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Biomedical subjects

T Samuel Shomaker

Publications and source records attributed to T Samuel Shomaker.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Community outreach, training, and research: the Hawai'i/Pacific Basin area Health Education Center of the University of Hawai'i, John A. Burns SChool of Medicine.

The Hawai'i/Pacific Basin AHEC is a federal grant program that utilizes academic/community partnerships to recruit students to health careers, train students in rural and underserved areas, and assist with workforce development across the region. Ongoing activities and programs include 1) Outreach for recruitment to health careers for students from kindergarten through adulthood; 2) Individual and interdisciplinary health professions student training in rural and underserved areas; 3) Community health education using distance learning; 4) Assessment of and efforts to improve recruitment and retention of providers in rural areas including continuing education; and 5) Health disparities research. The AHEC programs reach more than 4,000 individuals annually, helps to train more than 1,000 individuals a year and assist with placement of up to 20 providers a year in rural and underserved healthcare practices. This article describes the existing AHEC programs that are community based, community driven and inclusive of all who choose to participate. Collaboration is invited and necessary for success and future program development. Future areas for collaboration activities include increased statewide community health worker training, an expanded health careers pipeline, ongoing rural and underserved health needs assessments and an expanded training network for students in healthcare. Additional information is available at www.ahec.hawaii.edu.

Community-Institutional Relations↗
PubMed2006

The research subject advocate at the University of Hawai'i Clinical Research Center: an added resource for protection of human subjects.

In early 2001 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) created the Research Subject Advocate (RSA) position as an additional resource for human subjects protection at NIH-funded Clinical Research Centers (CRCs) to enhance the protection of human subjects participating in clinical research studies. The purpose of this article is to describe the RSA position in the context of clinical research, with a particular emphasis upon the role of the RSA in one of the five CRCs funded by the NIH Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program. Through participation in protocol development, informed consent procedures, study implementation and follow-up with adverse events, the RSA works closely with research investigators and their staff to protect study participants. The RSA also conducts workshops, training and education sessions, and consultation with investigators to foster enhanced communication and adherence to ethical standards and safety regulations. Although it is too early to provide substantive evidence of positive outcomes, this article seeks to illuminate the value of the RSA position in ensuring that safety of research participants is accorded the highest priority at CRCs. Based upon initial results, we conclude that the RSA is an effective mechanism for achieving the NIH's goal of maintaining the utmost scrutiny of protocols involving human subjects.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed2006

Use of provider delivered complementary and alternative therapies in Hawai'i: results of the Hawai'i Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: Provider delivered complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is used increasingly as a treatment option. Nevertheless, data related to the prevalence of provider delivered CAM (or PDCAM) use in diverse racial and ethnic populations is limited. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the use of provider delivered CAM in Hawaiian, Asian, and other Pacific Island populations in Hawai'i. The investigation was undertaken to test the hypothesis that a significant difference existed in the use of provider delivered CAM in Hawai'i because of the cultural diversity existing within the population. METHODS: The data were collected through the Hawai'i Health Survey (HHS). The HHS was administered by telephone among 5,000 stratified, randomly selected households, representing each of the Hawaiian Islands. Data were collected on all members of sample households. The sample population was statistically adjusted to represent the population of Hawai'i. RESULTS: Several factors emerged that may indicate increased use of provider delivered CAM. Most provider delivered CAM users are more educated, have incomes 200% or more above the poverty line, and reported either good or very good health status. Among respondents with poor health status, 60.4% have used provider delivered CAM. Those with a body mass index indicating that they were overweight also reported a high level of provider delivered CAM use (51.4%). Similar percentages of both women and men use provider delivered CAM, while the youngest and oldest respondents reported the least use of provider delivered CAM. Whites (60.0%) and Koreans (56.6%) reported the highest percentage of use of provider delivered CAM, while African Americans (35.5%) and Filipinos (37. 1%) reported the lowest percentage. The majority of people without health insurance report provider delivered CAM use (53. 7%). The highest portion of people who have usedanyalternative health care service is found among those whose pain severely interferes with normal work (78.3%). CONCLUSIONS The use of provider delivered CAM was found to be significantly greater in Hawaii compared with the mainland. Our results suggest the need for additional investigation of provider delivered CAM use in specific ethnic subpopulations.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Microarray technology in biomedical research.

Microarrays have dozens to millions of probes attached to an inert surface allowing high-throughput analyses of many biologic processes to be performed simultaneously on the same sample. Microarrays with nucleic acid probes are now widely used for gene expression analysis, DNA re-sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping, and comparative genomic hybridization. This technology is accelerating research in many fields and now microarrays are moving into clinical application. This review discusses how the microarray facility at the new Kaka'ako campus of the John A. Burns School of Medicine will impact molecular diagnostics, pathogen detection, oncology, and pharmacogenomics.

Biomedical Research↗
PubMed2005

Growth in clinical research productivity and funding at the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine: the past 10 years.

Over the last ten years, faculty at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) and the University of Hawaii (UH) have been actively engaged in ongoing efforts to increase the quantity and improve the quality of biomedical research in the State of Hawaii. JABSOM's Clinical Research Center (CRC), funded in 1995 by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) of the National Institutes of Health, has provided research infrastructure that has been essential to these efforts. The CRC and other JABSOM departments and affiliated programs have collaborated with public and private entities within the community, particularly in the area of health, related to diverse racial and ethnic populations. This paper sets forth a number of the significant indicators of research progress, as illustrated primarily through CRC support for various research activities conducted at JABSOM.

Efficiency↗
PubMed2005

Oral health disparities and periodontal disease in Asian and Pacific Island populations.

INTRODUCTION: While oral health disparities exist in many ethnic groups in Hawaii, the challenge of developing research and intervention programs is hampered by the lack of a dental school and adequate state resources. OBJECTIVE: To use a collaboration model to establish a mentoring relationship with a research-intensive school of dentistry to reduce oral health disparities in Hawaii. METHODS: Collaborative interactions with the University of Hawaii School of Medicine (UH) and the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry at Chapel Hill (UNC) included bimonthly teleconferences, on-site planning and mentoring sessions, yearly conferences in Hawaii open to the community using UNC faculty, and on-site skills training sessions. The community was asked to participate in determining priorities for research through focus-group interactions. Two pilot investigations were also conducted. RESULTS: Both universities have been awarded grants to fund activities to support the combined intellectual and physical resources of multiple private, public, and community organizations to achieve the goal of improving the oral health status of the people of Hawaii. As a result of initial planning, two related grants have been submitted (one approved, one disapproved) to fund pilot studies on the oral health status of mothers and their babies in a rural community. These studies include both UH and UNC investigators. CONCLUSIONS: Health disparities occur among diverse ethnic groups in Hawaii, and links between general health and oral health continue to emerge. In spite of obstacles to designing effective research and intervention programs in Hawaii, UH fostered a collaborative relationship with a premiere dental research institution to develop competence in clinical research, conduct pilot studies, and obtain extramural funding for comprehensive studies. Direct involvement of community representatives in the research process is integral to the success of such studies and will continue to serve as the foundation of our community-based participatory research. The network partners have accomplished their primary goal of developing culturally appropriate methods for assessing determinants of oral health, oral health-related quality of life, and health outcomes in Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

A prospective, randomized controlled study of computer-assisted learning in parasitology.

PURPOSE: To compare, using a prospective, randomized controlled study, three methods of teaching a medical school parasitology course: computer-based instruction, traditional lecture-based instruction, and a combination of computer-based and lecture-based instruction. METHOD: A single class of the University of Utah School of Medicine was randomized into three study groups for the second-year parasitology course. The computer group (n = 29) used a locally developed interactive parasitology computer program; the lecture group (n = 32) had traditional lectures, and the combined group (n = 33) used both the computer program and lectures. Students' knowledge was assessed using a pretest, a final examination, and a posttest administered four months after the course. Students also used logs to track the amounts of time they spent studying. Their impressions and course evaluations were collected using a standardized course-evaluation form. RESULTS: The groups' scores on the pretest, final examination, and posttest were not statistically significantly different. Students in the computer group averaged 26.8 hours of studying over the two-week course compared with 32.1 hours in the lecture group and 32.7 hours in the combined group. The difference in study times between the computer and combined groups yielded a significant p value of 0.036. Students were generally positive about the course and the computer program. CONCLUSION: Students can learn parasitology from computer-based instruction as effectively as from traditional lecture-based instruction, and they can do so in less time.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

The feasibility and acceptability of implementing formal evaluation sessions and using descriptive vocabulary to assess student performance on a clinical clerkship.

BACKGROUND: A systematized approach to descriptive evaluation of clinical performance using a vocabulary of global descriptors in the setting of formal evaluation and feedback sessions has been shown to be reliable and valid. The feasibility of this method beyond the institution at which it was developed has not been studied. PURPOSE: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing formal evaluation and feedback sessions, using a vocabulary of global descriptors, in a third-year core clinical clerkship. METHODS: In 1997, the University of Utah internal medicine clerkship introduced an evaluation method in which student performance was discussed at formal sessions, using a taxonomy of global terms describing progressive development from "reporter" to "interpreter" to "manager/educator" (R-I-M-E). The sessions were face-to-face meetings between the clinical teachers and a clerkship director, at three-week intervals through the twelve-week clerkship at the inpatient teaching sites. Following the evaluation session students met individually with the clerkship director for feedback. To determine feasibility, the authors estimated the time and resources necessary to administer the system and recorded actual teacher attendance over 2 academic years (1997-99). Anonymous surveys, using a four-point, Likert-type scale, were used to determine acceptance of the method by faculty, residents, and students. RESULTS: Attendance was high for residents (79%) and faculty (72%). Mean survey responses from residents and faculty rated the descriptive system "more valid" than the previous method. A majority of the students rated the method as either "helpful" (30%) or "very helpful" (50%). Time requirement for eight to ten students at each teaching site, for evaluation and feedback sessions was one-half day per week of the clerkship director, every three weeks. CONCLUSION: Our experience establishes the feasibility of implementing this system of formal evaluation and feedback, using descriptive vocabulary, beyond the institution at which it was developed. Students, residents, and faculty endorsed this evaluation system and the survey results suggest substantial utility and face validity.

Clinical Clerkship↗