Changing the Face of Veterinary Medicine: Research and Clinical Developments at AAVMC Institutions

This paper provides a 50-year overview of research and clinical advances in AAVMC member colleges in four representative fields of veterinary medicine: oncology, vaccine development, production medicine, and public health. Though emphasis is on the progress since the mid-1960s, the salient background and associated personnel in each field are also identified to the extent that their description informs more recent events. Advances in board certification and post-graduate clinical and research educational opportunities are also described.

Moral Reasoning among HEC Members: An Empirical Evaluation of the Relationship of Theory and Practice in Clinical Ethics Consultation

In light of the ongoing development and implementation of core competencies in bioethics, it is important to proceed with a clear sense of how bioethics knowledge is utilized in the functioning of hospital ethics committees (HECs). Without such an understanding, we risk building a costly edifice on a foundation that is ambiguous at best. This article examines the empirical relationship between traditional paradigms of bioethics theory and actual decision making by HEC members using survey data from HEC members. The assumption underlying the standardization of qualifications and corresponding call for increased education of HEC members is that they will base imminent case decisions on inculcated knowledge. Our data suggest, however, that HEC members first decide intuitively and then look for justification, thereby highlighting the need to re-examine the pedagogical processes of ethics education in the process of standardizing and improving competencies.

Nothing to lose: why early career scientists make ideal entrepreneurs

An entrepreneurial movement within science strives to invert the classical trajectory of academic research careers by positioning trainees at the apex of burgeoning industries. Young scientists today have nothing to lose and everything to gain by pursuing this 'third road', and academic institutes and established companies only stand to benefit from supporting this emerging movement of discovery research with economic purpose.

Health management education: current alternatives

The past several decades have witnessed a significant increase in the number of graduate programs in health management, either on campus or online. The alternative for a health professional to attending a graduate program on campus is to receive an MBA or MHA degree online. The current cost ranges from $13,600 to $78,000, with the more expensive online programs tied to graduate programs that are accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education and provide the names and qualifications of their faculty. The for-profit online programs have not been forthcoming to this author concerning their health management faculty or their curriculum. For the individual desiring more health management education who is unable to enroll, for family or financial reasons, in an on-campus program, the top-tier online programs seem like a worthwhile but is a relatively expensive option.

Bridging the Gap: establishing the necessary infrastructure and knowledge for teaching and research in neuroscience in Africa

Advances in neuroscience research over the last few decades have increased our understanding of how individual neurons acquire their specific properties and assemble into complex circuits, and how these circuits are affected in disease. One of the important motives driving neuroscience research is the development of new scientific techniques and interdisciplinary cooperation. Compared to developed countries, many countries on the African continent are confronted with poor facilities, lack of funding or career development programs for neuroscientists, all of which deter young scientists from taking up neuroscience as a career choice. This article highlights some steps that are being taken to promote neuroscience education and research in Africa.

Doctoral dental hygiene education: insights from a review of nursing literature and program websites

Because dental hygiene education has had a similar trajectory as nursing education, this critical review addressed the question "What can the dental hygiene discipline learn from the nursing experience in their development of doctoral education?" Information on admission and degree requirements, modes of instruction, and program length and cost was collected from the websites associated with 112 of 125 PhD nursing programs nationally, and 174 of 184 Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. In addition, searches of PubMed, Cumulative Index Nursing Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and the Web of Science were utilized to identify key articles and books. The following 4 insights relevant to future dental hygiene doctoral education emerged from a review of nursing doctoral education: First, nursing doctoral education offers 2 main doctoral degrees, the research-focused PhD degree and the practice-focused DNP degree. Second, there is a well-documented need for doctoral prepared nurses to teach in nursing programs at all levels in managing client-care settings. Third, curricula quality and consistency is a priority in nursing education. Fourth, there are numerous templates on nursing doctoral education available. The historical background of nursing doctoral education was also reviewed, with the assumption that it can be used to inform the dental hygiene discipline when establishing doctoral dental hygiene education. The authors recommend that with the current changes toward medically and socially compromised patient populations, impending changes in health care policies and the available critical mass of master degree-prepared dental hygiene scholars ready to advance the discipline, now is the time for the dental hygiene discipline to establish doctoral education.

Doctoral programs in health professions education

The interest to pursue doctoral degrees in the health professions is increasing exponentially. Some reasons for this increase include innovations in curriculum and instructional strategies, competency-based assessment, particularly at the postgraduate level, and accreditation requirements. Through various electronic search methods, interviews, review of documents and site visits, 24 structured doctoral programs were identified worldwide that offer a PhD in health professions education (HPE) or medical education. A number of other programs were also identified that do not follow a structured curriculum; however, through supervision and guidance, candidates could complete a number of publishable projects thus meeting the requirements for a doctorate degree. Also, some institutions train fellows for doctoral degrees in HPE without necessarily advertising or labeling the programs as a PhD in medical or HPE. There are also discipline-specific PhDs, such as medicine and dentistry, which focus on education. For example, a student interested in studying surgical technical skills could be directed to take a PhD in kinesiology. It is time for institutions and individuals to start thinking about disciplinary diversity and not focus exclusively on studies of medical education.

The rise of the biomedical sciences master's program at U.S. medical colleges

BACKGROUND

U.S. medical colleges commonly administer both M.D. and Ph.D. programs, but the value and application of these degrees are being challenged by economic developments.

SUMMARY

In medicine, the country faces a long-term period of cost cutting and new models for efficient healthcare delivery. In research, the outlook for the independently creative career is bleak, owing to the failure of the National Institutes of Health to engineer a sustainable program of scientists' training and subsequent funding of the trained scientists' research. However, an educational bright spot for medical colleges has been the biomedical science master's program.

CONCLUSIONS

These programs have been highly popular with students and have the potential of reinvigorating the pool of student researchers, educating professionals in allied fields who are competent advocates for biomedical research, and providing professionals who can enter the healthcare delivery system with reduced expense, for example, as genetic or personalized medicine counselors.

Outcomes from a postgraduate biomedical technology innovation training program: the first 12 years of Stanford Biodesign

The Stanford Biodesign Program began in 2001 with a mission of helping to train leaders in biomedical technology innovation. A key feature of the program is a full-time postgraduate fellowship where multidisciplinary teams undergo a process of sourcing clinical needs, inventing solutions and planning for implementation of a business strategy. The program places a priority on needs identification, a formal process of selecting, researching and characterizing needs before beginning the process of inventing. Fellows and students from the program have gone on to careers that emphasize technology innovation across industry and academia. Biodesign trainees have started 26 companies within the program that have raised over $200 million and led to the creation of over 500 new jobs. More importantly, although most of these technologies are still at a very early stage, several projects have received regulatory approval and so far more than 150,000 patients have been treated by technologies invented by our trainees. This paper reviews the initial outcomes of the program and discusses lessons learned and future directions in terms of training priorities.

Growing pains in the desert

A 3-year-old graduate research university in Saudi Arabia is finding that it will take more than money to create a global research powerhouse.

Laryngeal support device enhances the learning of laryngeal anatomy and voice physiology

Multidisciplinary cooperation in health care requires a solid knowledge in the basic sciences for a common ground of communication. In speech pathology, these fundamentals improve the accuracy of descriptive diagnoses and support the development of new therapeutic techniques and strategies. The aim of this study is to briefly discuss the benefits of hands-on education on laryngeal anatomy and voice physiology in Brazilian graduate programs in speech pathology, as well as to describe a simple prototype that can be used as a useful educational tool for this purpose. The laryngeal anatomic support device was designed to provide a vertical frame to hold human or mammalian larynges with no preservation treatment, with the goal of allowing good visualization of the vocal folds during artificial phonation. The device was designed to provide the user the ability to manipulate the soft and cartilaginous structures of the larynx with near-natural biomechanical properties. The description of the project is detailed to allow the reproduction of this simple and inexpensive device. It may be used as an experimental feature in a variety of settings, from high-school programs to experimental research methods, and may suit a wide array of different educational models.

A matter of degrees: the introduction of clinical doctorates to the Saudi higher education system and a comparative prospective from the American model

Recent unprecedented growth in Saudi population challenged its infrastructure and intensified demand for higher education and healthcare. In response, both the government and the private sector founded numerous colleges and universities, increasing the overall number from 8 to 49 institutions of higher education. A significant portion of the expansion has been in the health professions higher education, which also included the establishment of new teaching hospitals and other medical training facilities. As part of this growth, practice (clinical) doctorates have conspicuously made their presence felt in Saudi Arabia. The doctor of pharmacy is the first clinical doctorate that has been formally adopted as the terminal professional degree in the field. Others are in the works. Results are presented using descriptive methods. Data were collected from reviews of the literature and individual institutional websites of Saudi colleges, universities and salient governmental regulatory and national accrediting agencies. This article will introduce clinical doctorates, their status and state of implementation in the American health professions higher education system as a possible model. The article will review the current status of clinical doctorates' implementation in Saudi Arabia. It will conclude with a recommendation for concerned stake holders, including policy makers, educators, and practitioners.

Wanted: interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and knowledge translation and exchange training for students of public health

Students vocalized their concern with public health training programs in Canada at the 2010 CPHA Centennial Conference. Given these concerns, we reviewed the objectives and curricula of public health graduate (master's) programs in Canada. Our objective was to understand to what extent public and population health graduate programs in Canada support interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) training. This was achieved through a review of all public and population health master's programs in Canada identified from the public health graduate programs listed on the Public Health Agency of Canada website (n = 33) plus an additional four programs that were not originally captured on the list. Of the 37 programs reviewed, 28 (76%) stated that interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary or cross-disciplinary training opportunities are of value to their program, with 12 programs (32%) providing multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary training opportunities in their curriculum. Only 14 (38%) of the 37 programs provided value statements of KTE activities in their program goals or course objectives, with 10 (27%) programs offering KTE training in their curriculum. This review provides a glimpse into how public health programs in Canada value and support interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaboration as well as KTE activities.

Projected growth in pharmacy education and research, 2010 to 2015

OBJECTIVES

To determine projected growth in pharmacy education and research from 2010 to 2015 and to relate findings to external and internal factors.

METHODS

An e-mail survey instrument was sent to all US pharmacy deans, and responses were used to estimate growth in the number of first-professional-degree doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) graduates, residents/fellows, graduate students, faculty members, graduate research faculty members, and postdoctoral fellows. Results were related to the national economy, trends in faculty vacancies, growth trends in other health professions, pharmacist roles, and healthcare reform.

RESULTS

Five-year growth projections were: 58% increase in the number of residents/fellows, 23% in postdoctoral fellows, 21% in entry-level PharmD graduates, 19% in graduate/research faculty members, 17% in graduate students, and 13% in total pharmacy faculty members. Residencies/fellowships showed the highest projected growth rates (58%). Graduate education and research data suggest a growing research enterprise. Faculty vacancy trends were downward and this suggests better faculty availability in coming years.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial growth is expected from 2010 to 2015 in all areas of pharmacy education. External factors and how well the profession is able to demonstrate its contribution to resolving healthcare problems may influence the actual growth rates achieved.

[Education of medical technology and graduate school in Japan]

Now the education of medical technologists has reached the fourth turning point. The first turning point was the start of the two year education in 1958 and the second was the start of the three year education of medical Technologists in 1971 and the third was the start of the full-fledged university education in 2004 and, this time, the fourth turning point is the start of graduate school education of medical technology. From this situation, for education of graduate school, mind education that polishes personality practically is may be demanded, Therefore, human resource development with not only knowledge and technique as medical technologists but also with humanly nurtured sentiment is expected in the future.