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Nuala P Kenny

Publications and source records attributed to Nuala P Kenny.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

The patient as text: a challenge for problem-based learning.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the values and assumptions underlying problem-based learning (PBL) cases through narrative analysis, in order to consider the ways by which paper cases may affect student attitudes and values. METHODS: Randomly chosen PBL cases from the first year curriculum at Dalhousie University medical school (n = 10) were coded by 3 independent reviewers attending to narrative components. RESULTS: The cases generally used spare, objective language, used the passive voice, eliminated agency, and employed linguistic markers to encode scepticism about patient reports. There was almost no sense of the presence of the patient as person in these cases in terms of their words, feelings, or their social and cultural context. The almost complete exclusion of the preferences and priorities of the patient was striking. CONCLUSION: The sample is small, the results only suggestive. Yet it appears that the cases used in PBL may unnecessarily, even unintentionally, encourage student detachment from the messiness of real patients' lives and emotions. Positioning a particular way of seeing - the doctor's gaze - as normative renders less visible the choices that are being made whenever an account is constructed. Including multiple voices in a case would complicate that tidy reduction of choices. Ongoing attempts to enrich the case format should be encouraged. At the same time, students may benefit from being taught the skills for critical analysis of the case itself.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2003

Role modeling in physicians' professional formation: reconsidering an essential but untapped educational strategy.

Forming technically proficient, professional, and humanistic physicians for the 21st century is no easy task. Mountains of biomedical knowledge must be acquired, diagnostic competence achieved, effective communication skills developed, and a solid and applicable understanding of the practice and role of physicians in society today must be reached. The central experience for learners in this complex and challenging terrain is the "modeling of" and "learning how to be" a caregiver and health professional. Role modeling remains one crucial area where standards are elusive and where repeated negative learning experiences may adversely impact the development of professionalism in medical students and residents. The literature is mainly descriptive, defining the attributes of good role models from both learners and practitioners' perspectives. Because physicians are not "playing a role" as an actor might, but "embodying" different types of roles, the cognitive and behavioral processes associated with successfully internalizing roles (e.g., the good doctor/medical educator) are important. In this article, the authors identify foundational questions regarding role models and professional character formation; describe major social and historical reasons for inattention to character formation in new physicians; draw insights about this important area from ethics and education theory (philosophical inquiry, apprenticeship, situated learning, observational learning, reflective practice); and suggest the practical consequences of this work for faculty recruitment, affirmation, and development.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The promise of public health: ethical reflections.

Public health is in the spotlight of public and political concern, providing a unique window of opportunity for its revitalization and restoration as a pillar of the Canadian health care system. The establishment of a Federal Public Health Agency is a critical first step. The public health community has identified key challenges toward this renewal. However, public health ethics have received little attention and, when addressed, have focussed almost exclusively on communicable diseases. The ethical issues inherent in public health transcend infectious diseases and are distinct from clinical and research ethics. Identifying and addressing ethical issues at the heart of public health, including the public interest and the common good, as well as fundamental issues related to the core functions of public health will be essential if this revitalization of public health is to be achieved. While legal and regulatory reforms are necessary, they will not be sufficient to adequately address fundamental questions of the valuing of public health or the ethical issues in public health. Elements of a research agenda on the ethical foundations of public health reform are identified here.

Canada↗