1,720,987 research outputs found
Through the eyes of residents: An interpretive phenomenological study of the learning experiences of Ophthalmology residents in the Northwest of England
No full textIntroduction: This study explores the learning experiences of Ophthalmology residents in the Northwest of England via the use of interpretive phenomenology. Currently of the available literature there are very few qualitative research papers investigating Ophthalmology postgraduate education in the United Kingdom. Ophthalmology training in the UK has seen vast changes to its structure and delivery over the past few years without any studies recording how the residents view their training. My study aims to address this problem, revealing what ophthalmology residents feel about their learning, what obstacles they face and what they wish could be improved. This study’s findings shows that there is fertile ground for change within Ophthalmology training and plenty of room for improvement. Interpretive phenomenology is a qualitative research method that explores how individuals make sense of their lived experiences, acknowledging that researchers also interpret those experiences through their own perspectives. It involves a double hermeneutic method where the participant interprets their experience, and the researcher interprets the participant’s interpretation. Methodology: The study involved six doctors of various stages in their residency who are currently completing their Ophthalmology residency in hospitals located in the Northwest of England. In-depth interviews were conducted via Microsoft teams. The interviewees were essentially asked thirteen questions regarding seven broad topics covering their learning experiences in the outpatient clinics, surgical theatre, use of assessments tools, feedback, formal exams and teaching, use of simulators and courses. The interviews’ structure enabled a free-flowing semi-formal conversation aiming to deeply explore as much valuable data from lived experiences as possible. Data was then analysed using a double hermeneutic method and common themes identified were grouped into sections. Results and Discussion: Unsurprisingly for both learning in outpatient clinics as well as in surgical theatres, the most important factors affecting residents’ learning were very similar. Residents made clear that their consultants’ supervision and support is what plays a vital role in their learning. The technical aspects and setting where the learning takes place were also noted to be extremely important. Consultants who dedicate their time to organise their clinics appropriately to accommodate teaching, who dedicate time to give timely feedback and retain a calm demeanour when allowing their trainees to learn in the surgical theatres are the ones who are viewed as role models by residents and are most valued for their support. Regarding learning surgery, another important aspect identified was that of consistency. Residents extrapolated on how in order for their trainers to allow them to perform surgical steps they would first need to gain their trust and this only comes with consistently being with them in surgical theatres. This aspect is something their employers would need to guarantee via designing appropriately timed rotational timetables amongst other methods. In terms of other ways in which the residents practice and learn ophthalmology were external surgical courses, formal residency exams and use of simulators. When it comes to the latter, the surgical simulator “eyesi” was widely mentioned as a good adjunct to learning cataract surgery but remains useful, mainly for the early stages of the residents’ careers. The existing feedback and assessment methods consisting of completing “work based assessments” compiled in a portfolio, are mostly viewed as unable to capture the full picture when it comes the residents’ progression. The evaluation panels such as appraisals or Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCPs) were seen more as a formality rather than having any real impact to their development into fully licensed ophthalmologists. Future research on different aspects of ophthalmology postgraduate education including residency and fellowships should be considered as it poses a generally untouched field of study that can enrich the existing literature. Conclusion: Qualitative research methods such as phenomenology can provide valuable insights into the experiences of Ophthalmology residents and produce actionable suggestions for improvement of the existing teaching methods and curricula. My study reveals ophthalmology residents’ views on their training and proposes changes to the residency structure such as closer mentorship by consultants, better arranged clinics and surgical lists that accommodate teaching and need for alterations to the portfolios and assessment methods to be made
Experiences and challenges of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as perceived by students and examiners in obstetrics and gynaecology: a phenomenological study
No full textIntroduction: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is a global, high-stakes assessment introduced in Nigeria about three decades ago in a move which can be described as neo-colonial, transplanting systems practised in the developed countries without consideration of the African context. Documented advantages of the objective structured clinical examination such as its objectivity, increased student confidence, and a great platform for feedback abound in literature. However, it presents several challenges in implementation such as, a need for substantial human and material resources, the potential use of scenarios and subjects that might not mirror true life situations and its cost intensive nature especially in lower middle-income countries. Despite widespread adoption of this examination, its adoption in Nigerian medical schools and post graduate medical colleges have been relatively slow and unsatisfactory hence this study. Likewise, notwithstanding the strengths of the objective structured clinical examination, regular evaluations and feedback from relevant bodies which are crucial for refining its organisation, design and administration is lacking in Nigeria. This study assessed the experiences and challenges of the OSCE as perceived by students and examiners in obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria and the Faculty of obstetrics and gynaecology, West African College of Surgeons.
Methods: A descriptive phenomenology method with constructivism as its research paradigm was employed. Nine medical students, ten postgraduate trainees and fourteen examiners that had given consent, had their lived experiences of the OSCE explored via questionnaire survey, semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (between May – June 2024). All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis was used to create major themes in the collected data. Ethics approval was received from University of Port Harcourt, University of Oxford, and West African College of Surgeons Ethics Committee / Board.
Results: Both student groups and examiners reported the OSCE as highly objective with a wide coverage of the curriculum and removal of examiner bias. However, it did not assess in-depth the student’s clinical skills or psychomotor domain such that the students felt not competent enough to practise effectively in future as interns or midlevel obstetrics and gynaecology specialists. Insufficient timing at the stations, unconducive environment, faulty equipment, poorly trained standardised patients, unclear or ambiguous questions and minimal objective clinical examination structured training were reported by students as challenges while examiners reported in addition low examiner-to-student ratios, high cost of human and material resources as well as a need for continuous training for them.
Conclusion: The OSCE in the university of Port Harcourt and the West African College of Surgeons is fairly comparable to the consensus criteria produced from the Ottawa conferences on good assessment and recommendations for the design of the examination. To enhance the validity and reliability of the OSCE in University of Port Harcourt and WACS, it needs to be designed as part of a system of assessments, with focus examiner training on conduct, designed for more practice-oriented stations with sufficient time, adequate equipment and well-trained standardised patients. The students and examiners involved in this study were very much aware of the challenges that mitigate its successful implementation and proffered solutions to design an examination well adapted to their local context. Yet, financial implications remain the major barrier and will need political will power to get things underway
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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