The manager and continuing education

Continuing education in health care organizations consists of that which is required by law or regulation and that which is optional. The required is done because it must be done; the other, including most management development and some staff education, is often ignored. Nonrequired education is one of the first items to go during budget-cutting exercises. Yet continuing education at all levels, for managers as well as nonmanagers, is essential in keeping health care workers abreast of rapid change. Much continuing education, even that for rank-and-file staff, is up to the department manager, and with few exceptions, the pursuit of continuing management development is left largely to the individual manager. The department manager is an educator of staff and is also largely responsible for self-development.

Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) on education in health and medical informatics

The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) agreed on international recommendations in health informatics / medical informatics education. These should help to establish courses, course tracks or even complete programs in this field, to further develop existing educational activities in the various nations and to support international initiatives concerning education in health and medical informatics (HMI), particularly international activities in educating HMI specialists and the sharing of courseware. The IMIA recommendations centre on educational needs for health care professionals to acquire knowledge and skills in information processing and information and communication technology. The educational needs are described as a three-dimensional framework. The dimensions are: 1) professionals in health care (physicians, nurses, HMI professionals, ...), 2) type of specialisation in health and medical informatics (IT users, HMI specialists) and 3) stage of career progression (bachelor, master, ...). Learning outcomes are defined in terms of knowledge and practical skills for health care professionals in their role (a) as IT user and (b) as HMI specialist. Recommendations are given for courses/course tracks in HMI as part of educational programs in medicine, nursing, health care management, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, health record administration, and informatics/computer science as well as for dedicated programs in HMI (with bachelor, master or doctor degree). To support education in HMI, IMIA offers to award a certificate for high quality HMI education and supports information exchange on programs and courses in HMI through a WWW server of its Working Group on Health and Medical Informatics Education (http://www.imia.org/wg1).

Academic standards, credit transfers and associated issues

Various policies govern the way academic standards are managed and maintained. This includes organisational and program accreditation. Who decides what makes a program acceptable from a discipline and educational perspective? Should IMIA be developing accreditation guidelines for external program accreditation? Also the extent to which individual students are able to gain recognition for study undertaken elsewhere and thus reduce the length of the degree program undertaken varies by higher education provider. For example CQU provides credits based on study undertaken at the same level and where the content is similar as well as in line with overall program learning objectives for up to 50% of the total requirements. Internationally there are a number of governmental and not for profit private organisation providing an infrastructure to assist with the identification of legitimate educational certificates/degrees obtained overseas. In addition overseas skills recognition is undertaken by each University. This chapter examines these from a number of different international perspectives.

Low attendance by basic science educators at medical education meetings

BACKGROUND

Recently, concern has been expressed about the perception that few basic science educators (BSE) attend national and regional medical education meetings.

PURPOSE

This study was designed to analyze the issues affecting BSE decisions about whether to attend medical education meetings.

METHOD

An online survey was created and submitted to basic science course directors at the 128 U.S. allopathic medical schools.

RESULTS

Responses from 486 BSE suggest that because of the pressure to obtain research funding and achieve academic promotion, participation in medical education meetings is not a high priority with most BSE.

CONCLUSIONS

BSE attendance at medical education meetings can be improved, but it will require joint efforts by the BSE home institution and medical education organizations.

The importance of setting and evaluating standards of telemedicine training

The importance of appropriate training in the use of videoconferencing equipment for clinical purposes is often underestimated when telemedicine projects are established. We developed a user training programme which was delivered via videoconferencing to a group of 130 nurses. Training was delivered on a one-to-one basis. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate user satisfaction and the effectiveness of training. One hundred and two fully completed questionnaires were returned (a 79% response rate). High levels of satisfaction were obtained but the level of user competence reached 100% only when training was supported by a training manual and at least weekly practice. Before establishing a telemedicine service, the following steps appear to be important: identify the required training competencies; deliver a 'hands on' training programme based on the required training competencies; back up the training programme with an instruction booklet; ensure that trainees have at least weekly practice; measure the level of user competence.

Ethics education after licensing: ideas for increasing diversity in content and process

Continuing professional education in ethics for psychologists is becoming more common, as psychology licensing boards in 14 states now require continuing education in ethics as a condition of licensure renewal. This article suggests ways to improve the quality of ethics continuing education by diversifying the content and teaching methods.

Tele-education in child mental health for rural allied health workers

We developed a tele-education programme in child mental health for rural allied health workers. The programme was delivered in two parts, each consisting of six sessions. Videoconferencing at 384 kbit/s was used. Satisfactory retention rates were maintained throughout. Participants consistently reported increases in knowledge and skills as a result of attending the programme. The project resulted in a high rate of reported changes to practice. An unanticipated outcome was the value placed on the opportunities for local networking provided by the project for participants. Videoconferencing can deliver effective professional development to allied health workers in child mental health.

Educational preparedness of veterinarians for foreign animal diseases

Veterinary medical education in FADs has been and will continue to be critically important if veterinarians are expected to fulfill the profession's primary obligations to society--those of protecting our animals' health, conserving our animal resources, and promoting public health. It is imperative that curricula and instruction in veterinary schools and colleges provide the depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding necessary to prepare all veterinarians, including those in private practice, for their key role in defending against FADs. Development and implementation of governmental and military programs to diagnose, prevent, control, and eradicate FADs will require a dedicated cadre of public sector veterinarians who have a solid educational foundation in FADs and understand the contemporary issues and global challenges we face. Animal-related industries, associations, and organizations will increasingly rely on well-educated veterinarians to help guide them in ways that will protect animals, clientele, consumers, and trading partners from effects of FADs. Agencies and organizations concerned with conservation of animal resources will require veterinary expertise necessary to prevent FADs in a multitude of animal species, including marine animals, wildlife, endangered species, zoologic specimens, and important genetic lines as well as our domestic companion and livestock species. Species affected by FADs also include human beings for those disease agents with zoonotic potential; thus, veterinary education also plays a key role in public health.

Examining ethics in practice: health service professionals' evaluations of in-hospital ethics seminars

This article reviews practitioners' evaluations of in-hospital ethics seminars. A qualitative study included 11 innovative in-hospital ethics seminars, preceded and followed by interviews with most participants. The settings were obstetric, neonatal and haematology units in a teaching hospital and a district general hospital in England. Fifty-six health service staff in obstetric, neonatal, haematology, and related community and management services participated; 12 attended two seminars, giving a total of 68 attendances and 59 follow-up evaluation interviews. The 11 seminars facilitated by an ethicist addressed the key local concerns of staff about the social and ethical consequences of advances in genetics and their impact on professional policies and practice. Seminar agendas were drawn from prior interviews with 70 staff members. During evaluation interviews, participants commented on general aspects that they had enjoyed, how the sessions could be improved, timing, the mix of participants, the quality of the facilitation, whether sessions should be more challenging, after-effects of sessions, and interest in attending seminars and contacting the ethicist in future. Participants valued the increased interprofessional understanding and coherent discussion of many pressing issues that addressed important though seldom discussed ethical questions. The seminars worked well in the different hospitals and specialties.

National survey of clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral fellows

The present study was designed to survey postdoctoral fellows in clinical neuropsychology about their perceptions of a variety of training standards and recommendations. Survey packets were mailed to the 78 training directors listed in Cripe's (1998) most recent listing of postdoctoral training programs at the time of survey. A response rate of 44% was achieved. Results were notable in that most fellows had been trained in clinical psychology, and mostly in Ph.D. programs. Approximately half had been trained and/or supervised by diplomates in clinical neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. Continuing education was judged by respondents to be an insufficient substitute for formal training. Most respondents completed internships and postdoctoral residencies in a hospital setting, with greater than 50% of their time devoted to clinical neuropsychology.

Evaluation of the health services management training course of Jiangsu, China

Health service management education programs emerged in the early 1980s in China as a result of changing demands on health service managers created by new directions in health policy. This paper reports on an evaluation of the Jiangsu-Victoria Health Management Training Program and discusses five of the main findings. Participants in the study believed that the Program has impacted positively on the health management practice of Jiangsu Province, and has made a significant contribution to health services management education in China. However, certain areas in teaching practice need to be improved and participants in the study provided suggestions to achieve this. The study also found that there were limitations to the impact of managerial education due to administrative and environmental factors.