BackgroundCurriculum planners and medical teachers attempt to enhance medical students’ empathy and patient-centeredness. Despite educational efforts, there is stability in medical students’ empathy and patient-centered medicine during the preclinical stage and a decline in both of them throughout the clinical years. Student–tutor relationship plays a key role in students’ learning. This study tests the effect of learner-centered tutoring on students’ empathy, patient-centeredness, and behavior.Participants and methodsThe cohort of 55 students was divided into groups of seven or eight. The experimental group’s tutors underwent LC mentoring. Empathy was assessed with the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy for Students; PC attitude was assessed with the Patient–Provider Orientation Scale (PPOS). Behavior was assessed by simulations of doctor–patient encounters with 32 students at the end of the third year. Each student participated in three such simulations, during which we analyzed ten aspects of physician–patient communication via Roter interaction analysis system (RIAS)-coded audiotapes.ResultsA significant group difference was found for three RIAS categories: building a relationship and patient-centeredness, where the mean percentage of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group, and gathering data, where the mean percentage of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group. A significant correlation was found in the experimental group between empathy and positive talk and between PPOS and three of the RIAS categories: gathering data, psychosocial talk, and patient-centeredness. A significant negative correlation was found in the experimental group between PPOS and two of the RIAS categories: negative talk and doctor–centeredness. Two significant negative correlations were found in the control group: between empathy and patient-centeredness and PPOS and negative talk.ConclusionThe LC approach supports two of the RIAS categories, corresponding to clinical empathy and PC care and the link between certain behaviors and the PPOS.
In recent months, the world in general and the academic world are coping with wide ranging changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, which force us all to assimilate many changes. The academic world has quickly adopted these changes and made the transition to digital distance learning. These changes are challenging and are added as an additional struggle in adopting distance learning. At the same time, there is a growing notion that academic institutions are not just providers of knowledge, but cultural agents of change as well. As such, they must develop new skills among students. These includes real-time problem solving, decision making, independent learning, synthesis of knowledge, and daily challenges of the ever-changing New-World as well as developing critical thinking and self-esteem. In order to remain relevant, the academic world must incorporate innovative content and teaching paradigms that allow adaptation to these changes, rather than holding on to traditional online teaching methods alone. This article describes the implementation of a unique student-centered teaching methodology which is digitally learned and assessed. The methodology is part of a transformation of higher education into student-oriented and as a necessary development of skills for students in a changing world environment using distance digital learning platforms.
While the 21st century is typified with constant change, over the past few months, with the break of the COVID-19, the world is undergoing tremendous changes at a pace and magnitude that have not been seen before. It has been argued that coping and succeeding in the changing reality of the 21st century globally requires a wider set of skills than before, many of which are soft, social-emotional skills. This is particularly true in the uncertainly of the current times worldwide. Incorporating the development of soft skills in the current academic systems, which still hold a mainly cognitive focus has been found challenging and efforts are relatively scarce and isolated. This is becoming even more challenging as the current situation has forced the academy to adapt quickly to digital teaching methods and the use of various platforms for E learning. Aim: to presents a unique method and tool for cultivating soft skills in students, which can be integrated in the general curriculum through digital and E learning. Method: presenting the theoretical basis of the model and exemplifying the ways it can be used in different subjects and as part of higher education institutions (HEI) strategy. Result: although pilot studies are still undergoing, it is believed that integrating soft skills development using online learning and linking them to course subjects will help HEI to stay relevant in a changing world and fulfil their role in preparing students to the 21st century reality, in the times of the recent health crisis COVID-19 and beyond.
The current study describes the implementation of an online Future Problem Solving (FPS) program in the field of Health education and set out to explore its contribution to students' eHealth Literacy identity, by using two levels of teacher guidance: minimal vs. frequent. FPS was employed in two groups of Health students. In the research group, frequent weekly guidance was provided to the students centered on the enhancement of eHealth Literacy skills, whereas in the control group minimal guidance was offered by the lecturer. Data for the analysis were gathered from 113 Israeli undergraduate students of a Management of Health Service Organizations program, of whom 62 comprised the research group. Data were gathered twice, pre- and post-program implementation from both groups. Findings showed significant differences between the tests only for the research group, with increased levels of eHealth Literacy skills detected between the tests. The perception of the FPS program as meaningful contributed to students' perceived eHealth Literacy skills only in the research group whereas non-significant results were shown for the control group. This study mainly shows that the enhancement of skills in online educational environments requires frequent and personalized guidance. Faculty must recognize the role of the instructor as a facilitator of learning and design successful scaffolding strategies to nurture students' lifelong learning skills during distance learning.
In recent decades, it has been increasingly recognized that soft skills play an important role in healthcare education and must be developed alongside other professional skills. Furthermore, the contribution of emotional intelligence (EI) to the ability to adapt to the changing environment of the 21st century has been widely agreed upon. Yet, despite these findings, social–emotional intelligence (SEI) and related skills skills are not widely developed in healthcare education settings, and if at all, only in a limited way. The present chapter presents a model and a methodological tool (SE-SD) for the development of social–emotional skills (SEI) as part of existing healthcare curricula, applying a broad view of the healthcare professions and associated skills. Soft, social–emotional, skills are positioned as a relevant and integral part of healthcare courses, thereby avoiding the need for significant changes in existing curricula. The SEI development process is implemented in three stages: preparation, action and assessment. The tool allows learners to embark on a self-directed, yet supervised, learning and development process, and can be applied to a single course or through the entire study program. The incorporation of a soft skill development process into healthcare education programs could help health systems to adapt and to cope better with the challenges of the 21st century, both present and future.
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