Biomedical subjects

Alexis Kaminsky

Publications and source records attributed to Alexis Kaminsky.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Teaching medical students to discern ethical problems in human clinical research studies.

PURPOSE: Investigators and institutional review boards are entrusted with ensuring the conduct of ethically sound human studies. Assessing ethical aspects of research protocols is a key skill in fulfilling this duty, yet no empirically validated method exists for preparing professionals to attain this skill. METHOD: The authors performed a randomized controlled educational intervention, comparing a criteria-based learning method, a clinical-research- and experience-based learning method, and a control group. All 300 medical students enrolled at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in 2001 were invited to participate. After a single half-hour educational session, a written posttest of ability to detect ethical problems in hypothetical protocol vignettes was administered. The authors analyzed responses to ten protocol vignettes that had been evaluated independently by experts. For each vignette, a global assessment of the perceived significance of ethical problems and the identification of specific ethical problems were evaluated. RESULTS: Eighty-three medical students (27%) volunteered: 50 (60%) were women and 55 (66%) were first- and second-year students. On global assessments, the criteria-focused group perceived ethical problems as more significant than did the other two groups (p < .02). Students in the criteria-focused group were better able than students in the control group (p < .03) to discern specific ethical problems, more closely resembling expert assessments. Unexpectedly, the group focused on clinical research participants identified fewer problems than did the control group (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The criteria-focused intervention produced enhanced ethical evaluation skills. This work supports the potential value of empirically derived methods for preparing professionals to discern ethical aspects of human studies.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Influences upon willingness to participate in schizophrenia research: an analysis of narrative data from 63 people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia affects more than 1% of the world's population, causing great personal suffering and socioeconomic burden. These costs associated with schizophrenia necessitate inquiry into the causes and treatment of the illness but generate ethical challenges related to the specific nature and deficits of the illness itself. In this article, we present a systematic analysis of narrative data from 63 people living with the illness of schizophrenia collected through semistructured interviews about their attitudes, beliefs, and experiences related to psychiatric research. In the comments of these individuals, half of whom had had prior personal experience in research protocols, we identified factors influencing openness toward research involvement as well as deterrents that appear to lessen interest in participation. Clear response pattern differences emerged between those with prior research experience and those without such experience. In the discussion, we explore the key findings and outline the implications for safeguards in mental illness research.

Clinical Protocols↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Open the door whenever opportunity knocks.

The Community Environmental Health Program/Community Outreach and Education Program (CEHP/COEP) New Mexico Center for Environmental Health Sciences has learned that listening and responding to opportunities that arise in local communities can be a more effective means of reaching health care providers, lay health workers, and community members than structured plans of action. While specific opportunities that have occurred in New Mexico may be unique, they are presented here with the hope that they might suggest new strategies to the reader and help to identify parallel opportunities in other communities. The paper is organized around three major opportunities to which CEHP/COEP has responded: (1) the need for more informed health care in communities with unique and complex environmental and occupational exposures due to their proximity to National Laboratories; (2) the need for resources on environmental health within local provider networks and issue-specific groups; and (3) the need for community environmental health projects within the College of Nursing. CEHP/COEP's responses, observations, and lessons learned through these experiences are discussed. In the end, the major lesson is that the ability to respond to opportunities requires flexibility and creativity; by sticking doggedly to plans, valuable-and sometimes more profitable and productive-opportunities may be missed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗