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Biomedical subjects

Joanna Bates

Publications and source records attributed to Joanna Bates.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Free choice and career choice: Clerkship electives in medical education.

INTRODUCTION: Medical education experiences, particularly in clinical years, are reported determinants of career choice. Less is known about features of clinical education experiences including length, discipline, setting and choice, which may serve as landmarks in career choice decisions. This study's purpose was to explore the benefits of a free choice clerkship elective, and more specifically, its role in clarifying career choice. METHODS: Using framework and content analysis methodology, we analysed University of British Columbia, third-year medical student anonymised assignments regarding free choice and 2-week clerkship elective experiences. This clerkship was designed to provide students with clerkship experiences outside the conventional curricular model, while encouraging student choice of ambulatory and community settings. Assignment questions included: reasons for choosing elective; whether learning objectives were met; influence of elective on career choice; and unique elective experiences. Iterative review, coding, analysis and indexing of assignments were carried out to identify themes and corroborate findings. RESULTS: Emergent themes included: positive views of experience; transferable knowledge and skills; and influencer of future education and career choices. Although students were encouraged to choose clerkship experiences outside the conventional curricular model, most students chose the elective to clarify future career decisions. DISCUSSION: This qualitative descriptive study highlights the influence of highly regarded, free choice clerkship elective experiences in the career decision making process in medical education. Further examination of the details of clerkship elective experiences which influence career choice is recommended.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2006

Generalism versus subspecialization: changes necessary in medical education.

During the initial Partners Meeting of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), the Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME), the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Medical Council of Canada (MCC), and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) in May 2005, a plenary discussion and debate focused on the tensions that exist between generalist and subspecialty education within both the undergraduate and postgraduate educational programs in Canadian medical schools. Key issues identified in the debate included medical student selection, generalist representation on medical school faculty and in learning experiences, and the need for a greater teaching role and respect for generalism to be developed.

Canada↗
PubMed2005

The essence of telehealth readiness in rural communities: an organizational perspective.

This paper examines telehealth readiness from an organizational perspective and explores the essence of telehealth readiness among four domains, namely, patients, practitioners, the public, and organizations in rural Canadian communities. Because readiness is a necessary requirement for the successful implementation of an innovation, it is important to identify and ensure core factors of readiness before costly investments are made. The findings presented here derive from a qualitative phenomenological research approach involving semistructured telephone interviews with four key informants (respondents). The data identified four categories of readiness in an organizational setting: core readiness, engagement, structural readiness, and nonreadiness. Understanding organizational readiness within rural and remote communities is an important step for the successful implementation of telehealth services into existing systems of health care.

Attitude↗
PubMed2004

A review of e-learning practices for undergraduate medical education.

This paper describes the findings of a literature review conducted on the current usage, lessons, and limitations of e-learning for undergraduate medical education with an emphasis on synchronous delivery in the first 2 years. The review was conducted as part of an initiative to expand the UBC undergraduate medical program in British Columbia, Canada. The 50 e-learning articles included in the review described the deployment of various types of e-learning technology and content in different settings. The seven videoconferencing articles provided product information, health education examples, and innovative approaches. The six review articles provided general guidelines and trends on e-learning in undergraduate medical education in United States and Europe. Overall, while the literature is informative, there are few reported studies that address distributed synchronous learning in these undergraduate programs.

British Columbia↗
PubMed2003

A study of a rural community's readiness for telehealth.

A qualitative approach was used to explore the readiness of a rural community for the implementation of telehealth services. There were four domains of interest: patient, practitioner, public and organization. Sixteen semistructured telephone interviews (three to five in each domain) were carried out with key informants and recorded on audio-tape. Two community awareness sessions were held, which were followed by five audio-taped focus groups (with five to eight people in each) in the practitioner, patient and public domains. In addition, two in-depth interviews were conducted with community physicians. Analysis of the data suggested that there were four types of community readiness: core, engagement, structural and non-readiness. The level of readiness varied across domains. There were six main themes: core readiness; structural readiness; projection of benefits; assessment of risk; awareness and education; and intra-group and inter-group dynamics. The results of the study can be used to investigate the readiness of rural and remote communities for telehealth, which should improve the chance of successful implementation.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2003

A physician peer support writing group.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Barriers to publication can be overcome through a peer support writing group in an academic department of family practice. This study describes the experience and outcomes of a writing group in a family practice department. METHODS: A writing group was established to provide collaboration in identifying potential research and/or writing projects, to assist individual faculty to complete unfinished work for submission, to match journals appropriate to the individual group member's work, and to provide peer support for faculty members through attention to group process. Resource materials included instructions for authors for various journals and writing support literature. Minutes were taken at each meeting, and the manuscripts presented were tracked. Individual publication records in CVs and citations in Index Medicus were used to generate pre-group and post-group publication records for group participants and nonparticipants. RESULTS: The writing group met 23 times in 36 months. Attendance ranged from 3 to 10 participants. Fifty writing projects were discussed, and 12 of the discussed manuscripts were published in indexed journals. The seven most frequent attendees increased their publications as first author from one publication over the 3 years prior to the writing group to 10 publications over the first 3 years of the writing group. Comparison of the attendees' publication records with nonparticipant members of the department demonstrated an increase in publication success for participants. CONCLUSIONS: A peer support writing group, emphasizing group process and respectful collaboration, has increased the publication frequency of faculty in a Canadian department of family practice.

British Columbia↗
PubMed2003

What do they contribute? Family medicine residents who practise in cities.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how a cohort of family practice residents graduating between 1990 and 1997 was serving the needs of urban populations in British Columbia. DESIGN: Survey using mailed questionnaire. SETTING: British Columbia. PARTICIPANTS: All graduates of the British Columbia family practice residency program between 1990 and 1997. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Graduates who were currently practising as family physicians and providing medical care to urban and inner-city populations of more than 100 000, sex, practice profiles, and a comparison with Janus Project data for British Columbia. RESULTS: Of 287 graduates surveyed, 206 responded (71.8%). Less than half (86) identified themselves as practising in urban settings; 61 of those were practising as family physicians. These physicians offered a range of primary care services; many offered inpatient and obstetric care. In addition, many were offering care to disadvantaged inner-city populations with unique and challenging medical problems. CONCLUSION: Recent graduates in family medicine practising in urban and inner-city areas are offering full-service primary care and are not abandoning it for more episodic high-volume medical practice.

British Columbia↗
PubMed2003

A readiness model for telehealth is it possible to pre-determine how prepared communities are to implement telehealth?

Telehealth "readiness" can be defined as the degree to which users, health care organizations, and the health system itself are prepared to participate and succeed in its application. This project developed a readiness model for rural/remote locations in Canada. Specifically defined groups or communities with shared characteristics within a rural geographical community (i.e. practitioners, patients, the public, and health care organizations) participated in key informant interviews, awareness sessions, focus groups, and face-to-face interviews. The data were examined and organized keeping in mind Weiss' Program's Theory of Change. This approach allowed concrete and abstract factors to be considered. The model that emerged suggests that there are four types of readiness for each of the defined communities: core, engagement, structural, and non-readiness. The "communities" share some readiness factors and risks, but also exhibit unique elements. This finding is critical to acknowledge when the goal is to implement a useful, effective, and sustainable telehealth system within remote settings. Study results hold a key to understanding why technology systems have failed in the past, in spite of dedicating considerable human and financial resources towards their implementation. Notations of these findings will be helpful in future telehealth implementations within rural and isolated areas.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗