Context.-Managing the quality of point-of-care testing (POCT) is a continuing challenge. Advances in testing technologies and the development of specialized informatics for POCT have greatly improved the ability of hospitals to manage their POCT program. Objectives.-To present the evolving role of technology improvement, informatics, and program management as the key ...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major and widely recognized risk factor for cardioembolic stroke. Prophylactic therapy for the prevention of stroke in patients with AF is often achieved through oral anticoagulation, specifically with warfarin, which has been used for this purpose for more than 50 years. Although warfarin therapy is ...

Aim This article aims to explore the factors contributing to sustained or nonsustained behaviour change following a lifestyle intervention in general practice. Methods Twenty patients who had participated in a general practice health check and group lifestyle support program were interviewed by telephone after 12 months. The interviews were transcribed ...

Managers of interventional radiology departments and medical imaging personnel who work in surgical suites deal with regular technical innovations in their work, but large-scale innovations seldom come along that transform markets and require massive architectural, training, and technological changes. The hybrid interventional/operating suite is one such massive change. This article ...

This study seeks to evaluate the practice patterns of current combined emergency medicine/internal medicine (EM/IM) residents during their training and compare them to the typical practice patterns of EM/IM graduates. We further seek to characterize how these current residents perceive the EM/IM physician's niche. This is a multi-institution, cross-sectional, survey-based ...

BACKGROUND:The European Practice Assessment program provides feedback and outreach visits to primary care practices to facilitate quality improvement in five domains (infrastructure, people, information, finance, and quality and safety). We examined the effectiveness of this program in improving management in primary care practices in Germany, with a focus on the ...

This study investigated variations in salivary levels of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in a prolonged stressful situation (a two-week teaching practice). Thirty-three women for whom a two-week teaching practice at a kindergarten was scheduled were asked to collect saliva samples at awakening, 30min after awakening, and bedtime at four time ...

PURPOSE: Incorporating quality improvement (QI) into resident education and clinical care is challenging. This report explores key characteristics shaping the relative success or failure of QI efforts in seven primary care practices serving as family medicine residency training sites. METHOD: The authors used data from the 2002-2008 Using Learning Teams ...

BACKGROUND: Low ankle brachial index (ABI) is a sensitive measure of 'burden' of atherosclerosis, indicating cardiovascular risk of the asymptomatic patient. Conventionally, ABI values <0.90 are considered pathological, indicating peripheral arterial disease.Aims. The purpose of this study was to establish whether GPs after a short training course can reliably determine ...

Blood is a perishable product, and hence good management of inventories is crucial. Blood inventory management is a trade-off between shortage and wastage. The challenge is to keep enough stock to ensure a 100% supply of blood while keeping time expiry losses at a minimum. This article focuses on inventory ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Consumer use of herbal and natural products (H/NP) is increasing, yet physicians are often unprepared to provide guidance due to lack of educational training. This knowledge deficit may place consumers at risk of clinical complications. We wished to evaluate the impact that a natural medicine clinical decision tool ...

We investigated the effects of extensive practice of rapid aiming on bradykinesia and, more specifically, generation of peak velocity, in discrete rapid aiming and in transfer to reach-to-grasp. Twenty-one participants (seven young adults, seven older adults, and seven adults with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease (PD) while on medication) engaged ...

Physician extenders may be a valuable asset to an outpatient otolaryngology practice. The adjunctive care provided by physician extenders appears to be cost effective and has the advantages of increasing patient education, promoting physician productivity, and improving management of chronic conditions. Practice types that may benefit from advanced practice providers ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although community pharmacists in the United Kingdom are expected to assess elderly patients' needs for additional support in managing their medicines, there is limited data on potentially useful assessment tools. We sought to evaluate a 13-item assessment instrument among community dwelling elderly patients, 65 years and above. The ...

Sri Lanka has an ageing population with an impending epidemic of stroke at hand. Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has seen many recent advances in stroke services in the recent past providing a benchmark example for the countries in the Asia Pacific ...

Physician stress and burnout can decrease job satisfaction, increase medical errors, and reduce quality of life. Gastrointestinal endoscopic practice is increasing in complexity, with an associated increase in complications. These factors may result in more stress and burnout in younger gastroenterologists (GEs) and interventional GEs (IGEs) who perform more complex ...

Many novice managers feel unprepared to handle some of the situations that occur as a daily part of their job. It is important to provide an environment through which novice managers can receive training and develop skills in effective communication in complex nursing environments. Simulation-based training can provide a safe, ...

To understand the modern conceptions of elite practice informing the hidden curriculum through use of peer nominations asking clinicians to identify exceptional practitioners. We distributed a Web-based survey to Department of Medicine faculty at five universities in North America. Participants were asked to nominate individuals they deemed to be "outstanding ...

Academic Emergency Medicine 2011; 18:1053-1059 © 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine ABSTRACT: Objectives:  The objective was to assess the efficiency and safety of an interactive computer kiosk module for the management of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTI) in emergency departments (EDs). Methods:  This was a prospective unblinded ...

To meet a critical and growing need for emergency physicians and emergency medicine resources worldwide, physicians must be trained to deliver time-sensitive interventions and lifesaving emergency care. Currently, there is no globally recognized, standard curriculum that defines the basic minimum standards for specialist trainees in emergency medicine. To address this ...

 Maternity care training in family medicine is a major component of our specialty. The Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD) issued a position paper calling for a two-tiered system of training for family physicians based on concern that some residency programs are unable to meet the current Residency Committee-Family Medicine ...

The introduction of a prescribed curriculum and a clinical rotation in the PGY-1 year of family medicine training can enhance learning in musculoskeletal and sports medicine. Combining learning experiences in sports medicine and musculoskeletal medicine in the early stages of training establishes a base to master the required competencies by ...

There is concern regarding the number of US medical graduates choosing careers in primary care. To address this, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Future of Family Medicine project has recommended increasing the length of family medicine residency from 3 to 4 years as one way to increase student ...

The main aim of this paper was to present some pioneer women neurologist, their struggle to pursue their career and the barriers mainly encountered at the beginning of their professional lives. It was also presented the progressive increasing of the feminine participation in medicine and in the neurology with study ...

The importance of Observational Therapeutics in the progress of medicine has been neglected in the current era of the hierarchal position imparted to Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) for new drug discovery and practice of evidence-based medicine. There is a need to reflect on the reason for many new drugs being ...

The desired outcome of the victim identification component of a mass fatality event is correct identification of deceased persons in a timely manner allowing legal and social closure for relatives of the victims. Quality Management across all aspects of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) structure facilitates this process. Quality Management ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: There has been a growing concern in designing physical activity (PA) programmes for elderly people, since evidence suggests that such health promotion interventions may reduce the deleterious effects of the ageing process. Complete programme evaluations are a necessary prerequisite to continuous quality improvements. Being able to refine, adapt ...

OBJECTIVE: Implementing evidence-based guidelines is not a simple task. This study aimed to define barriers to and facilitators for implementing the proven and effective Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia (COTiD) guideline for older people with dementia and their carers. METHODS: The qualitative method we used was the grounded theory. We ...

Background: Evidence-based best practices for incorporation into an optimal multilevel intervention for suicide prevention should be identifiable in the literature. Aims: To identify effective interventions for the prevention of suicidal behavior. Methods: Review of systematic reviews found in the Pubmed, Cochrane, and DARE databases. Steps include risk-of-bias assessment, data extraction, ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Graduate-entry medicine is a recent development in the UK, intended to expand and broaden access to medical training. After eight years, it is time to evaluate its success in recruitment. Objectives This study aimed to compare the applications and admissions profiles of graduate-entry programmes in the UK to ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Country by country similarities and differences in physical therapy practice exists. Therefore, before updates in practice can be provided, such as trainings in evidence-based practice, it is necessary to identify the profile and nature of practice in a given country or setting. Following a search of the international ...

BACKGROUND: Contingency management (CM) is a widely recognized empirically-supported addiction treatment; however, dissemination and adoption of CM into routine clinical practice has been slow. Assessment of beliefs about CM may highlight key barriers and facilitators of adoption and inform dissemination efforts. In the present study, we developed a 35-item questionnaire ...

Children's hygiene is very important for better health but there is a paucity of studies in this area. This questionnaire study examined the child care hygiene practices of mothers of young children. A total of 354 women from slum areas of Dhaka city, Bangladesh, who migrated from rural to urban ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the delivery styles doctors typically use when breaking bad news (BBN). METHODS: Thirty one doctors were recruited to participate in two standardised BBN consultations involving a sudden death. Delivery styles were determined using time to deliver the bad news ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the coaching behaviors of elite English youth soccer coaches in different practice settings and gain insight into the coaches' cognitive processes underpinning these behaviors. The practice setting was split into two types of activities, "training form" and "playing form," and behavioral data ...

BACKGROUND: The management of venous leg ulcers (VLU) consumes considerable resources in healthcare systems and accounts for up to 1% of healthcare budgets in some industrialized countries. Best practice clinical guidelines incorporate evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations in a cost-effective manner and have been associated with improved quality and less ...

Objective. The etiology of an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) has been attributed to a wide range of causes. Physicians rely on caregiver narratives, which are often unreliable given the distressing nature of the event, which in turn leads to variation in the evaluation and management. The objective of this study ...

This study investigated whether adult participants who receive a brief motivational interviewing (MI) intervention delivered by a family medicine provider (family nurse practitioner or family medicine resident [MD]) progress to the next stage of change and increase physical activity. A pilot study that included enrollment of 30 patients who failed ...

Purpose/Objectives: To provide preliminary data on an Internet intervention that incorporates cognitive reframing and self-management strategies to help older men undergoing active surveillance (AS) self-manage disease-related issues and improve quality of life (QOL).Design: Single-subject design.Setting: Two participating urologic practices at major academic medical centers in the northeastern United States.Sample: 9 ...

Imelda Bates and colleagues developed and validated an evidence-based tool for evaluating doctoral programmes in African universities.

Background: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is comprehensive but difficult to use in clinical practice. ICF Core Sets are one method of increasing the use of the ICF in clinical practice. To develop a condition-specific core set requires identification of the concepts measured in current clinical ...

Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) is an independent medical specialty focusing on the improvement of functioning. A shared understanding of concepts is of vital importance for integrated action in this field. The aim of the present paper is to provide a conceptual model of PRM, to give background on its ...

To observe the curative effect of combined Chinese medicine, acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy on vascular dementia (VD), and to compare the Western medicine piracetam. Total 134 VD patients screened in reference to the standard for VD diagnosis in DSM-IV were randomly divided into a Chinese medicine plus rehabilitation group (32 ...

Over 3 weeks in 2006, 3826083 persons were vaccinated against rubella during a national immunization campaign in Bolivia. This campaign was the largest mass immunization campaign ever conducted in the country. Therefore, in addition to strategic and micro-planning and financial and social mobilization, issues of safety (eg, safe injection practices ...

Introduction: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become increasingly important in the practice of gastroenterology and endoscopy, and the training of future gastroenterology physicians. The objectives were to assess the attitudes/opinions of gastroenterology specialists towards EBM, and evaluate possible gaps in education for certain EBM-related concepts.Methods: An internet-based survey was emailed to ...

The aim of this article is to discuss the management of mass casualty and sensitise authorities at various levels and trauma surgeons the need for awareness and training in the management of mass casualty. Thorough Medline and bibliography search and available local literatures relevant to the management of mass casualty ...

This issue of the British Journal of Hospital Medicine marks the launch of the new Core Training supplement for junior doctors, replacing the Modernising Medical Careers supplement. The first obvious change to this section is the title. Medical training continuously evolves, and we wanted to highlight the fresh approach that ...

A best practice for all imaging leaders working on a management development program should be to invest enough time to complete a detailed planthatsetsgoals, objectives, step targets, landmarks, and a timetable for their achievements. Keys to success for a management development program include no surprises, active participation, and preparation by ...

Interventions to improve adherence with medicines have been studied for many years. The outcomes, both for improved adherence and clinical indicators, have not been as positive as expected or hoped for. Any improvement in adherence that may occur has not necessarily translated to improved clinical outcomes. The studies are heterogeneous, ...

Objectives:  Due to the rapid growth in academic emergency departments over the past 20 years, recent significant changes in leadership have occurred. To prepare for future transitions, leaders in academic emergency medicine (EM) should identify those skills and characteristics desired in future academic chairs. The authors sought to determine which skills ...