3,476 research outputs found
Swiss recommendations for the management of genital herpes and herpes simplex virus infection of the neonate.
No full textGenital herpes is being recognised as a medical problem of increasing importance. Diagnosis and management are complex. The present recommendations have been established by a multidisciplinary panel of specialists and endorsed by all Swiss medical societies involved in the medical care of such patients. The aim is to improve the care of affected patients, to reduce horizontal and vertical transmission and to diminish the psychosocial burden
A nation-wide initiative against venous thromboembolism
No full textThere is a gap between knowledge and recommendations regarding venous thromboembolism (VTE) on the one hand and daily practice on the other. This fact has prompted a Swiss multidisciplinary group consisting of angiologists, haematologists, internists, and emergency medicine and pharmaceutical medicine specialists interested in VTE, the SAMEX group, to set up a series of surveys and studies that give useful insight into the situation in our country. Their projects encompassed prophylactic and therapeutic aspects of VTE, and enrolled over 7000 patients from five academic and 45 non-academic acute care hospitals and fifty-three private practices in Switzerland. This comprehensive Swiss Clinical Study Programme forms the largest database surveying current clinical patterns of VTE management in a representative sample of the Swiss patient population.
Overall the programme shows a lack of thromboprophylaxis use in hospitalised at-risk medical patients, particularly in those with cancer, acute heart or respiratory failure and the elderly, as well as under-prescription of extended prophylaxis beyond hospital discharge in patients undergoing major cancer surgery. In regard to VTE treatment, planning of anticoagulation duration, administration of LMWH for cancer-associated thrombosis, and the use of compression therapy for prevention of post-thrombotic syndrome in patients with symptomatic proximal DVT require improvement.
In conclusion, this programme highlights insufficient awareness of venous thromboembolic disease in Switzerland, underestimation of its burden and inconsistent application of international consensus statement guidelines regarding prophylaxis and treatment adopted by the Swiss Expert Group
Quality assessment of a randomly selected sample of Swiss medical expertises : a pilot study
No full textBACKGROUND: Considerable criticism has lately been raised by the media regarding the quality of Swiss medical expertises. The present investigation was therefore undertaken to assess the professional quality of Swiss medical expertises. The study was part of a market analysis of medical expertises (MGS study).
METHODS: A sample of 97 anonymised expertises randomly chosen from a total of 3165, collected in the MGS study over a period of 3 months, were evaluated by an international board of medical experts and reviewers, using a stepwise developed questionnaire. Each expertise was independently evaluated by two experts. Data were then tested for plausibility (obvious errors and misunderstandings). The main outcome was the overall quality rating of the expertise that was graded from 1 (very poor) to 6 (excellent) in analogy to the Swiss school grading system. For analysis and interpretation the grades were divided into sufficient (grades >= 4) and insufficient (grades <4).
RESULTS: Overall 19.6% (95% confidence interval: 13.1%; 28.3%) of the expertises were rated to be of insufficient quality. The quality was inversely related to the number of involved medical disciplines, the time relapsed since injury and positively related to the difficulty of the expertise. In addition, expertises in the French and Italian languages were rated superior to those in German.
CONCLUSION: Our results confirm recent criticisms that the professional quality of expertises does not suffice. This is hardly acceptable in face of the financial and personal consequences. There is an obvious need for further research using larger samples and for educational programmes on all levels
The medical profession and young physicians’ lifestyles in flux: challenges for specialty training and health care delivery systems
No full textQUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: The profile of the medical profession is changing in terms of employment conditions, attitudes towards the profession and the lifestyle of young physicians. The aim of this study was to investigate (1) what modifications should be made in the specialty-qualification curriculum to allow for a better balance of career and personal life, (2) what institutional conditions and (3) what personal attitudes and behaviour are required for physicians to successfully combine career and family.
METHODS: As part of a prospective survey on the career development of Swiss medical school graduates (SwissMedCareer Study) begun in 2001, 526 physicians (274 females, 52.1%; 252 males, 47.9%) participated in the sixth assessment in 2010. The graduates were asked by mail-out questionnaires to provide free response answers to the three questions formulated above. Their statements were transcribed, content categories were inductively formulated for each question, and their descriptions were written down in a code manual. Responses were encoded according to the said manual and assigned to content categories (Mayring’s content analysis). Frequency distributions were given for categories and tested with chi-square tests for gender differences.
RESULTS: The 526 participants made 457 statements on the first question, 1,038 on the second, and 937 on the third. Content analysis of the physicians’ answers yielded nine categories dealing with desired changes to the specialty qualification curriculum, eight categories addressing changes in institutional conditions, and nine categories concerning personal attitudes and behaviour. Of all responses to the first question, 70% fell into the top three ranking categories of “specialty qualification requirements”, “part-time jobs” and “structured residency programmes”. The three top-ranking categories (“childcare facilities”, part-time jobs”, “working hours”) yielded by responses to the second question accounted for 87% of the statements. Distribution of the responses concerning personal attitudes and behaviour was more widespread across the nine categories. Marked organisational skills and the ability to adapt flexibly to various everyday demands at work and home were recognised as essential in one third of the statements.
CONCLUSION: In order to meet the needs of the medical profession’s changing profile in terms of feminisation and modern lifestyle, changes must be initiated at different levels. Postgraduate training must be provided in structured programmes, and curriculum requirements must be revamped. Hospital authorities should offer more part-time jobs as well as adequate and affordable childcare facilities for physicians with young children. Physicians should engage critically and to a greater extent with the continued development of their profession
Erratum
No full textCorrection to:
Rothermundt C, et al. Baseline characteristics and patterns of care in testicular cancer patients: first data from the Swiss Austrian German Testicular Cancer Cohort Study (SAG TCCS). Swiss Med Wkly. 2018;148:w14640. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2018.1464
Nationwide introduction of a new competency framework for undergraduate medical curricula: a collaborative approach.
No full textSwitzerland recently introduced PROFILES, a revised version of its national outcomes reference framework for the undergraduate medical curriculum. PROFILES is based on a set of competencies adapted from the CanMEDS framework and nine entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that students have to be able to perform autonomously in the context of a predefined list of clinical situations. The nationwide implementation of such a competency- and EPA-based approach to medical education is a complex process that represents an important change to the organisation of undergraduate training in the various medical schools. At the same time, the concepts underlying PROFILES also have to be reflected at the level of the Federal Licencing Examination (FLE) and the national accreditation process. The vice-deans for education mandated a Swiss Working Group for PROFILES Implementation (SWGPI) to elaborate a guide presenting the principles and best practices based on the current scientific literature, to ensure the coherence between the future developments of the medical curricula and the evolution of the FLE, and to propose a coordinated research agenda to evaluate the implementation process. On the basis of the literature and analysis of our national context, we determined the key elements important for a successful implementation. They can be grouped into several areas including curricular design and governance, the assessment system and entrustment process, faculty development and change management. We also identified two dimensions that will be of particular importance to create synergies and facilitate exchange between the medical schools: a systematic approach to curriculum mapping and the longitudinal integration of an e-portfolio to support the student learning process. The nationwide collaborative approach to define strategies and conditions for the implementation of a new reference framework has allowed to develop a shared understanding of the implications of PROFILES, to promote the establishment of Swiss mapping and e-portfolio communities, and to establish the conditions necessary for ensuring the continuous alignment of the FLE with the evolving medical curricula
Authorship in scientific publications: analysis and recommendations.
No full textIn 2008, a Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences working group chaired by Professor Emilio Bossi issued a "Memorandum on scientific integrity and the handling of misconduct in the scientific context", together with a paper setting out principles and procedures concerning integrity in scientific research. In the Memorandum, unjustified claims of authorship in scientific publications are referred to as a form of scientific misconduct - a view widely shared in other countries. In the Principles and Procedures, the main criteria for legitimate authorship are specified, as well as the associated responsibilities. It is in fact not uncommon for disputes about authorship to arise with regard to publications in fields where research is generally conducted by teams rather than individuals. Such disputes may concern not only the question who is or is not to be listed as an author but also, frequently, the precise sequence of names, if the list is to reflect the various authors' roles and contributions. Subjective assessments of the contributions made by the individual members of a research group may differ substantially. As scientific collaboration - often across national boundaries - is now increasingly common, ensuring appropriate recognition of all parties is a complex matter and, where disagreements arise, it may not be easy to reach a consensus. In addition, customs have changed over the past few decades; for example, the practice of granting "honorary" authorship to an eminent researcher - formerly not unusual - is no longer considered acceptable. It should be borne in mind that the publications list has become by far the most important indicator of a researcher's scientific performance; for this reason, appropriate authorship credit has become a decisive factor in the careers of young researchers, and it needs to be managed and protected accordingly. At the international and national level, certain practices have therefore developed concerning the listing of authors and the obligations of authorship. The Scientific Integrity Committee of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences has collated the relevant principles and regulations and formulated recommendations for authorship in scientific publications. These should help to prevent authorship disputes and offer guidance in the event of conflicts
Supplementum 240: Annual Meeting Swiss Society of Gastroenterology, Swiss Society of Visceral Surgery, Swiss Association for the Study of the Liver, Swiss Society of Clinical Nutrition and Swiss Society of Endoscopy Nurses and Associates
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