COVID-19 and education: restructuring after the pandemic

Telehealth and virtual supervision practices for health professions education in the Department of Veterans Affairs

BACKGROUND

Telehealth and virtual supervision practices in health professions clinical education has grown rapidly, including in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) which oversees the largest interprofessional training effort in the United States. Telehealth is the provision of healthcare that is provided remotely through telecommunication technology, and virtual supervision is clinical supervision of health professions trainees (HPTs) that occurs through telecommunication technology. In this study we evaluate participation in telehealth and virtual supervision for physician, nursing, and associated health HPTs, and describe prevalent themes concerning HPT perceptions of telehealth and virtual supervision.

METHODS

The survey study cohort included 10,865 HPTs that responded to the VA Trainee Satisfaction Survey in Academic Year 2023 (between July 2022 to June 2023). Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate participation rates by profession. Responses to the open-ended question within the survey were coded and summarized using rapid qualitative analysis methods.

RESULTS

Participation rates for telehealth and virtual supervision were: Associated health HPTs (47.2% telehealth, 33.8% virtual supervision), physician residents (31.1% telehealth, 21.5% virtual supervision), and nursing HPTs (22.9% telehealth, 21.5% virtual supervision) (p < .001). HPTs of all professions expressed positive views on their experiences, with profession-specific differences noted in location, frequency and depth of these practices.

CONCLUSIONS

Participation in telehealth and virtual supervision was common and well received by HPTs across multiple professions in VA. HPT responses suggest additional efforts are needed to refine profession-specific instructional methods tailored for defined educational needs and goals.

Online clinical skills education using a wearable action camera for medical students

The purpose of this study is to analyze medical students' satisfaction and educational effectiveness after real-time online clinical skills education using a wearable action camera. One hundred eighteen third-year medical students participated in this study. The education program consisted of clinical skills (wound management and vascular access procedures) and a medical interview with a simulated patient. The author wore the head-mounted action camera throughout the class. A systematic questionnaire survey was issued to the students after the education program to analyze the educational satisfaction and effectiveness. This education program showed their high educational satisfaction. The online environment was also mostly positive except for some negative comments about video quality. In the educational satisfaction, though the comparative satisfaction with the face-to-face skill class was slightly lower, the rest of the questionnaire items also showed high relative satisfaction. Online video education using a wearable camera could be a good modality that can replace a face-to-face class when it is impossible to open the class.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Academic Global Health Programs: Results of a Large International Survey

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in international communications and travel for academic global health programs (AGHPs) in both high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Given the importance of international travel and communication to AGHPs, the pandemic has likely had considerable impact on the education, research, and administrative components of these programs. To date, no substantive study has determined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on AGHPs in HICs and LMICs. This study assessed the impacts and resultant adaptations of AGHPs to pandemic realities with the goal of sharing strategies and approaches.

Methods

This study applied a mixed methods sequential explanatory design to survey AGHPs in HICs and LMICs about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on three program domains: education, research, and administration. First, we surveyed a range of AGHP stakeholders to capture quantitative data on the pandemic's impact. Subsequently we conducted semi-structured interviews with select survey participants to gather qualitative data expanding on specific survey responses. Data from both phases were then compared and interpreted together to develop conclusions and suggest adaptive/innovative approaches for AGHPs.

Results

AGHPs in both HICs and LMICs were significantly impacted by the pandemic in all three domains, though in different ways. While education initiatives managed to adapt by pivoting towards virtual learning, research programs were impacted more negatively by the disruptions in communication and international travel. The impact of the pandemic on scholarly output as well as on funding for education and research was quite variable, although LMIC programs were more negatively impacted. Administratively, AGHPs implemented a range of safety and risk mitigation strategies and showed a low risk tolerance for international travel. The pandemic posed many challenges but also revealed opportunities for AGHPs.

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted AGHPs in HICs and LMICs in expected and unexpected ways. Programs noted some unanticipated reductions in education program funding, negative impacts on research programs, and reduced scholarly output. Many programs reported well-coordinated adaptive responses to the pandemic including, for instance, virtual (in place of in-person) collaboration in research. The pandemic will likely have lasting impacts with regard to education, research collaborations, and administration of programs.

Well-being and experiences of adults in German federal states under pandemic conditions

Research on people's experiences during the Covid-19-pandemic provides growing evidence on subjective well-being and distress under pandemic conditions, however mainly at a country, not state level. The relationship between positive and negative experiences is described in Diener's conceptualization of subjective well-being. We assumed that people who experience well-being and positive affect through connectedness with nature, and social support during the pandemic feel relatively less alone, distressed, depressed, self-focused, and thoughtless. We further assumed changes in these constructs during the pandemic. The aim of this research was to examine the concurrent relationships between these positive and negative experiences of German adults simultaneously as well as their changes over 3 weeks in 2020. Owing to German federalism, we expected these changes to differ between German states. A sample of 1,038 adults responded to an online questionnaire twice (April and May 2020). A structural equation model including 16 factors and 12 covariates yielded the expected negative relationships and different mild change effects between the German states. For example, adults' connectedness with nature increased while loneliness and distress decreased in Saxony, whereas thoughtlessness increased in Bavaria. The results imply a new finding that different changes in adults' positive and negative experiences during the pandemic exist.

Pedagogical Model for Raising Students’ Readiness for the Transition to University 4.0

The study goal was to analyze the impact of using modern technologies and pedagogical innovations based on the University 4.0 model on the educational process effectiveness, the development of professional competencies (in humanities and engineering) and skills in students (abstract-logical thinking, critical thinking, strategic thinking, imagination, creativity, motivation), and learners’ readiness and motivation to shift to University 4.0. The experiment was conducted in the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University among 464 undergraduate students of different academic years. All the study respondents were distributed into two groups, one of which did not change the training program (control group), and the other studied under the program grounded on the University 4.0 model using modern technologies (experimental group). According to the results of the survey addressed to the students of both groups after the experiment ended, the indicators for all parameters were higher among the individuals of the experimental group. The practical significance of the results obtained and further research prospects are in the possibility of using the developed training program in different universities and departments worldwide to compare both students’ readiness for the transition to University 4.0 and the program’s impact on educational outcomes.

Data-Driven Evaluation and Optimisation of Livelihood Improvement Efficiency

In this study, we developed a data-driven approach for the evaluation and optimisation of livelihood improvement efficiency (LIE) to address slowing global economic growth and the decline in well-being in the broader population, enhance the quality of people’s livelihoods, and promote sustainable social development. We designed a questionnaire survey and constructed an evaluation index system based on a comprehensive consideration of economic resources, social security and employment, education, and health. Using principal component analysis, entropy weighting, and data envelopment analysis, we optimised the evaluation indicators and quantitatively assessed LIE. We used a Tobit regression model to analyse the factors influencing LIE and provide decision-making support for proposing countermeasures to optimise LIE. Based on the research data, we administered the questionnaire survey to 3125 residents in 16 cities in China’s Anhui Province and demonstrated the applicability of the aforementioned method. The results indicate that there is room for optimising LIE in cities in Anhui Province, which needs to be achieved through the following steps: controlling costs and avoiding waste, encouraging entrepreneurship, increasing income, guiding the direction of industrial growth, optimising regional population structure, and promoting public participation to enhance people’s livelihoods.

Liver Transplant Imaging prior to and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

The suspension of the surgical activity, the burden of the infection in immunosuppressed patients, and the comorbidities underlying end-stage organ disease have impacted transplant programs significantly, even life-saving procedures, such as liver transplantation.

METHODS

A review of the literature was conducted to explore the challenges faced by transplant programs and the adopted strategies to overcome them, with a focus on indications for imaging in liver transplant candidates.

RESULTS

Liver transplantation relies on an appropriate imaging method for its success. During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, chest CT showed an additional value to detect early signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection and other screening modalities are less accurate than radiology.

CONCLUSION

There is an emerging recognition of the chest CT value to recommend its use and help COVID-19 detection in patients. This examination appears highly sensitive for liver transplant candidates and recipients, who otherwise would have not undergone it, particularly when asymptomatic.

The state of social science research on COVID-19

Research on COVID-19 has proliferated rapidly since the outbreak of the pandemic at the end of 2019. Many articles have aimed to provide insight into this fast-growing theme. The social sciences have also put effort into research on problems related to COVID-19, with numerous documents having been published. Some studies have evaluated the growth of scientific literature on COVID-19 based on scientometric analysis, but most of these analyses focused on medical research while ignoring social science research on COVID-19. This is the first scientometric study of the performance of social science research on COVID-19. It provides insight into the landscape, the research fields, and international collaboration in this domain. Data obtained from SSCI on the Web of Science platform was analyzed using VOSviewer. The overall performance of the documents was described, and then keyword co-occurrence and co-authorship networks were visualized. The six main research fields with highly active topics were confirmed by analysis and visualization. Mental health and psychology were clearly shown to be the focus of most social science research related to COVID-19. The USA made the most contributions, with the most extensive collaborations globally, with Harvard University as the leading institution. Collaborations throughout the world were strongly related to geographical location. Considering the social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this scientometric study is significant for identifying the growth of literature in the social sciences and can help researchers within this field gain quantitative insights into the development of research on COVID-19. The results are useful for finding potential collaborators and for identifying the frontier and gaps in social science research on COVID-19 to shape future studies.

Organ transplants of the future: planning for innovations including xenotransplantation

The future clinical application of animal-to-human transplantation (xenotransplantation) is of importance to society as a whole. Favourable preclinical data relevant to cell, tissue and solid organ xenotransplants have been obtained from many animal models utilizing genetic engineering and protocols of pathogen-free husbandry. Findings have reached a tipping point, and xenotransplantation of solid organs is approaching clinical evaluation, the process of which now requires close deliberation. Such discussions include considering when there is sufficient evidence from preclinical animal studies to start first-in-human xenotransplantation trials. The present article is based on evidence and opinions formulated by members of the European Society for Organ Transplantation who are involved in the Transplantation Learning Journey project. The article includes a brief overview of preclinical concepts and biology of solid organ xenotransplantation, discusses the selection of candidates for first-in-human studies and considers requirements for study design and conduct. In addition, the paper emphasizes the need for a regulatory framework for xenotransplantation of solid organs and the essential requirement for input from public and patient stakeholders.

Now, I think doctors can be heroes … Medical student's attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on key aspects of medical education and how the image of the medical profession has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic hit the world in early 2020 and influenced medical education worldwide. Distance learning, risk of infection and patient care, telehealth literacy, medical ethics and research in medical education are key factors of medical education challenged by the pandemic. Additionally, the following question arises: “What do medical students think about their future profession in the face of this crisis?”

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among all undergraduate medical students of the Medical University of Vienna. 872 students answered the self-developed questionnaire. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses were conducted.

Results

The data show that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness for the key aspects. In all areas of interest, students’ feeling of petaredness is limited. Limitations in practical training and distance learning as well as social isolation concern a majority of students. Neutral, positive, and negative themes emerged in qualitative data analysis. Only 8% of the students of the first 3 years of study versus 13.4% of the students in higher years commented negatively. 18.7% of male vs. only 12.5% of all female students’ comments were positive. A large proportion of positive comments were dedicated to the relevance and deeper meaning of the medical profession. Infection risk and the demanding nature of the medical profession were predominant in negative comments.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 crisis has turned the spotlight on several aspects of medical education in need of reform. In addition, the occupational image of the medical profession seems to shift under the weight of this pandemic.

Effects of Student Training in Social Skills and Emotional Intelligence on the Behaviour and Coexistence of Adolescents in the 21st Century

In recent decades, efforts have been made to achieve a positive coexistence among adolescents in secondary schools and create a healthy environment to prepare them to face the present-day challenges. Therefore, this study highlights the educational purpose of improving emotional management and social skills as well as decreasing antisocial and criminal behaviour among secondary education students through an educational training programme. Accordingly, to verify the effectiveness of the project, a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test/post-test structure and a control group was adopted. To achieve this, a total of 141 Spanish secondary school students participated in this study and were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. The first (experimental) group (n = 55) participated in the training programme; correspondingly, the second group (control) (n = 57) followed the usual mentoring activities planned for the entire educational centre. Of the total number of participants, 52.7% of the sample were men and 47.3% were women. The mean age of the participants was 13.01 years old (SD = 0.935). The results showed improvements in the environment with adequate training and the correct application of a programme involving emotional intelligence (EI) among secondary education students. Furthermore, a decrease in conflicts and enhanced relations between the members of the educational community was evidenced. Finally, the practical implications for improving coexistence in secondary schools are discussed.