Transfer Of Medical Knowledge Research Articles

Treating with minerals in the Middle Ages: the rare substance mūmiyā' (pitch-asphalt) and its medicinal uses in Byzantium.

Premodern medicine used a variety of mineral substances for therapeutic purposes. The present article deals with pitch-asphalt, and, in particular, a precious kind of it called mūmiyā' originating in Persia. It was first described in detail in the Arabic pharmacological tradition, and its fame spread throughout the medieval Mediterranean, including Byzantium. By editing and examining for the first time a previously unexplored medieval Greek text on mūmiyā', this study offers new insights into the medicinal uses of this substance. It also significantly increases our understanding of the intense cross-cultural transfer of medical knowledge from the Islamicate world to Byzantium by showing that this was not merely based on the translation of a few Arabic medical works into Greek, but was a multifaceted phenomenon involving a complex nexus of sources that require further investigation.

Medical Profile Model: Scientific and Practical Applications in Healthcare.

The paper researches the problem of representation learning for electronic health records. We present the patient histories as temporal sequences of diseases for which embeddings are learned in an unsupervised setup with a transformer-based neural network model. Additionally the embedding space includes demographic parameters which allow the creation of generalized patient profiles and successful transfer of medical knowledge to other domains. The training of such a medical profile model has been performed on a dataset of more than one million patients. Detailed model analysis and its comparison with the state-of-the-art method show its clear advantage in the diagnosis prediction task. Further, we show two applications based on the developed profile model. First, a novel Harbinger Disease Discovery method allowing to reveal disease associated hypotheses and potentially are beneficial in the design of epidemiological studies. Second, the patient embeddings extracted from the profile model applied to the insurance scoring task allow significant improvement in the performance metrics.

Health Care Trainees' and Professionals' Perceptions of ChatGPT in Improving Medical Knowledge Training: Rapid Survey Study.

ChatGPT is a powerful pretrained large language model. It has both demonstrated potential and raised concerns related to knowledge translation and knowledge transfer. To apply and improve knowledge transfer in the real world, it is essential to assess the perceptions and acceptance of the users of ChatGPT-assisted training. We aimed to investigate the perceptions of health care trainees and professionals on ChatGPT-assisted training, using biomedical informatics as an example. We used purposeful sampling to include all health care undergraduate trainees and graduate professionals (n=195) from January to May 2023 in the School of Public Health at the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan. Subjects were asked to watch a 2-minute video introducing 5 scenarios about ChatGPT-assisted training in biomedical informatics and then answer a self-designed online (web- and mobile-based) questionnaire according to the Kirkpatrick model. The survey responses were used to develop 4 constructs: "perceived knowledge acquisition," "perceived training motivation," "perceived training satisfaction," and "perceived training effectiveness." The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate and test the structural model and hypotheses. The online questionnaire response rate was 152 of 195 (78%); 88 of 152 participants (58%) were undergraduate trainees and 90 of 152 participants (59%) were women. The ages ranged from 18 to 53 years (mean 23.3, SD 6.0 years). There was no statistical difference in perceptions of training evaluation between men and women. Most participants were enthusiastic about the ChatGPT-assisted training, while the graduate professionals were more enthusiastic than undergraduate trainees. Nevertheless, some concerns were raised about potential cheating on training assessment. The average scores for knowledge acquisition, training motivation, training satisfaction, and training effectiveness were 3.84 (SD 0.80), 3.76 (SD 0.93), 3.75 (SD 0.87), and 3.72 (SD 0.91), respectively (Likert scale 1-5: strongly disagree to strongly agree). Knowledge acquisition had the highest score and training effectiveness the lowest. In the SEM results, training effectiveness was influenced predominantly by knowledge acquisition and partially met the hypotheses in the research framework. Knowledge acquisition had a direct effect on training effectiveness, training satisfaction, and training motivation, with β coefficients of .80, .87, and .97, respectively (all P<.001). Most health care trainees and professionals perceived ChatGPT-assisted training as an aid in knowledge transfer. However, to improve training effectiveness, it should be combined with empirical experts for proper guidance and dual interaction. In a future study, we recommend using a larger sample size for evaluation of internet-connected large language models in medical knowledge transfer.

Diabetes: A Transcultural History of a Disease Concept in the Late Qing and Republican China

In the past few years, the medical knowledge transfer in a West-East direction has attracted increased scholarly attention from European and American historians, whereas studies on such “knowledge travels” conducted in the East Asian context focus mainly on political and socio-cultural concepts. To provide an alternative perspective on the travel of Western medicine to Chinese soil, a case study on “diabetes” is conducted, under the theoretical framework of “transcultural conceptual history.” This article systematically analyzes the standardization, popularization, politicization, and derivatization of “diabetes,” calling for further attention to transcultural histories of medical concepts in modern China.

Coronary heart disease prediction method fusing domain-adaptive transfer learning with graph convolutional networks (GCN)

Graph convolutional networks (GCNs) have achieved impressive results in many medical scenarios involving graph node classification tasks. However, there are difficulties in transfer learning for graph representation learning and graph network models. Most GNNs work only in a single domain and cannot transfer the learned knowledge to other domains. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a high-mortality disease, and there are non-public and significant differences in CHD datasets for current research, which makes it difficult to perform unified transfer learning. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel adversarial domain-adaptive multichannel graph convolutional network (DAMGCN) that can perform graph transfer learning on cross-domain tasks to achieve cross-domain medical knowledge transfer on different CHD datasets. First, we use a two-channel GCN model for feature aggregation using local consistency and global consistency. Then, a uniform node representation is generated for different graphs using an attention mechanism. Finally, we provide a domain adversarial module to decrease the discrepancies between the source and target domain classifiers and optimize the three loss functions in order to accomplish source and target domain knowledge transfer. The experimental findings demonstrate that our model performs best on three CHD datasets, and its performance is greatly enhanced by graph transfer learning.

Cross-cultural Transfer of Medical Knowledge in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Introduction and Dissemination of Sugar-based Potions from the Islamic World to Byzantium.

This article aims to challenge the traditional narrative about the progression of medical knowledge from Arabic to Latin by including the role of the Byzantine world in that process. It examines critically the steady diffusion of Arabic medical knowledge throughout Byzantium by focusing on the introduction and dissemination of sugar-based potions. By studying for the first time a substantial body of mostly unedited translations of Arabic medical texts into Greek and works by Byzantine medical authors, this article argues that Byzantine literature and culture were more lively than they are given credit for and that-by medieval standards-Byzantine authors were quite open to outside influence. Moreover, it emphasizes that the subsequent use of sugar in Byzantine daily medical practice constituted a significant investment in health, especially bearing in mind the high cost involved in the cultivation, production, and transportation of sugar. Finally, it points to the regular use of sugar in medical practice from the late eleventh/early twelfth century onward, at least, in Constantinople, which suggests constant importing of the commodity, despite the fact that the first source confirming the trading of sugar in the Byzantine capital dates to the first half of the fourteenth century.

Investigating a Newly Developed Educational Orthopedic Application for Medical Interns in a Before-after Quasi-clinical Trial Study

BackgroundIn COVID 19 era, the literature on e-learning, or particularly m-learning, has considerably increased focusing on the subject of medical knowledge transfer. Considering the importance of orthopedic knowledge for general practitioners and the inadequacy of the orthopedics internship duration in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS), we have developed and investigated a smartphone orthopedic educational application named “Orthobox”.MethodsIn a quasi-clinical before-after trial study, we investigated the benefits of Orthobox application for medical interns attending MUMS orthopedic departments. A total of 120 students (64 and 56 students in control and case groups respectively) were recruited. The application consists of five main parts of medication, common order samples, common prescriptions, cast and splint types, and educational movies. Students who passed the course without getting access to the application (control group) and students who were also using application during the course (case group) were defined, and comparison was done between them objectively through final exam score comparison and subjectively through Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) questionnaire score comparison. Besides, using case group students’ activity report provided by the application panel, correlational analysis was done on their amount of activity on each of the main parts of the application and the corresponding question exam and VAS score separately.ResultsThe case group of the study generally achieved higher final exam scores, mainly on Order question score (P value<0.001). Total VAS scores were also greater in case group (P value =0.001). It has also been identified that there is a notable positive trend between student’s amount of usage of the application and their final exam scores through correlational analysis. This correlation was not significant about students’ application visit numbers and VAS scores.ConclusionThese results suggest that m-learning has got the potential to improve students’ medical knowledge and skills by organizing must-to-learn content specified for intern students of orthopedics on one hand, and cause more satisfaction in students about their education on the other hand.Trial registrationThis study was not registered because it is a quasi-clinical trial study.Level of evidenceLevel III (Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization (i.e. quasi-experimental).

International Medical Knowledge Transfer as a Tool of Public Diplomacy

The international dissemination of expertise in most transition countries is underdeveloped because of a number of developmental and practical challenges. Croatia’s overall educational and innovatory potential for health knowledge transfer remains above average when compared to what has been achieved by other new EU Member States, and it is dominated by public sector research institutes and universities. This unrealized potential could be improved further by enhancing the international dissemination of Croatian medical expertise using public diplomacy. The aim of this paper is to address the way in which the international dissemination of medical expertise in transition countries can serve as a tool of public diplomacy to improve its scope and success, in addition to advancing the scope of the knowledge transfer itself. The case of Croatia is used as an example. An effective communication strategy is an important element of public diplomacy that, by influencing public opinion, provides the necessary precondition for active societal support of the willing participants in the transfer of knowledge. Hence, at the beginning of this paper we present the concept of international knowledge transfer in general, and then proceed to present the example of the transfer of Croatian medical knowledge. The second part of this paper addresses elements of public diplomacy and different communication mechanisms and the potential for the international dissemination of domestic medical expertise, with the primary emphasis on Croatia. Finally, we present an overall analysis and an algorithm of public diplomacy activities that each country in transition can adopt to overcome failures associated with the international dissemination of medical expertise.

Counseling for Prenatal Congenital Heart Disease-Recommendations Based on Empirical Assessment of Counseling Success.

Objectives: Empirical assessment of parental needs and affecting factors for counseling success after prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD).Methods:Counseling success after fetal diagnosis of CHD was assessed by a validated standardized questionnaire. The dependent variable “Effective Counseling” was measured in five created analytical dimensions (1. “Transfer of Medical Knowledge—ToMK”; 2. “Trust in Medical Staff—TiMS”; 3. “Transparency Regarding the Treatment Process—TrtTP”; 4. “Coping Resources—CR”; 5. “Perceived Situational Control–PSC”). Analyses were conducted with regard to influencing factors and correlations.Results: Sixty-one individuals (n = 40 females, n = 21 males) were interviewed in a tertiary medical care center. Median gestational age at first parental counseling was 28 + 6 weeks. Parental counseling was performed four times (median), mostly by pediatric cardiologists (83.6%). Overall counseling was successful in 46.3%, satisfying in 51.9%, and unsuccessful in 1.9%. Analyses of the analytical dimensions show that counseling was less successful for TOMK (38.3%) and PSC (39%); success rates were higher if additional written information or links to web sources were provided (60 and 70%, respectively). Length of consultation was positively correlated to counseling success for ToMK (r = 0.458), TrtTP (r = 0.636), PSC (r = 0.341), and TiMS (r = 0.501). Interruptions were negatively correlated to the dimensions TiMS (r = −0.263), and TrtTP (r = −0.210). In the presence of high-risk CHD (37.5%) overall counseling success was lower (26.1%). By cross table analysis and to a low degree of positive correlation in one dimension (ToMK; r = 0.202), counseling tends to be less successful for ToMK, TrtTP, and TiMS if parents have not been counseled by cardiologists. Analyses regarding premises show a parental need for a separate counseling room, which significantly impacts ToMK (r = −0,390) and overall counseling success (r = −0.333). A language barrier was associated with lower success rates for ToMK, TiMS, and CR (21.4, 42.9, and 30.8%).Conclusions: Data from this multidisciplinary study indicate that parents after fetal diagnosis of CHD need uninterrupted counseling of adequate duration and quality in a separate counseling room. Providing additional written information or links to adequate web sources after initial counseling seems necessary. High-risk CHD needs more attention for counseling. There is a trend towards more counseling success if provided by cardiologists.

Objective Assessment of Counselling for Fetal Heart Defects: An Interdisciplinary Multicenter Study.

The objective of this study was to analyze parental counselling for fetal heart disease in an interdisciplinary and multicenter setting using a validated questionnaire covering medical, sociodemographic, and psychological aspects. n = 168 individuals were recruited from two pediatric heart centers and two obstetrics units. Overall, counselling was combined successful and satisfying in >99%; only 0.7% of parents were dissatisfied. “Perceived situational control” was impaired in 22.6%. Adequate duration of counselling leads to more overall counselling success (r = 0.368 ***), as well as providing written or online information (57.7% vs. 41.5%), which is also correlated to more “Transfer of Medical Knowledge” (r = 0.261 ***). Interruptions of consultation are negatively correlated to overall counselling success (r = −0.247 **) and to “Transparency regarding the Treatment Process” (r = −0.227 **). Lacking a separate counselling room is associated with lower counselling success for “Transfer of Medical Knowledge” (r = 0.210 ***). High-risk congenital heart disease (CHD) is correlated to lower counselling success (42.7% vs. 71.4% in low-risk CHD). A lack of parental language skills leads to less overall counselling success. There is a trend towards more counselling success for “Transfer of Medical Knowledge” after being counselled solely by cardiologists in one center (r = 0.208). Our results indicate that a structured approach may lead to more counselling success in selected dimensions. For complex cardiac malformations, counselling by cardiologists is essential. Parental “Perceived Situational Control” is often impaired, highlighting the need for further support throughout the pregnancy.

Dyskurs w domenie języka specjalistycznego medycznego – uwagi dla tłumaczy i dydaktyków przekładu

Medical discourse and its analysis remain problematic due to the multitude of related definitions and different approaches to the methodology of research. Additionally, ever-increasing proliferation of medical terms, various treatment modalities in accordance with the evidence-based medicine and a plethora of medical specialties may further complicate the process of communication and translation irrespective of the parties involved in these processes. Therefore highly effective translation and transfer of medical knowledge can be achieved provided that the parties involved in the process use the same code and wish to reach the common aim. The paper provides translators with theoretical and practical guidelines. It characterizes the language of medicine and discusses in detail the key aspects related to communication in translation, including collocations, precision, metonymy and metaphors in the domain of the specialized language. Bearing in mind the above, these issues should be included in the process of teaching medical translation and translators should always follow the maxim primum non nocere.

From AGnES to PA - medical assistant professions in Germany: Who still keeps the track?

Demographic change will lead to a serious shortage of doctors in the inpatient and outpatient sectors in the next years. To ensure that medical care is provided in the future, various models of medical assistant professions have been created in the past, both at state and federal level. Due to the diversity of these training courses, advanced training courses and study paths, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of fields of application, focal points of activities, etc. METHOD: An analysis of the currently existing models and professions of physician assistants was carried out. The models considered are VERAH, AgnESzwei, EVA, MoNi, MoPra, OTA/ATA, CTA, ANP and PA. VERAH, AgnESzwei, EVA, MoNi and MoPra carry out their activities in primary care. OTA/ATA, CTA, ANP and PA, on the other hand, are active in clinical inpatient care (PA also in outpatient care). All curricula show significant differences in entrance requirements, length of time and content. VERAH and AgnESzwei, EVA, MoNi and MoPra have the lowest entrance requirements and the shortest advanced training. VERAH and AgnESzwei focus on case management, while OTA/ATA or CTA training and ANP as well as PA studies focus on practical clinical use and the transfer of medical knowledge. While CTAs and OTAs/ATAs can work in the surgery field only and ANP mainly in the nursing field, PA can work both in the clinical and outpatient field. Due to the already existing doctors shortage, which will increase in the future, medical care can only be guaranteed by interprofessional team building. To this end, the professional associations and the associations of Statutory Health-Insurance physicians are called to develop appropriate models and remuneration.

Using mobile virtual reality to enhance medical comprehension and satisfaction in patients and their families.

Patients are typically debriefed by their healthcare provider after any medical procedure or surgery to discuss their findings and any next steps involving medication or treatment instructions. However, without any medical or scientific background knowledge, it can feel overwhelming and esoteric for a patient to listen to a physician describe a complex operation. Instead, providing patients with engaging visuals and a virtual reality (VR) simulation of their individual clinical findings could lead to more effective transfer of medical knowledge and comprehension of treatment information. A newly developed VR technology is described, called HealthVoyager, which is designed to help facilitate this knowledge transfer between physicians and patients. The platform represents a customizable, VR software system utilizing a smartphone or tablet computer to portray personalized surgical or procedural findings as well as representations of normal anatomy. The use of such technology for eliciting medical understanding and patient satisfaction can have many practical and clinical applications for a variety of disease states and patient populations.

Номенклатура в системе англоязычной медицинской терминографии

The article is devoted to the issues of LSP (language for specific purposes) lexicography in the field of medicine. Medical nomenclatures (MN), created in the framework of English medical terminography (EMT), are in the focus of the study as one of the first original reference works of EMT. The methodology of the study is comprehensive and includes the following methods: an analytical review of the literature, a bibliographic method for compiling a list of medical nomenclatures; a descriptive method of lexicographic analysis to characterize the parameters and structure of MN; the method of typological analysis was used to develop the principles of MN classification; the comparative analysis to summarize and conclude the results of the investigation. The use of historical and typological approach enabled to conduct a detailed analysis of extralinguistic and linguistic characteristics of the MN. A brief historical background on the formation and development of English medical reference works is given. Such MN as anatomical (Terminologia Anatomica), dental (Dental Terminology), embryological (Terminologia Embryologica) and histological (Terminologia Histologica) nomenclatures were under the study. A typological classification of MN is made by considering methods and approaches for the representation and explication of medical term. The following parameters as field of terms, method of term representing, type of definition, number of languages were studied. The main functions of the MN were identified and described, namely, the collection, the standardization, the systematization of medical terms and medical knowledge transfer. The results of the lexicographic analysis show that MN are factual reference works and perform almost all the basic functions of terminographic dictionary guides, with the exception of explicatory one, with a description of grammatical and orthoepic characteristics, codification of the polysemy of medical term and an illustration of its use in medical discourse. The comparative analysis of histological, dental and embryological nomenclatures revealed that they do not have significant differences at the level of mega- and microstructures in comparison with the anatomical ones. The studied nomenclatures were created using termographic tools and principles which were first applied for anatomical nomenclatures. The place and the role of MN, as a factual reference work, in the system of English medical terminography is determined. Perspective directions of the further research are outlined in the frame of the comprehensive study of terminological lexicography as a factor of the global scientific and technical space formation in the field of medicine.

Medicine in Practice: European Influences on the Ottoman Medical Habitat

This article considers the transfer of medical knowledge from Europe to the Ottoman empire and argues that what was significant in such transfer was medical practice rather than textual transfer, that the Ottomans were open to adopting medical knowledge from the non-Islamic world, the deciding factor being not the origin but the successful nature of the treatment, and that if there was a border which medical knowledge did not traverse, it was one created by everyday custom not by any Muslim/Christian divide or rejection of knowledge from outside.

Socialization, legitimation and the transfer of biomedical knowledge to low- and middle-income countries: analyzing the case of emergency medicine in India

BackgroundMedical specialization is a key feature of biomedicine, and is a growing, but weakly understood aspect of health systems in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including India. Emergency medicine is an example of a medical specialty that has been promoted in India by several high-income country stakeholders, including the Indian diaspora, through transnational and institutional partnerships. Despite the rapid evolution of emergency medicine in comparison to other specialties, this specialty has seen fragmentation in the stakeholder network and divergent training and policy objectives. Few empirical studies have examined the influence of stakeholders from high-income countries broadly, or of diasporas specifically, in transferring knowledge of medical specialization to LMICs. Using the concepts of socialization and legitimation, our goal is to examine the transfer of medical knowledge from high-income countries to LMICs through domestic, diasporic and foreign stakeholders, and the perceived impact of this knowledge on shaping health priorities in India.MethodsThis analysis was conducted as part of a broader study on the development of emergency medicine in India. We designed a qualitative case study focused on the early 1990s until 2015, analyzing data from in-depth interviewing (n = 87), document review (n = 248), and non-participant observation of conferences and meetings (n = 6).ResultsFrom the early 1990s, domestic stakeholders with exposure to emergency medicine in high-income countries began to establish Emergency Departments and initiate specialist training in the field. Their efforts were amplified by the active legitimation of emergency medicine by diasporic and foreign stakeholders, who formed transnational partnerships with domestic stakeholders and organized conferences, training programs and other activities to promote the field in India. However, despite a broad commitment to expanding specialist training, the network of domestic, diasporic and foreign stakeholders was highly fragmented, resulting in myriad unstandardized postgraduate training programs and duplicative policy agendas. Further, the focus in this time period was largely on training specialists, resulting in more emphasis on a medicalized, tertiary-level form of care.ConclusionsThis analysis reveals the complexities of the roles and dynamics of domestic, diasporic and foreign stakeholders in the evolution of emergency medicine in India. More research and critical analyses are required to explore the transfer of medical knowledge, such as other medical specialties, models of clinical care, and medical technologies, from high-income countries to India.

The Brighter Side of Medieval Christian-Jewish Polemical Encounters: Transfer of Medical Knowledge in the Midi (Twelfth-Fourteenth Centuries)

Abstract This paper argues that as a result of the competition over patients between Jewish and Christian doctors in the Midi (twelfth–fourteenth centuries) Jewish doctors were more prone than other Jewish intellectuals to acquaint themselves with Christian culture (and also to convert). In this respect, the massive Latin-into-Hebrew cultural transfer in medicine contrasts with the slight Latin-into-Hebrew cultural transfer in philosophy (until the end of the fourteenth century). Jewish doctors were able to keep up with Latin medicine, even at times of rapid change, often through Latin-into-Hebrew translations. To illustrate and sustain the general claims I look closely at a few figures: the anonymous Jewish doctor who called himself “Doeg the Edomite” and who, in the closing years of the twelfth century, translated into Hebrew 24 books of theoretical and practical medicine, mainly from the Salerno corpus; and Leon Joseph of Carcassonne, whose remarkable Preface to his translation of Gerard de Solo’s Pratica super nono Almansoris (1394) I analyze in detail as an eyewitness report of a participant observer. His trajectory is comparable to that of Moses ben Samuel of Roquemaure (Jean, or Juan, of Avignon).

Ear Disease Knowledge and Otoscopy Skills Transfer to Real Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

To determine which teaching method-otoscopy simulation (OS), web-based module (WM), or standard classroom instruction (SI)-produced greater translation of knowledge and otoscopy examination skills to real patients. In a prospective randomized controlled nonclinical trial, medical students were randomized to 1 of 3 interventional arms: (1) OS, (2) WM, or (3) SI. Students were assessed at baseline for diagnostic accuracy and otoscopy skills on 5 volunteer patients (total of 10 ears), followed by the intervention. Testing was repeated immediately after intervention on the same patients. Student reported confidence in diagnostic accuracy and otoscopy examination were also captured. Assessors were blinded to the intervention group, and whether students were pre- or post-intervention. Clinical Teaching Centre, Queen's University. Twenty-nine participants were initially randomized. Two students were unable to attend their specific intervention sessions and withdrew. Final group sizes were: OS-10, WM-9, SI-8. Five patients with external/middle ear pathologies were voluntarily recruited to participate as testing subjects. Baseline diagnostic accuracy and otoscopy clinical skills did not differ across the groups. Post-intervention, there were improvements in diagnostic accuracy from all groups: OS (127.78%, 2.30 ± 1.42, p = 0.0006), WM (76.40%, 1.44 ± 1.88, p = 0.0499), and SI (100.00%, 1.50 ± 1.20, p = 0.0093). For otoscopy skills, post-intervention improvements were noted from OS (77.00%, 3.85 ± 2.55, p < 0.0001) and SI (22.20%, 1.25 ± 1.20, p = 0.0011), with no significant improvement from WM (13.46%, 0.78 ± 1.92, p = 0.1050). Students across all groups reported significantly improved confidence in diagnostic accuracy (p < 0.0001) and otoscopy skill (p < 0.0001) after the intervention. All 3 teaching modalities showed an improvement in diagnostic accuracy immediately post-intervention. Otoscopy clinical skills were found to have increased only in OS and SI, with the OS group demonstrating the largest improvement. Simulation-based medical education in Otolaryngology may provide the greatest transfer of medical knowledge and technical skills when evaluated with real patients.

"You Can Learn Merely by Listening to the Way a Patient Walks through the Door": The Transmission of Sensory Medical Knowledge.

Examining the mechanisms of medical knowledge transfer, this article addresses the ways nonvisual senses are employed within medical training, asking about the role of sound, touch, and movement in transmitting knowledge of the body. Based on a 10-month ethnography in a medical massage training course for blind students, the article examines the ways sensory medical knowledge is transferred in this setting. I discuss the multisensory characteristics of medical knowledge transfer, and the dual process inherent in this sensory pedagogy, in which senses such as touch and hearing undergo medicalization and scientification, while medicine enters the realm of the sensorial. Contributing to emerging research of nonvisual senses in medical training, this case study allows rethinking larger processes of medical knowing, challenging the dominancy of vision as the means of scientific knowledge transmission, and exposing the multisensorial elements of medical perception, and learning in general.

Using Simulation for Global Health Preparation.

* Abbreviations: GH — : global health GHE — : global health education SUGAR — : Simulation Use for Global Away Rotations Participation in global health electives (GHE) by pediatric residents continues to grow. In 2013, more than half of residency programs in the United States offered international electives, and 1 in 15 residents participated in such an experience during that year.1 Pretravel preparation for these experiences has been established as a best practice and should include learning about diseases likely to be encountered, health and safety abroad, site-specific information, and strategies to address cultural differences.2 Unfortunately, of the 127 programs offering GHE in 2013, only two-thirds (66.1%) provided pretravel preparation.1 Increasingly, preparatory curricula are available ranging from online self-directed modules to standardized lectures with facilitator guides for faculty.3 Much of the focus is on medical knowledge including topics such as the management of tropical diseases. Although this knowledge is an integral part of pretravel preparation, in our experience, trainees note that the more common challenges they experience working in resource-limited settings involve emotional and ethical issues that emerge while abroad. As such, preparation that focuses solely on the acquisition of knowledge, but ignores the skills and attitudes needed to practice global child health, may be short-sighted.4 We wish to highlight the need for comprehensive preparation for GHE that goes beyond merely transfer of medical knowledge … Address correspondence to Michael B. Pitt, MD, Department of Pediatrics, M653, 2450 Riverside Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55454. E-mail: mbpitt{at}umn.edu