Biomedical subjects
D J Pollard
Publications and source records attributed to D J Pollard.
Development and evaluation of a computer-aided learning package for minor oral surgery teaching.
'Aspects of Minor Oral Surgery' is a highly interactive software program that was commissioned by the Department of Health, England, as part of the continuing education opportunities of general dental practitioners. The content of the program is also suited to the education of senior clinical dental students. The beta (pre-release) version was evaluated by 67 general dental practitioners, who completed a questionnaire on aspects of the program's functionality. Responses on its usefulness as an educational tool were 78% positive and 4% negative. In comparing the program to other educational media on the same subject, 77% felt it was better than video, 69% said it was better than textbooks, and 80% preferred it to journals. Its main strengths were judged to be the high level of interactivity, the ease of navigation and use, and the quiz section. The quality of the images of surgical procedures displayed in the slide shows was judged to be a weakness, and this problem was addressed in preparing the final version. Ten UK academic and four health service senior oral surgeons were also asked to give feedback on the program's content, and these points were also incorporated in the final text. More than 1,600 copies of the program have been taken up by general dental practitioners so far. The program may be downloaded for evaluation via the internet.
Should clinical lecturers produce their own CAL material?
Clinical lecturers may embark upon the task of creating CAL material unaware of the effort required to produce the simplest of programs. This study aimed to measure the effort involved in such a task in order that those contemplating such development might make a judgement which is well informed. The study entailed a computer literate, yet non-programming clinical lecturer producing a ten-minute CAL program using three different authoring templates. A diary and time log were kept. The resulting pleces of software are discussed as well as the process by which they were created.
Survival of Listeria monocytogenes in milk during high-temperature, short-time pasteurization.
Milk from cows inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes was pooled for 2 to 4 days and then heated at 71.7 to 73.9 degrees C for 16.4 s or at 76.4 to 77.8 degrees C for 15.4 s in a high-temperature, short-time plate heat exchanger pasteurization unit. L. monocytogenes was isolated from milk after heat treatment in six of nine pasteurization trials done at 71.7 to 73.9 degrees C and in none of three trials done at 76.4 to 77.8 degrees C. An average of 1.5 to 9.2 L. monocytogenes cells was seen in each milk polymorphonuclear leukocyte before heat treatment in 11 of 12 pasteurization trials. Noticeable degradation of leukocytes with intracellular listeria was detected in unpasteurized milk after 3 days of storage at 4 degrees C, and by 4 days of storage leukocytes had deteriorated to cellular debris, suggesting that holding unpasteurized milk refrigerated for 4 or more days would eliminate a protective effect leukocytes may provide for increasing heat resistance of L. monocytogenes. Results indicate that under the conditions of this study, L. monocytogenes can survive the minimum high-temperature, short-time treatment (71.7 degrees C, 15 s) required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for pasteurizing milk.
An evaluation of training general dental practitioners in partial denture design using a computer-assisted learning program.
The authors of this paper produced a computer-assisted learning (CAL) program on aspects of partial denture design which covered the topics of surveying, support and indirect retention. Version 1 of the program was evaluated by 65 general dental practitioners, the majority of whom did this at their own homes or practices whilst the rest came in to the School of Dentistry. Participants were of varied ages and computer experience. A total of 85% of the participants found the program easy to use and 78% claimed the program had improved their knowledge of partial denture design, although less than half thought it had improved their practical skills. Opinions varied on which of the three topics were the most useful, and interest in future CAL material for dentistry was high. The study shows that CAL can be an acceptable, effective and enjoyable form of training for general dental practitioners who have access to modern microcomputers.