Training Topics Research Articles

Characteristics of workers working in the Forestry Research Institute

Çalışmada Türkiye’de faaliyet gösteren 12 Ormancılık Araştırma Enstitüsü Müdürlüğünde işçi kadrosunda bulunan personelin özellikleri araştırılmıştır. Veriler, Ormancılık Araştırma Enstitüsü Müdürlüklerinde işçi kadrosunda bulunan 92 personel tarafından 2020 yılı Ekim-Aralık aylarında doldurulan anket formlarına dayanmaktadır. Araştırma işçilerinin %34,6’sı arazide, %36,5’i ofiste, %17,3’ü laboratuvarda, %7,7’si hem ofis hem de arazide ve %3,9’u ise sera ve fidanlıkta görev yapmaktadır. İşçilerin ortalama yaşı 46,8 olup en küçüğü 28, en büyüğü 63 yaşındadır. İşçilerin %21,7’si ilkokul, %19,6’sı ortaokul, %31,5’i lise, %9,8’i ön lisans, %12’si lisans, %5,4’ü yüksek lisans ve doktora eğitimine sahiptir. Ortalama görev süresi 21,5 yıldır. İşçilerin %42,4’ünün yaptığı görev ile ilgili bir sertifikası veya eğitim belgesi bulunmaktadır. İşçilerin %68,5’i mevcut görevleri haricinde kendilerine ek görev verilmediğini belirtmiştir. İşçilerin görevlerine göre iş tanımlarının ayrı ayrı yapılması ve yeni başlayan işçi personel için ormancılık araştırma enstitülerinde farklı konularda eğitim planlanması gerektiği önerilmiştir.

School foodservice directors' national training practices

AbstractIn the United States, over 29 million students daily are consuming meals at school. This number continues to increase as more diverse meal options are presented and increased demand for meal assistance. Very young students (under the age of 5) are considered a high‐risk population for foodborne illness. Though numerous interventions have been implemented previously, several predominant food safety violations continue to persist. To better understand and improve targeted food safety trainings and interventions this study aimed to conduct a needs assessment of school foodservice directors' training programs and topics. A total of 1,250 electronic surveys were sent nationally to K‐12 school foodservice directors. Of that, 264 useable responses were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographics, as well as identified training methods and topics. Structural modeling was used to identify relatedness ratings between training methods. Approximately 67% of directors reported currently make less than 40% of the menu items from scratch. On‐the‐job training (94%) was the most frequent training method, while augmented reality and virtual reality were the least with 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Structural modeling identified two central nodes, on‐the‐job (six pairings) and lecture‐style (four pairings). All other modalities had one to three relationship pairings. For the majority (73%), the average length of training is less than 2 hr. The top two training topics school foodservice directors reported providing were: food safety (95.5% very likely/likely) and food production (94.3% very likely/likely). Study results provide insights into current training methods and topics provided by school foodservice directors at the time of the survey.

What are the “Disaster medicine” curriculum topics for public health medicine specialty training in Türkiye? A Delphi Study

ObjectivePublic health medicine specialists have unique roles in disaster risk management through prevention, preparedness, response and recovery for all kinds of disasters. A well structured and designed “disaster medicine training curriculum” would improve the efficacy and quality of playing these forementioned roles. In this study, it was aimed to determine the disaster medicine curriculum topics which should be addressed in public health medicine specialty education and training in Türkiye. MethodsAll faculty members from public health departments of medical faculties in Türkiye (238 experts) were invited to a three round Delphi study aiming to evaluate disaster medicine topics of the curriculum prepared by the International Society of Disaster Medicine (ISDM) as it is the most comprehensive curriculum ever developed. All items were rated by using a seven-point Likert scale in consecutive online questionnaires. The final consensus was determined at the end of the third round according to the consensus criteria. FindingsThe response rate for the first round was 37.8% (90 experts), with a dropout of 34.4% (59 experts) and 35.5% (38 experts) for the following rounds. For the “Medical Care” division, 35.3% of items were agreed to be included in the curriculum, while this rate was 93.2% for “Disaster Management” division, 100.0% for “Public Health” and “Education and Training in Disaster Medicine” divisions. Among all, 62.5% of items reached consensus to be included in the curriculum. ConclusionIn the end of three rounds, disaster medicine topics were evaluated with a public health perspective and the curriculum was enriched with original contributions from the experts. This agreed national curriculum for the major workforce of public health services in the country will strengthen the health workforce capacity for building disaster resilient communities and health services.

TRAINING IN ECONOMICS FOR ACQUIRING AND DEVELOPING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE COMPETENCES AT HIGHER SCHOOLS

The research focuses on some relevant aspects of training at higher schools for building digital competences which facilitate the effective application of modern digital tools for solving planned tasks and achieving objectives. The emphasis falls on the necessary competences for working with integrated resource planning systems (ERP). Special attention is paid to the acquisition and development of the so-called Business Intelligence (BI) competences at higher schools. At the beginning of the research, we have synthesized the necessary activities for quality training as the final objective is that the learners acquire a totality of knowledge, skills and experience for working and managing some heterogeneous in their nature processes, as well as some means and technologies required for the transformation of data into managerial information, whereas the data itself – into managerial decisions and action plans. The next stage consists of differentiation among the various types of skills – business skills, analytic skills and IT skills, as well as the specific aspects of their acquisition and development through the training at higher schools. The conclusion makes an assessment of the trends, respectively, the topics of training on specific tools for the solution of managerial tasks and the successful realization of strategic aims. We take into account the training in performing business analyses through dashboards and the work with key productivity indicators (KPI). Parallel to this, we have researched the degree of coverage of this matter in existing curricula and courses at higher schools in Central and Eastern Europe using the method of random sampling without replacement. The logic of carrying out the research corresponds to the principle that the training shall comply with the needs and requirements of the practice. The basis for determining the research sample is based on the subject matter of the research. We have encompassed enterprises of the private sector in countries from Central and Eastern Europe. The sample is limited to small, medium and large enterprises which actively use digital tools in making managerial decisions (respectively 16% / 65% / 19%) from the Czech Republic, Romania, Greece and Bulgaria using the method of random sampling without replacement. The methodology of the research secures its reliability by addressing the survey to a specific category of individuals, including the opinions of managers and employees on the digital competences of future specialists with a degree in Economics. The results are used to make a narrow selection of those areas in the content of specific courses which shall be updated and to point out those curricula which shall be updated in the medium term.

Remaining in the nursing profession depends on vocational training and continuing education: A cross-sectional study

Remaining in the nursing profession depends on vocational training and continuing education: A cross-sectional study Abstract. Background: The public discussion about nurses leaving the profession has shown increasing dynamics for years. Burdens on the caregivers, political and (vocational) educational policy mistakes and financial as well as structural framework conditions are given as reasons. However, little is known about the influence of the educational biography on remaining in the nursing profession. Aim: This study examines data on formal and alternative sources of education, the timing of educational measures and the changes of nurses' interests in education over time and thus focuses on the group of nursing staff remaining in the profession. Methods: Nurses with many years of experience in their profession were surveyed (N = 200). Results: The results show that 77.6% of long-term nurses have the minimum required school leaving certificate with average final grades. 65.3% of the nurses have attended specialized training and 74.5% vocational training, which was completed over the entire period of employment. The training topics and the sources of education change over the course of the working life. Conclusions: It turns out that the group of nursing staff who have remained in the profession for a long time is characterized by a high willingness to undertake vocational training, with and without relevance to remuneration.

Paediatric dentistry trainee views on training relating to the medically compromised child and oral medicine elements of specialty training curricula.

Paediatric dentists care for children who are medically compromised and with an orofacial disease; therefore, trainees need appropriate training in these areas. The prevalence of congenital and chronic diseases in children is increasing, and future specialists need an understanding of human health and disease and oral medicine. This study aimed to determine if current teaching and assessments were fulfilling these requirements. A survey distributed to the UK and Ireland specialty trainees asked their opinions on whether knowledge gained prior to entering training, and teaching and learning during training equipped them for future management of medically compromised children and those with oral medicine diagnoses. The response rate was 51% (26 trainees). Most were aware of curriculum elements for medically compromised children and oral medicine. The majority felt that knowledge and experience gained as undergraduates and early graduates was insufficient and recognised the need for these topics in speciality training. For medically compromised children, this learning was considered a good use of time by 96% of trainees, and 88% felt that this topic should be given more attention. For oral medicine, this learning was considered a good use of time by 96% of trainees, and 69% felt that this topic should have more attention. Paediatric dentistry specialty trainees recognise that knowledge and experience of managing patients considered medically compromised and those with oral medicine conditions are an important part of training and need greater emphasis, especially in light of changing demographics with congenital and acquired chronic disease, and children with oral medicine disorders.

Evidence-based health interventions for the educational sector: Application and lessons learned from developing European food hygiene and safety teaching resources

BackgroundFoodborne illnesses have a significant global burden and can be life-threatening, but good food hygiene practice can prevent most. SafeConsume is an EU-funded, transdisciplinary project aiming to improve consumers’ food safety behaviour and reduce the burden of foodborne illness. Young people are at risk of foodborne illness and research indicates a lack of knowledge or concern about food hygiene. Educational settings provide an opportunity to influence behaviour; but for resources to be effective and implementable, they should be evidence-based and thoughtfully designed. AimTo develop educational resources to teach food hygiene and food safety to school children aged 11–18 years old, through a user-based approach, specific to the educational setting. MethodsDevelopment used a two-step process referred to as: the insight phase; and prototyping and refinement phase. This included using the findings of a needs assessment with students and educators based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) presented in earlier publications (Eley et al., 2021; Syeda et al., 2021). A user-centred approach to development was then taken, employing an iterative process of idea generation, consultation with a multidisciplinary steering group, and user testing. ResultsThe insight phase identified students' and educators’ deficiencies in knowledge and skills, and cultural and social influences on food safety behaviours. This phase, including Curriculum analysis informed student learning objectives and educator training topics. Following a round of development and consultation, a total of seven teaching resources were developed, with four educator training modules to improve knowledge and confidence of educators. ConclusionsBehavioural theory is a useful foundation for the development of school-based health interventions, which aim to positively influence students' knowledge, behaviour, and attitudes. To support educators’ uptake, materials should be aligned to the national curriculum and should consider practical factors like time and environmental factors. By working closely with stakeholders at all stages of development, barriers to use, implementation and efficacy can be identified and mitigated.

Factors related to university teaching that influence academic success of international medical students in China

Background: Academic success of international medical students enrolled in Chinese universities is of great significance, because it directly influences their performance in the license exam and in obtaining a job. Insufficient research has been conducted on academics’ awareness of factors related to teaching that affect their students’ academic success. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with academics (N=36) from November 2020 to January 2021 at two medical universities in China. Each interview, lasting between 30 to 70-min, was audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The important teaching factors that academics perceived to influence the success of students are: (i) style of pedagogy, (ii) addressing students’ language difficulties and differences, (iii) teaching resources management, (iv) attributes of the academics, (v) supervision and guidance by the academics, (vi) rapport between the academic and student, (vii) linking teaching content to license exams, (viii) classroom discipline management, and (ix) assessment style. Conclusions: University faculties and departments that are involved in teaching international medical students need to ensure that academic staff are provided with ongoing professional development and resources to enhance teaching quality. The nine areas identified above should provide priority topics for such staff training.

Evaluating the compatibility between Indonesian language teachers’ competence, their needs, and in-service training’s effectiveness

BIPA’s growth is observable from APPBIPA’s expansion, teachers dispatch to various countries, and the soaring number of host institutions. The growth, which leads to the escalating number of teachers, needs to be met with elevated competence, whereas the mushrooming in-service training requires critical evaluation to ensure impactful results. This research examines the compatibility between teacher’s standard of competence, what they need to attain it, and the effectiveness of training programs in bridging those two. While generally satisfied with the training topics, methods, content, and trainer, the participants still deemed those aspects to be not fully compatible with their needs, nor to be fully effective in achieving the competence standard. Considering its importance, in-service BIPA teacher training not just exist but lack of/without meaningful impacts. Finally, the writers expect the results of this study to inform more effective BIPA training programs in the future.Keywords: competence, teachers training, in-service, evaluation, effectiveness

Faculty readiness for online teaching at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University during the COVID-19 crisis: a cross-sectional study

Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the education sector around the world. In order to control the spread of the virus, eLearning practice has been introduced in Saudi higher education. Such online communication has become an important tool to narrow the teaching practice gap. This study assessed the characteristics of eLearning and distance learning and the inclination of Imam Abdulrahman BinFaisal University (IAU) faculty members in terms of skills, and managing classes and tests using online learning tools. Methods: A QuestionPro questionnaire with 22 questions on eLearning experience, training experience, and skills and knowledge in the educational process of IAU teaching faculty was conducted through the online university e-mail domain. The questionnaire was sent to the IAU’s teaching faculty. The questionnaire’s reliability was studied using Cronbach’s a coefficient. The criterion value was statistically studied using the KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) and Bartlett’s test. The variables associated with the present survey model were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: The study showed positive responses and readiness (skills and abilities) and the effectiveness of IAU’s faculty members to perform e-learning activities during COVID-19. IAU faculty received a strong positive response, and the respondents were also impressed with and agreed on trainer knowledge, session management, communication and expertise on training topics. Conclusions: The positive response indicates the readiness of IAU to provide the necessary support (tools, information and updates) required for a successful online educational process.

Depicting Teachers’ Views on Global Competence Training

This study refers to the scientific field of global education and competence and comes to investigate teachers' views on global competence training. This survey was conducted in June 2022, whereas the quantitative methodology was followed for the collection of the data. A random sampling technique was used, and the sample consisted of 350 teachers who worked in primary and secondary school units in the region of Western Greece during 2021-2022. Research findings show that teachers recognize the necessity and importance of training on global competence and most of them have attended one or more courses mostly during their undergraduate or postgraduate studies or during their participation in training programs. They also regard University as the most appropriate training actor, and they are in favor of optional training programs of mixed type and of monthly duration. Regarding training topics, they proposed interculturalism, diversity, current events, religion, history, immigrants, environment, geography, human rights and culture. Finally, participants’ aspects do not seem to be affected by variables such as gender and years of service. On the contrary, level of education and ICT knowledge, additional studies, and employment relationship seem to affect the answers of the participants.

Enhancing primary Care: development of a Training for primary care nurses in heart failure Education

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): King Baudouin Foundation Belgium Background, Self-care in Heart Failure (HF) is important to prevent rehospitalisation and to improve Quality of Life (QoL).1, 2 Therefore, it is necessary that HF-patients receive continuous education and self-care support, both in the hospital as at home.3 In Belgium, multidisciplinary (Mdisc-) HF-programmes are not yet broadly implemented, nor does a national HF-DMP exists. Specialist HF-nurses are not readily available and GPs report that they do not have time for patient education . 4,5 GPs identified trained primary care nurses (PCN) as their preferred partner to take on patient education and self-care support.5 However, currently, these nurses are not trained to take on this role.5 Purpose To develop an evidence-based HF-educator training for primary care nurses. Methods The training was developed in 10 consecutive steps: Step 1, a working group with representatives of Belgian HF-cardiologists, HF-nurses, PCN and the nursing department of a university of applied sciences was established. Step 2, in preparation of this working group, M., a PCN and primary care HF-nurse, reviewed the curriculum of the specialist HF-nurse training to identify the (non-) relevant topics for PCN training. She presented her findings during working group 1 in which we decided to consult the primary health care professionals. Step 3, one group interview with PCN, one interview with a GP and a diabetes educator took place. A short interview guide was developed. The main conclusions were that PCN have limited awareness for HF, it should be a short in time training, psychosocial aspects are very important, PCN should be able to detect signs and symptoms of HF, a basic module on HF must be included. Step 4, presentation of these results to the working group. Step 5, development of an organisational framework Step 6, a subgroup consisting of one specialist HF-nurse, one HF-educator- and HF-nurse in primary care developed a programme based on the results of the interviews, the HFA-curriculum and the organisational framework. Step 7, this programme was presented to and approved by the working group Step 8, representatives of the university of applied sciences will implement the programme as part of their life-long learning programme. Step 9 and 10: pilot and evaluation. Results The PCN HF-educator education will take 20h in 3 consecutive weeks. Participants will receive a theoretical introduction in HF followed by intensive practical training on patient-education, self-care and psychosocial support. In March 2022 the first pilot will take place. Conclusions Continuous education is important to support patients in their self-care and self-management. Therefore, it is necessary to train and support primary health care professionals in order to prepare them for this tasks. We presented a co-creative methodology to develop and implement a training for health care professionals.

Nurses' experiences of providing transcultural nursing care to minority patients in Yunnan province: A descriptive qualitative study.

Cultural competency is essential for providing transcultural nursing care. This qualitative study explores nurses' experiences of providing transcultural nursing care to patients from ethnic minority in Yunnan province, China, with the aim of supplementing and enriching previous quantitative research. Yunnan is home to 25 ethnic minorities with the highest proportion (33.1%) of people from ethnic minorities in China. A descriptive qualitative method was used to describe the experiences of 12 nurses. Data were collected in October 2020 through semistructured interviews and analyzed using conventional content analysis methods. Three themes were generated, including limitations of resources to provide transcultural nursing care, challenges in providing transcultural nursing care, and concerns about the quality of nursing care. The results suggest that there is scope for improving cultural competence of nurses in Yunnan through education that would enable them to provide high-quality transcultural nursing care. Training topics could include transcultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity, minority languages, and immersive multicultural experiences. Other suggested improvements include a resource room for transcultural care, the accommodation of religious and dietary needs, and dedicated staff who lead transcultural care in hospitals.

Investigating Wellness and Burnout Initiatives for Anesthesiology Resident Physicians: Time for Evidence-Based Investigation and Implementation.

Resident physician burnout and well-being are increasingly important and salient topics in medical training. Unfortunately, limited research exists regarding the efficacy of various burnout and wellness interventions for resident physicians. Better characterization of the causes of burnout and the components of well-being must necessarily precede implementation and evaluation of interventions. The authors advocate for an increased role for technology in implementing and studying wellness programming for resident physicians. In addition, they describe an intervention under development at the University of Colorado School of Medicine that uses a "Gratitude Journal" smartphone app to support trainee wellness.

Substance use workforce training needs during intersecting epidemics: an analysis of events offered by a regional training center from 2017 to 2020

BackgroundIntersecting opioid overdose, COVID-19, and systemic racism epidemics have brought unprecedented challenges to the addiction treatment and recovery workforce. From 2017 to 2020, the New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) collected data in real-time on the training and technical assistance (TA) requested and attended by the front-line workforce. This article synthesizes practice-based evidence on the types of TA requests, topics of TA, attendance numbers, and socio-demographics of TA attendees over a 3-year period spanning an unprecedented public health syndemic.MethodsWe assessed TA events hosted by the New England ATTC using SAMHSA’s Performance Accountability and Reporting System post-event survey data from 2017 to 2020. Events were coded by common themes to identify the most frequently requested training types/topics and most frequently attended training events. We also evaluated change in training topics and attendee demographics over the three-year timeline.ResultsA total of 258 ATTC events reaching 10,143 participants were analyzed. The number of TA events and attendance numbers surged in the 2019–2020 fiscal year as TA events shifted to fully virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic. The absolute number of opioid-related events increased, but the relative proportion remained stable over time. The relative proportions of events and attendance rates focused on evidence-based practice and health equity both increased over the 3-year period, with the largest increase after the onset of the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. As events shifted to virtual, events were attended by providers with a broader range of educational backgrounds.ConclusionsResults of the current analysis indicate that the demand for TA increased during the pandemic, with a prioritization of TA focused on evidence-based practice and health equity. The practice-based evidence generated from the New England ATTC may help other training and TA centers to anticipate and nimbly respond to the needs of the workforce in the face of the intersecting epidemics.

LEARN: A multi-centre, cross-sectional evaluation of Urology teaching in UK medical schools.

To evaluate the status of UK undergraduate urology teaching against the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) Undergraduate Syllabus for Urology. Secondary objectives included evaluating the type and quantity of teaching provided, the reported performance rate of General Medical Council (GMC)-mandated urological procedures, and the proportion of undergraduates considering urology as a career. LEARN was a national multicentre cross-sectional study. Year 2 to Year 5 medical students and FY1 doctors were invited to complete a survey between 3rd October and 20th December 2020, retrospectively assessing the urology teaching received to date. Results are reported according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). 7,063/8,346 (84.6%) responses from all 39 UK medical schools were included; 1,127/7,063 (16.0%) were from Foundation Year (FY) 1 doctors, who reported that the most frequently taught topics in undergraduate training were on urinary tract infection (96.5%), acute kidney injury (95.9%) and haematuria (94.4%). The most infrequently taught topics were male urinary incontinence (59.4%), male infertility (52.4%) and erectile dysfunction (43.8%). Male and female catheterisation on patients as undergraduates was performed by 92.1% and 73.0% of FY1 doctors respectively, and 16.9% had considered a career in urology. Theory based teaching was mainly prevalent in the early years of medical school, with clinical skills teaching, and clinical placements in the later years of medical school. 20.1% of FY1 doctors reported no undergraduate clinical attachment in urology. LEARN is the largest ever evaluation of undergraduate urology teaching. In the UK, teaching seemed satisfactory as evaluated by the BAUS undergraduate syllabus. However, many students report having no clinical attachments in Urology and some newly qualified doctors report never having inserted a catheter, which is a GMC mandated requirement. We recommend a greater emphasis on undergraduate clinical exposure to urology and stricter adherence to GMC mandated procedures.

General and special education teachers’ knowledge about reading comprehension processes and instructional practices

The study investigated teachers’ knowledge of reading comprehension processes and reading comprehension instruction. The study was carried out among teachers (N = 65) in Estonia. The content analysis classified qualitative data from semi-structured interviews as quantitative data. The results showed that teachers’ content knowledge about reading comprehension processes and pedagogical knowledge of reading comprehension instruction were considerably variable yet mostly limited. Special education teachers (n = 37) mentioned a wider range of reading strategies than classroom teachers (n = 28). When describing how to support struggling readers, significant differences emerged between the teacher groups: Special education teachers mentioned activities to support students’ reading comprehension more frequently than classroom teachers whereas classroom teachers mentioned activities for supporting reading motivation more often than special education teachers. Teachers’ lack of knowledge about reading comprehension processes and reading comprehension instruction indicate the need to improve these topics in preservice and in-service teacher training to enhance their teaching skills.

Interest and need for continuing medical education in pediatric complementary and integrative medicine: a cross-sectional survey from Switzerland

BackgroundPediatric integrative medicine, combining conventional and complementary medical approaches for children and adolescents, is an integral part of the health care system in Switzerland. However, there is still a lack of complementary and integrative medicine topics in training and continuing educational programs. For the first time on a national level, the 2021 annual conference of the Swiss Society of Pediatrics was entirely dedicated to the topic of integrative medicine.MethodsUsing a cross-sectional online survey, this study investigated congress participants’ evaluation and feedback with the aim to assess whether the program had met their objectives and to get empirical data on their attitude, expectations and needs regarding pediatric complementary and integrative medicine. Descriptive methods were used to present the results.ResultsAmong 632 participants of the conference, 228 completed the evaluation form (response rate 36%). The overall feedback about the congress and the main theme of pediatric integrative medicine was clearly positive. The majority of respondents had achieved their educational objectives including complementary and integrative medicine issues. 82% were motivated to learn more about complementary and integrative medicine and 66% were stimulated to integrate complementary therapies into their professional practice.ConclusionThis study from Switzerland confirms the interest in integrative medicine among pediatricians and supports the need for pre- and postgraduate pediatric training on topics related to complementary and integrative medicine. Developing and adapting training and continuing medical education based on evaluations of participant feedback can promote professional development and improve patient care for the benefit of physicians and patients.

Current State of Fetal Heart Disease Counseling and Training: Room for Improvement? : Endorsed by the Fetal Heart Society.

We sought to describe the fellowship experiences and current practice habits of pediatric cardiologists who counsel patients with fetal heart disease (FHD) and to identify fellowship experiences related to FHD counseling perceived as valuable by respondents as well as opportunities for improvement. A cross-sectional survey of attending pediatric cardiologists who care for patients with FHD was performed. The respondents' demographics, fellowship experiences related to FHD counseling, reflections on fellowship training, and current practice habits were collected. The Fetal Heart Society endorsed this survey. There were 164 survey responses. 56% of respondents did not have 4th-year subspecialty training in fetal cardiology. Observing and performing FHD counseling were the most commonly used methods of training, with the highest perceived effectiveness. The number of counseling sessions observed and performed correlated moderately with confidence in FHD counseling skills at fellowship graduation. Extracardiac pathology and neurodevelopment were the least frequently addressed topics in fellowship training and in current practice. Fewer than 50% of respondents received formal education and feedback in counseling techniques during fellowship training. A significant proportion of practicing pediatric cardiologists provide FHD counseling with only standard categorical training. This highlights the potential importance of expanding FHD counseling education into categorical fellowship curricula. We suggest increasing opportunities for fellows to perform FHD counseling and receive feedback as this is a valued and beneficial experience during training. A formalized curriculum including extracardiac pathology and neurodevelopment and the use of evidence-based workshops in counseling techniques may address identified gaps in fellowship education.

Improving neural topic modeling via Sinkhorn divergence

Textual data have been a major form to convey internet users’ content. How to effectively and efficiently discover latent topics among them has essential theoretical and practical value. Recently, neural topic models(NTMs), especially Variational Auto-encoder-based NTMs, proved to be a successful approach for mining meaningful and interpretable topics. However, they usually suffer from two major issues:(1)Posterior collapse: KL divergence will rapidly reach zeros resulting in low-quality representation in latent distribution; (2)Unconstrained topic generative models: Topic generative models are always unconstrained, which potentially leads to discovering redundant topics. To address these issues, we propose Autoencoding Sinkhorn Topic Model based on Sinkhorn Auto-encoder(SAE) and Sinkhorn divergence. SAE utilizes Sinkhorn divergence rather than problematic KL divergence to optimize the difference between posterior and prior, which is free of posterior collapse. Then, to reduce topic redundancy, Sinkhorn Topic Diversity Regularization(STDR) is presented. STDR leverages the proposed Salient Topic Layer and Sinkhorn divergence for measuring distance between salient topic features and serves as a penalty term in loss function facilitating discovering diversified topics in training. Several experiments have been conducted on 2 popular datasets to verify our contribution. Experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.