Creativity: A viable and valuable competency in medicine? A qualitative exploratory study

The power of laughter: a study on humor and creativity in undergraduate nursing education in Egypt

BACKGROUND

Creativity in nursing education is crucial for developing practical problem-solving skills, and humor is a valuable tool for stress management and fostering a positive learning environment. This study explored the relationship between creativity and humor among nursing students.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 265 convenient undergraduate nursing students aged 20 to 25. The Short Scale of Creative Self (SSCS) and the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS) were used to measure creativity and various aspects of humor.

RESULTS

Showed a significant positive correlation between humor and creativity (r = 0.238, p < 0.001). Positive correlations were found between Humor Production, Coping or Adaptive Humor, and Appreciation of Humor with creativity (r = 0.254, 0.230, and 0.461, p < 0.001, respectively). In contrast, Attitudes Toward Humor and Humorous People were negatively correlated with creativity (r=-0.343, p < 0.05). Humor accounted for 16.2% of the variance in creativity.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded a strong link between humor and creativity, with positive correlations observed between creative self-efficacy and creative personal identity with different aspects of humor. The study recommends the incorporation of humor into nursing education and healthcare settings to encourage creative problem-solving and reduce burnout among students and staff.

Teaching the Future Radiologist: TED-Inspired Radiology Didactics

TED (acronym for technology, entertainment and design) conferences are an astonishingly successful modern-day platform for "ideas worth spreading". These continue to engage, enlighten and entertain an ever-expanding audience base. TED speakers highlight simple yet relevant ideas, often challenging entrenched perspectives and proposing hitherto unexplored solutions. In this perspective, the authors propose modeling some aspects of Radiology didactics along certain fundamental principles of TED and outline techniques to accomplish this. We overview how this shift can engage diverse learners and enhance retention of key information. We include evidence on such pedagogical techniques boosting learners' working memory and providing strategies for creative problem solving. Finally, we caution educators against criticisms of the TED format, including prioritizing style over content, "dumbing down" information to make it fit a prescribed format and sometimes offering insufficient scientific rigor.

Scientific creativity and innovation ability and its determinants among medical postgraduate students in Fujian province of China: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND

Graduate education is the main approach to training high-level innovative elites. With the expansion of the scale of graduate education in China, it has gradually emerged that the lack of innovation ability of graduate students is recognized as the primary problem in graduate education. How to comprehensively improve the quality of postgraduate teaching has become the core task of educational reform and development. However, data about the current cultivation and development of the innovative ability of graduate students in China is limited.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey was conducted among medical postgraduate students. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis methods were used to analyze the data to describe the current innovation ability in advanced medical education and potential influence factors.

RESULTS

A total of 1241 medical students were surveyed, according to the results of questionnaire data analysis. The proportion of subjects who participated in the College Student's Entrepreneurship and Innovation program or any other scientific research programs are fairly high which are 46.82% and 29.20% respectively. Most of the participants are observed with high levels of self-motivation and active learning and have good performance in creative thinking. However, only a small number of participants (16.6%) reported academic achievements such as publications. Most of the students are satisfied with the current scientific research environment and think that the current postgraduate training system is qualified for the cultivation of innovation ability, and expects the inclusion of course specialized in systemic medicine and medical informatics in the curricula. Multiple logistic regression results showed that among the factors studied, gender, medical specialties, and types of master's degrees are associated with cognition & skills, academic performance, and creativity.

CONCLUSIONS

It will be important to incorporate more techniques for creating and improving creativity in the curricula of the current postgraduate education, especially for courses such as systemic medicine and informatics. Guidance in earlier school life can stimulate creativity and an early introduction to scientific research work will facilitate innovative thinking and behavior. Scientific research programs such as the National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training for the universities of PRC have been widely implemented in the undergraduate education system throughout the country. However, the training effectiveness of the current scientific research programs is worth improving.

Direct and indirect effects of self-directed learning on creativity in healthcare undergraduates: a chain mediation model of openness to challenge and diversity and creative self-efficacy

Background

Creativity and self-directed learning (SDL) are prominent for undergraduate healthcare students to provide quality patient care in an increasingly complex healthcare environment. Research suggested that SDL is linked with creativity, yet the mechanism underlying the relationship between SDL and creativity has not been fully understood.

Objective

This study examined the relationship between SDL and creativity and constructed a chain mediation model to identify the mediating effect of openness to diversity and challenge (ODC) and creative self-efficacy (CSE).

Methods

Through convenience sampling, 575 healthcare undergraduates (average age = 19.28 years, SD = 1.124 years) were surveyed from Shandong Province in China. Creativity, SDL, ODC, and CSE were assessed using corresponding scales. Pearson's correlation analysis, hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis, a serial multiple mediation analysis, and bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap method were conducted by using structural equation modeling by AMOS 26.0.

Results

The direct path between SDL and creativity was significant. SDL can positively predict both ODC and CSE, and the latter two variables can significantly and positively predict creativity. ODC and CSE played a significant partial mediating role in the relationship between SDL and creativity. The mediating effect consists of three indirect effects: SDL → ODC → creativity (the mediating effect value is 0.193, p = 0.012), SDL → CSE → creativity (the mediating effect value is 0.096，p = 0.001), and SDL → ODC → CSE → creativity (the mediating effect value is 0.035, p = 0.031).

Conclusion

SDL can positively predict creativity. ODC and CSE had significant mediating effects between SDL and creativity, including single partial mediating effects of ODC and CSE and chain mediating effects of ODC-CSE.

Investigating divergent thinking and creative ability in surgeons (IDEAS): a survey protocol

INTRODUCTION

A strong pipeline of creative ideas and individuals is critical if we are to tackle the complex healthcare challenges we will face in the 21st century. The field of creativity is severely underinvestigated in the context of surgery, and it is of interest to explore the level and nature of creativity in surgeons, across various specialties and backgrounds. Identifying the areas of surgery with strong and weak levels of creativity, as well as the predictors of high creativity among surgeons, may aid in the selection and training of future surgeons.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A convenience sample of surgeons from the Department of Surgery and McMaster University will be used for the recruitment of participants. The Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults, a three-part test of divergent thinking ability, will be administered to measure the level and nature of creativity among surgeons. Descriptive analyses and multiple linear regression models are planned to synthesise the results of the survey and identify predictors of divergent thinking ability among surgeons.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethics approval from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board was obtained. No harm is expected due to participation in this study. The results of this survey will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated through conferences and presentations at the regional, national and international levels.

Does Gender, Academic Status, Years of Teaching Experience, and Discipline Affiliation Affect Strategies Used to Promote Creativity in Medical Education at King Abdulaziz University?

Background This study aimed to explore the effect of gender, academic status, years of teaching experience, and discipline affiliation on strategies used to promote creativity in medical education. Methodology This study was conducted in the Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Faculty teaching in both the basic sciences and clinical disciplines was included. A 15-item electronic survey was created. The frequencies were obtained for the demographic and academic characteristics of the participants. For each question (Q5-Q15), the mean and SD of participant responses were obtained. The chi-square test was used to compare all categorical variables. This included the comparison of the participants' demographic characteristics with their academic characteristics. The chi-square test was also used for the comparison of participant characteristics among the categorical questions (Q5-Q15). Results A statistically significant association was determined between academic status, years of teaching experience, faculty's perception of the curriculum, tasks used in teaching, and the suitability of the used assessment strategies in promoting creativity. Teaching in clinical disciplines was statistically associated with using real-life problems, challenging students, and deliberately creating chaos or disorder in the classroom. Conclusions Academic status, years of teaching experience, and discipline affiliation are more likely to affect how faculty members promote creativity in medical education.

Creating Environmental Health Leaders When Educators Are Learning Too

The climate crisis is upon us, already exacting a health cost, with likely acceleration over our lifetimes. Our existing medical curricula do not adequately prepare medical students to deal with climate health nor to be leaders in the public health sphere. Current faculty have themselves not often been exposed to climate health training nor often to leadership training. This affords a unique opportunity for creative implementation of strategies to educate both faculty and students on how leadership skill building can complement the science and policy of climate health.