Intern choices for the first graduates of James Cook University.
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Career Choice↗
Biomedical subjects
Jan Veitch
Publications and source records attributed to Jan Veitch.
Resuscitating the teaching of anatomical pathology in undergraduate medical education: Web-based innovative clinicopathological cases.
AIMS: Medical education has undergone substantial change in recent years, resulting in shorter, more compact courses that often contain much less pathology than previously. There has also been a concurrent decrease in the academic pathologist workforce in Australia, such that medical schools struggle to deliver even this reduced pathology curriculum. This paper reports the development and evaluation of an innovative approach in an undergraduate medical school to supporting pathology lectures, through integrating pathology with clinical medicine. METHODS: A series of 32 clinical pathological cases (CPCs) was developed to replicate clinicopathological conferences in a small group format. The CPCs were based on the pathology lectures, developed by a multidisciplinary clinical team and delivered to the students by clinical tutors. Students had access to learning support resources on the School's Intranet in both the main campus and rural teaching sites. Digitised pathology images, Web-based delivery and semi-guided learning issues are the main characteristics of the pathology module. The module was evaluated by a ranking system by the medical students for two consecutive years. RESULTS: In both years, the CPC module achieved a high score when compared with other components of the pathology curriculum. Positive feedback and frequent inquiries were also received about the module. CONCLUSION: The Web-based CPC modules provide an important resource that can facilitate teaching of pathology to medical students in the main campus and rural teaching sites. The module provides an opportunity to improve the profile of pathology in the medical school, in a manner that is sustainable with only one academic pathologist. It has the potential to be used nationally and internationally because of its multidisciplinary nature and the flexibility in its mode of delivery.
Curriculum↗
Teaching clinical pathology by flexible delivery in rural sites.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of a clinical pathology and clinical skills course designed for delivery at several distributed sites, including a mandatory eight-week placement in small remote communities. DESIGN: All students in the first cohort for the course were invited to complete questionnaires rating the value of their learning experiences and the impact of relying on resources delivered by information technology. Forty-one of 63 students responded. RESULTS: Formal lectures and resources provided at the main campus were most highly valued by the students. Patient presentations in the rural and remote communities were better examples of clinical pathology than those encountered in urban hospitals, and the rural tutors were regarded very highly for their support of student learning. Delivery of resource materials in remote sites was not as successful as planned, due to difficulties with bandwidth and download speeds. Student academic performance appeared unrelated to location of learning. CONCLUSION: Students were able to achieve learning objectives for the course, relying on a richer patient mix, campus-based core sessions and information technology-based resources. Curriculum planners should be encouraged to further devolve learning in traditionally campus-based content to rural and remote communities, but only after careful planning and resource allocation to support learning in rural teaching sites.
Consumer Behavior↗
Non-medical electives in a medical curriculum.
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Australia↗
A new socially responsible medical school for regional Australia.
BACKGROUND: Northern Australia is a geographically large region that has too few medical graduates and is a long way from Australia's metropolitan medical schools. This paper describes the establishment of a new medical school to serve these needs. METHODS: The paper describes the steps in development and presents an overview of the innovative educational approach, based on best available educational evidence, that aims to produce a medical workforce that understand the health care needs of the region and want to practice there. CONCLUSION: The result is an innovative, highly integrated programme with different aspirations and a different student profile from other Australian medical schools.
Australia↗
A performance assessment module for experienced general practitioners.
OBJECTIVE: To trial in Australian general practice a performance assessment module based on review of a sample of videotaped consultations. DESIGN: As part of a broader project 33 doctors provided 20 videotaped consultations collected according patient age, gender and problems encountered. The consultations were rated by a single trained rater. RESULTS: The consultations covered sufficient variety of patient ages, gender balance and problems encountered to achieve validity and the single rater design achieved defensible reliability (generalisability coefficient 0.86). CONCLUSION: The module is suitable for further exploration as an optional method for certification or re-certification assessment.
Adolescent↗