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Biomedical subjects

J Bligh

Publications and source records attributed to J Bligh.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Teaching and assessing medical ethics: where are we now?

OBJECTIVES: To characterise UK undergraduate medical ethics curricula and to identify opportunities and threats to teaching and learning. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire survey of UK medical schools enquiring about teaching and assessment, including future perspectives. PARTICIPANTS: The lead for teaching and learning at each medical school was invited to complete a questionnaire. RESULTS: Completed responses were received from 22/28 schools (79%). Seventeen respondents deemed their aims for ethics teaching to be successful. Twenty felt ethics should be learnt throughout the course and 13 said ethics teaching and learning should be fully integrated horizontally. Twenty felt variety in assessment was important and three tools was the preferred number. A shortfall in ethics core competencies did not preclude graduation in 15 schools. The most successful aspects of courses were perceived to be their integrated nature and the small group teaching; weaknesses were described as a need for still greater integration and the heavily theoretical aspects of ethics. The major concerns about how ethics would be taught in the future related to staffing and staff development. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes how ethics was taught and assessed in 2004. The findings show that, although ethics now has an accepted place in the curriculum, more can be done to ensure that the recommended content is taught and assessed optimally.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2004

Serological speciation of human schistosome infections by ELISA with a panel of three antigens.

AIMS: To find out whether serology can reliably speciate human schistosomiasis using a simple enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. METHODS: Stored sera from 66 patients with microscopically confirmed schistosomiasis were subjected to ELISA using a panel of three antigens, namely: unfractionated Schistosoma mansoni soluble egg antigen (SEA); CEF6, a cationic fraction of SEA; and crude S margrebowiei egg antigen, prepared from an animal schistosome closely related to S haematobium. RESULTS: The optical densities (ODs) obtained using CEF6 as antigen were significantly higher in sera from S mansoni infected patients than in sera from S haematobium infected patients (median OD, 0.810 v 0.595). Using S margrebowiei egg antigen, the optical densities were significantly higher in S haematobium sera than in S mansoni sera (median OD, 0.794 v 0.544). There was no significant difference in optical densities between S mansoni and S haematobium sera using SEA (median OD, 0.725 v 0.737). The ratio of ODs (CEF6 to S margrebowiei egg antigen) was calculated: a ratio of >1 indicated S mansoni infection (sensitivity, 88%) and a ratio of <1 indicated S haematobium infection (sensitivity, 84%). The odds ratio for S haematobium having an OD ratio of <1 was 36.8 (95% confidence interval, 7.0 to 194). CONCLUSIONS: The identity of the infecting species of schistosome can be determined using the panel of antigens described. SEA should be used to screen serum samples, and the CEF6 : S margrebowiei egg antigen ELISA optical density ratio can be used where serological speciation is required.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Interprofessional learning involving medical students or doctors.

AIMS: There is a belief that interprofessional learning among health care professionals promotes teamwork and collaboration, leading to improved patient care, but supporting data have not been available. Our aim was to identify recent studies on interprofessional learning involving medical students or doctors. METHODS: The medical education literature was searched for relevant publications since 1998 and the studies were subsequently classified according to various criteria. RESULTS: A total of 24 'research papers' and 36 'literature review/editorial-type papers' were identified. Research papers generally described interprofessional learning initiatives and evaluated their success in terms of knowledge or attitudes by data collection. Seven collected qualitative data, 4 collected quantitative data and 11 collected both. None of the studies identified conformed to the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines for a rigorous source of quantitative information on an intervention's effectiveness. DISCUSSION: The authors suspect that significantly more studies have been performed than those published. This may indicate research of variable quality, leading to a large proportion of papers being rejected for publication. More and better quality research is required as more resources become available to academic and health care organisations for interprofessional learning.

Cooperative Behavior↗
PubMed2002

A combined medical and surgical approach to hydatid disease: 12 years' experience at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London.

BACKGROUND: There is no consensus as to the most appropriate treatment for the varied and often complicated presentations of hydatid disease in Britain. We looked at our own results over a 12-year period to see if a consistent and logical plan had emerged. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 70 patients presenting between 1986 and 1998 were analysed retrospectively, with regard to their presentation, diagnosis, treatment and outcome, with particular reference to the use of chemotherapy, and to the difficulties of post-treatment assessment by serology and imaging. RESULTS: 37 patients had been treated previously. 35 had hepatic cysts and 26 multiple cysts. 4 patients were treated by surgery alone, 44 by chemotherapy and surgery, and 14 by chemotherapy alone. The combined use of albendazole and praziquantel pre-operatively reduced significantly the number of cysts that contained viable protoscolices: 1/25 versus 5/8 that received albendazole alone (P = 0.00013). During the 12-year period, it became our policy to aim for 3 months drug treatment (albendazole throughout with praziquantel for 2 weeks), re-assess and proceed either to surgery or to continue with chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to construct an algorithm for the management of patients with hydatid disease by chemotherapy and surgery, but the assessment of results by indirect techniques remains difficult.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Recent perspectives on clinical teaching.

Clinical teaching is part of a doctor's professional life, whether it takes place in surgeries, clinics or in hospitals, with undergraduates, postgraduate trainees or colleagues. Learning to teach well means questioning the effectiveness of some of the old teaching methods, exploring new ideas and trying out new methods in different situations. It means collaborating more closely with colleagues and learners about developing and implementing new approaches to medical education. This paper is the first of an occasional series of articles about the practical aspects of clinical teaching. The articles have the following characteristics: they explore contemporary themes in medical and health care education; they use up-to-date references; they are a quick and easy resource for busy teachers; they explore new ideas about teaching and learning, and they provide a reference list of relevant papers. This article deals with recent ideas about clinical teachers' knowledge and roles, teaching and organizational strategies, and the measurement of teaching effectiveness.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2000

Early effects of a new problem-based clinically oriented curriculum on students' perceptions of teaching.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the course experiences of medical students in a new problem-based (PBL) undergraduate medical course with those of their peers in a conventional curriculum. DESIGN: Whole class questionnaire survey using a pre-validated research instrument. SETTING: University of Liverpool, UK. SUBJECTS: First and second year medical students RESULTS: New curriculum students were more satisfied with their course when compared to their conventional course peers. Problem solving, team working and motivation scores were significantly higher amongst new course (PBL) students. New course students were more anxious about clarity of objectives and standard of work required. CONCLUSIONS: Early evidence suggests that curriculum reform from conventional teaching to a small group problem analysis programme results in improvement in student satisfaction with teaching and the development of appropriate learning skills.

Curriculum↗