Background Until recently, the outcome of medical students' research projects has mainly been assessed in terms of scientific publications, whereas other results important for students' development have been less studied. The aim of this study was to investigate medical students' experiences of learning as an outcome of the research project course. Method Written reflections of 50 students were...

This contribution seeks to commemorate Francisco Varela’s formal conceptions of self-reference, providing an overview of his writings while shedding some light in the praxis of self-reference, from where a future research agenda can be derived. The architecture of Varela’s thinking, determined by the interrelated notions of autopoiesis, autonomy, closure and self-reference, was examined. The em...

Educators in the field of osteopathic manipulative medicine have a responsibility to encourage critical thinking and integration of evidence-based knowledge. Important strategies for osteopathic educators include discussion of relevant evidence as part of classroom osteopathic manual technique training; problem-based or case-based critical appraisal exercises which focus on the management of ac...

STUDY SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT Articles or dissertations were selected if they were qualitative reports, addressed turning points or a process of change in health behaviour over time, and were grounded in or supported by observational or verbatim qualitative data. 2 reviewers independently coded study findings in categories of main concept, pre-change influences, turning point, and steps in the...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the pattern, motivation and facilities for choosing journal club topics by residents in two medical institutions in India. METHOD A self-appraisal questionnaire was used to compare motivation for choice of topics, availability of infrastructure, sites and type of articles accessed and formal training in computer based literature search in two medical institutions- a post...

Twenty three minutes on a train. Until a couple of years ago I used the time spent on this regular journey thinking about things I’d like to write about, or the best birthday presents for friends, the colour of the trees rushing by, the enticing smell of other people’s fish and chips. That time was mine. It was aimless but gloriously, fruitfully productive. This has stopped. Appraisal now means...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of Iranian medical and dental students in thinking critically and to assess their ability in using definite components of critical thinking (CT). METHODS Multistage cluster sampling was utilized to recruit 125 preclinical (1(st), 2(nd) and 3(rd) year of study) students in Yazd Shaheed Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Ya...

A study was conducted to clarify the nature of catastrophizing, a construct that is frequently referred to in the chronic pain literature. Information regarding 3 affective experience and 3 affect regulation dimensions was gathered from a heterogeneous sample of 104 chronic pain patients by using a semistructured clinical interview and the Affect Regulation and Experience Q-Sort (AREQ). Self-re...

OBJECTIVES To integrate public health nursing (PHN) competencies into a comprehensive performance review instrument for nurses at multiple practice levels in an urban public health department. DESIGN Based on thorough review of PHN competency literature, the tool evaluates performance for 5 nursing practice classifications (Staff RN, Public Health Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Spe...