Good communication with patients is now recognised as the cornerstone in effective medical practice. Medical students do not automatically acquire the art of good communication through clinical training. A new course to promote the development of communication skills at undergraduate level is described. The course was provided at the juncture between pre-clinical and clinical training. Course e...

This study examined the acquisition and long-term retention of a gross motor skill, namely, tossing, in 23 moderately to severely demented Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and 22 health older adults. To identify optimal learning strategies, subjects received 10 weeks of training under either constant or variable practice conditions. Accuracy at the tossing task was assessed immediately, one we...

Despite the rapid adoption and increased spending on social media in the recent years, there is little existing research on the economic value of social media investment or the factors that affect this value. In this study, we first provide empirical evidence using a large sample of firm across industries to show firm market value is increasing in social media use, not just adoption. In additio...

Economic development in Latin America has trailed most other world regions over the past four decades despite its relatively high initial development and school attainment levels. This puzzle can be resolved by considering the actual learning as expressed in tests of cognitive skills, on which Latin American countries consistently perform at the bottom. In growth models estimated across world r...

Surgeons must learn to perform operations. The current system of surgical resident education is facing many challenges in terms of time efficiency, costs, and patient safety. In addition, as new types of operations are developed rapidly, practicing surgeons may find a need for more efficient methods of surgical skill education. An in-depth examination of the current learning environment and the...

OBJECTIVE We report the results of a preschool-based multidisciplinary intervention program. METHOD This study took place in two educational settings and included 81 preschool boys from unique cultural backgrounds and of low social economic status (SES). The settings were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. In the intervention group, boys identified as at risk for or with d...

1Department of Medical Education, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 2Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 3Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 4Department of Dentistry, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 5Department of Anesthesia, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 6Department of Geriatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qata...

improving and that communication is best learnt through observation in clinical situations. If the role models that medical students and junior doctors are observing are poor communicators how do we expect these learners to improve? I agree that observation and reflection is an important part of the experiential learning process, as is practising skills. But we know that in clinical situation l...