroups, such as Taiwanese American, Indian American, and Chinese American, had RQs greater than 1 (eg, Chinese American graduates: mean [SD], RQ, 3.90 [0.21]), the RQs were less than 1 for Laotian, Cambodian, and Filipino American subgroups (eg, Filipino American graduates: mean [SD], RQ, 0.93 [0.06]) at almost every career stage. No significant RQ changes were observed over time for Laotian American and Cambodian American trainees, with a resident RQ of 0 in 8 of 25 and 4 of 25 specialties, respectively. Faculty RQ increased in 9 of 12 subgroups, but Cambodian American, Filipino American, Indonesian American, Laotian American, and Vietnamese American faculty (eg, Vietnamese American faculty: mean [SD], RQ, 0.59 [0.08]) had RQs less than 1. In this cross-sectional study of Asian representation in US allopathic medical schools, Laotian American, Cambodian American, and Filipino American individuals were underrepresented at each stage of the physician workforce pathway. Efforts to promote diversity in medicine should account for these disparities to avoid perpetuating inequities.

Revisiting a Faculty Career Management Life Cycle Model: Anticipating and Navigating Career Transitions in Academic Medicine

Career management models are valuable tools for faculty pursuing a career in academic medicine. These models help faculty transition through various stages of their careers, including commonly pursued academic advancements from assistant professor to full professor, as well as less common transitions like moving from full-time to part-time status, taking sabbaticals, going on medical leave, or assuming executive leadership roles. The success of faculty members across these stages is influenced by both environmental factors and individual-level characteristics. Recognizing career stages and transitions, as well as the impact of personal and environmental factors on career growth, is crucial. The proposed Faculty Career Self-Management Model (FCSM) provides a visual and descriptive framework to guide individual faculty and the professionals who support them in understanding, preparing for, and navigating career stages and professional transitions to build and sustain meaningful careers in academic medicine. The FCSM serves as a framework to explore, develop, and share best practices in supporting faculty vitality across the career lifespan.

Biomedical research grant resubmission: rates and factors related to success – a scoping review

ObjectivesMost first-time biomedical research grant applications are not funded. In the challenging research funding climate, resubmitting a grant application is a necessary task for scientists. Identifying which factors influence their...

Physician-scientists’ perspectives on key factors, emotions and feelings about selecting and attending continuous professional development events: a mixed-method study

BackgroundAlmost 40% of the Nobel-Prize-winning discoveries in medicine are made by physician-scientists, who are a driving force in the evolving medical, academic and research landscape. However, their training has few defined milestones. To be effective clinicians, educators and researchers, they need to maintain and hone skills, often via continuous professional development (CPD) activities covering different domains. They have recurrently been described as an endangered species. Yet, warnings and recommendations across several decades did not stop the declining number of physician-scientists, which is now a chronic issue. This is further exacerbated by a lack of resources and support, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe administered a questionnaire called Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-GEN) to get an initial emotional snapshot before performing individual semi-structured interviews with five physician-scientists in neurology working in the United Kingdom. We explored the key factors they balance before selecting CPD activities, along with their views on compulsory CPD events and assessments. We investigated their general feelings towards compulsory and non-compulsory CPD, how they felt the night before and the morning of the events, and the perceived consequences attending these have on their learning.ResultsIn our study, physician-scientists tend to choose training in their area of expertise but would enjoy exploring more if they had more time. The CPD choice was chiefly driven by speakers and topics, followed by learning needs. They disputed the utility of the current assessments, which are often seen as box-ticking exercises. While frustration, hostility and negative feelings were voiced for the compulsory ones, other CPD activities were welcomed with excitement, curiosity and a sense of adventure. Enthusiasm and excitement were felt the night before and the morning of the non-compulsory ones. CPD events were perceived to positively affect further learning, with the most immediate consequences being reading an article, networking or interacting with the speakers.DiscussionThis is the first study exploring the key factors driving a group of physician-scientists while selecting CPD activities and investigating their feelings and emotions related to CPD attendance. More engaging and less box-ticking CPD should be on the cards, along with an adequate evaluation of these activities. It is essential to increase enthusiasm, which can facilitate engagement, and decrease frustration surrounding compulsory CPD activities. We still know too little about the role of emotions in learning, especially about CPD. Future studies should investigate the emotional side of learning across different career stages to restore the leaky pipeline and create a tailored environment with benefits for each of the three sides of the physician-scientist’s identity: the clinical, the research, and the academic.

Trends in the practice environment of Chinese healthcare professionals from 2008 to 2023: an age period cohort analysis

BackgroundHealthcare practice environment plays a vital role in evaluation and the development of health sector in China. However, there are few comprehensive reviews and studies focusing on its state and changing trends. This study aimed to examine the dynamic trends in Chinese healthcare professionals’ perceptions of their practice environment from 2008 to 2023 using age period cohort (APC) analysis.MethodsFour national cross-sectional surveys of healthcare professionals were conducted in 2008, 2013, 2018, and 2023. APC analysis was performed to distinguish effects of age, period and cohort. Covariates like gender, department, job satisfaction, and doctor–patient relationships were also analyzed.ResultsBetween 2008 and 2023, healthcare professionals' perceptions of their practice environment first declined and then improved. Those aged 28–38 during 2013–2018 and born between 1978 and 1988 had the most negative perceptions. After 2018, perceptions improved, peaking in 2023. Those under 23 and over 43 exhibited larger age effects. Birth cohorts after 1993 also had more positive effects. Controlling for covariates attenuated APC effects. Females, those in obstetrics and emergency medicine, nurses, technicians, and administrators perceived better environments. Higher job satisfaction and doctor–patient relationship harmony are also associated with more positive perceptions. Income matching efforts and perceptions of promotion fairness had positive impacts, while increasing severity of physical fatigue and psychological anxiety negatively influenced perceptions of the practice environment.ConclusionsThe APC analysis provided nuanced insights into evolving practitioner perceptions amid healthcare reforms in China. Tailored policies focused on career stage and generation are needed to address disruptions and sustain improvements. Monitoring feedback on reforms and changes is essential for optimizing the practice environment over time.

Psychological explanations for analysts' herding behavior: A study on the impact of information cascades and reputational concerns

This study investigates the influence of information cascades and reputational concerns on analysts' herding behavior in financial markets. Using a mixed-methods approach combining archival data analysis and surveys of 5,237 financial analysts covering S&P 500 companies from 2014 to 2023, we examine the interplay between these psychological factors. Our findings reveal that both information cascades and reputational concerns significantly impact herding behavior, with a notable synergistic effect when combined. Structural equation modeling demonstrates that information cascade strength positively correlates with herding behavior (β = 0.43, p < .001), partially mediated by perceived market consensus. Reputational concerns also show a strong positive association with herding (β = 0.51, p < .001), moderated by career stage. Importantly, the interaction between information cascades and reputational concerns (β = 0.24, p < .001) suggests that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual impacts. This effect varies across analyst characteristics and market conditions, with stronger influences observed in small-cap stocks and high-volatility periods. Time-series analysis reveals dynamic fluctuations in these effects over time, responding to significant market events. These results contribute to the theoretical understanding of financial market behavior by integrating social influence and career concern perspectives, offering insights for both scholars and practitioners in an increasingly complex market landscape.