The importance of reflection and reflective practice are frequently noted in the literature; indeed, reflective capacity is regarded by many as an essential characteristic for professional competence. Educators assert that the emergence of reflective practice is part of a change that acknowledges the need for students to act and to think professionally as an integral part of learning throughout...

Many researchers and educators have identified self-assessment as a vital aspect of professional self-regulation.1,2,3 This rationale has been the expressed motivation for a large number of studies of self-assessment ability in medical education, health professional education, and professions education generally. Unfortunately, the outcome of most studies would seem to cast doubt on the capacit...

This review positions public health as an endeavour that requires a high order of professionalism in addressing the health of populations; this requires investment in an educational capacity that is designed to meet this need. In the global context, the field has evolved enormously over the past half century, supported by institutions such as the World Bank, the World Health Organization and th...

It was a courageous decision to found a journal in the early 1980’s; and it was nothing less than a leap of faith to name a journal: Education for Information. The times were not auspicious: people were becoming less certain as to what ‘Education’ was; and it was often said of ‘Information’ that it told one more about the user of the term than it did about its intended objective correlative. Li...

Leadership is the perception or acceptance by members of a group of their superior's ability to inspire, influence and motivate them to meet their goals and contribute to the achievement of shared objectives. This article analyzes the characteristics of bioethics and the profile of the bioethicist in relation to the comprehensive development required of health leaders. We address this relations...

UNLABELLED Distance education has emerged to minimize the anxiety of many professionals who need to update their knowledge, but do not have the time and opportunity to travel to educational centers. OBJECTIVES To describe the development of a CD-ROM to provide distance continuing education to basic school teachers that addresses issues related to written language. MATERIAL AND METHODS Previ...

Suicide is a major health problem and a leading cause of death throughout the world. A primary goal for suicide prevention is reforming health professional education in order to increase the competence of health professionals in assessing and managing suicide risk. Nursing leadership is involved in this reform, yet nurses frequently lack the competence to care for patients in suicidal crisis. A...

We wish to commend Patterson et al (March Journal)1 on their endeavour to describe a competency model for general practice. We fully support their view that it is important to be able to describe not only what we do but also what our patients want us to do. We are also gratified that they have provided further support for the validity of the component consultation competences contained within t...