The effect of implementing undergraduate competency-based medical education on students' knowledge acquisition, clinical performance and perceived preparedness for practice:a comparative study

<p>Background: Little is known about the gains and losses associated with the implementation of undergraduate competency-based medical education. Therefore, we compared knowledge acquisition, clinical performance and perceived preparedness for practice of students from a competency-based active learning (CBAL) curriculum and a prior active learning (AL) curriculum.</p><p>Methods: We included two cohorts of both the AL curriculum (n = 453) and the CBAL curriculum (n = 372). Knowledge acquisition was determined by benchmarking each cohort on 24 interuniversity progress tests against parallel cohorts of two other medical schools. Differences in knowledge acquisition were determined comparing the number of times CBAL and AL cohorts scored significantly higher or lower on progress tests. Clinical performance was operationalized as students' mean clerkship grade. Perceived preparedness for practice was assessed using a survey.</p><p>Results: The CBAL cohorts demonstrated relatively lower knowledge acquisition than the AL cohorts during the first study years, but not at the end of their studies. We found no significant differences in clinical performance. Concerning perceived preparedness for practice we found no significant differences except that students from the CBAL curriculum felt better prepared for 'putting a patient problem in a broad context of political, sociological, cultural and economic factors' than students from the AL curriculum.</p><p>Conclusions: Our data do not support the assumption that competency-based education results in graduates who are better prepared for medical practice. More research is needed before we can draw generalizable conclusions on the potential of undergraduate competency-based medical education.</p>

Concordance between Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10) and Pakistan Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire (PADQ), in a rural self-motivated population in Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There have been no previous studies conducted in Pakistan comparing the concordance of any well established Western anxiety/depression screening instrument with an indigenous scale, in a community based setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants (n = 1040) in the present study were recruited from the six villages of our interest from the district Gujarat of Pakistan, using a convenient sampling technique. Interview versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 10-item version (HSCL-10) and the Pakistani Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire (PADQ) were used to observe the pattern of anxiety and depression among the participants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The internal consistency of HSCL-10 and PADQ were 0.86 and 0.84 respectively. Exploratory factor analysis found evidence for both a one-dimensional (distress) and a two-dimensional (anxiety and depression) solution for the HSCL-10, but only a one-dimensional (distress) solution for the PADQ. The HSCL-10 and PADQ found to be moderately to highly correlated (r = 0.62, p < 0.0001, 0.73 after correction for attenuation).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HSCL-10 has shown good screening abilities in a rural setting in Pakistan, and moderate to good concordance with an indigenous instrument measuring psychological distress. The HSCL-10 can therefore be used as a screening instrument, both in clinical and epidemiological settings in Pakistan, and for Pakistani immigrants living in Western societies.</p

Anisotropic flow of identified hadrons in Xe-Xe collisions at root s(NN)=5.44 TeV

Measurements of elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) flow coefficients of π ±, K±, p+p, K0 S , and Λ+Λ obtained with the scalar product method in Xe-Xe collisions at √ sNN = 5.44 TeV are presented. The results are obtained in the rapidity range |y| &lt; 0.5 and reported as a function of transverse momentum, pT, for several collision centrality classes. The flow coefficients exhibit a particle mass dependence for pT &lt; 3 GeV/c, while a grouping according to particle type (i.e., meson and baryon) is found at intermediate transverse momenta (3 &lt; pT &lt; 8 GeV/c). The magnitude of the baryon v2 is larger than that of mesons up to pT = 6 GeV/c. The centrality dependence of the shape evolution of the pT-differential v2 is studied for the various hadron species. The v2 coefficients of π ±, K±, and p+p are reproduced by MUSIC hydrodynamic calculations coupled to a hadronic cascade model (UrQMD) for pT &lt; 1 GeV/c. A comparison with vn measurements in the corresponding centrality intervals in Pb-Pb collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV yields an enhanced v2 in central collisions and diminished value in semicentral collisions