Introduction: Medical student involvement opportunities and educational experiences with surgical residents during medical school have been shown to increase the chance of students deciding to specialize in surgical specialties. This study aims to determine the effect of a neurosurgery elective during the second preclinical year on student interest and opinion of neurosurgery. Methods: Thirty-nine students completed opinion-based surveys and factual knowledge quizzes during a neurosurgical elective course over 3 iterations, which included lecture and skills lab instruction. Pre- and post-course surveys used the Likert scale, with a score of 1 corresponding to the most negative opinion and a score of 10 corresponding to the most positive opinion, in order to measure various aspects including interest in neurological surgery, understanding of the field, and perception of female inclusion in the field. Weekly pre- and post-lecture quizzes assessed practical knowledge of neurosurgical topics. Results: A higher percentage of students rated neurosurgery highly as a career possibility (⩾8/10 interest level) post-course (58.6%) compared to pre-course (45.7%). Post-course, students reported a significantly increased mean understanding of neurosurgery on the Likert scale compared to pre-course (6.1 ± 1.7 vs 4.4 ± 2.0; P = .001). Knowledge based-content assessment revealed a significant increase in overall correct answers after lectures (meanpre = 3.85, meanpost = 5.05, P = .001). Inclusion of female instructors in the second and third iteration of the course resulted in a significant increase in students’ perception of female inclusion in the field of neurosurgery (7.6 compared to 5.6, P = .01). Conclusions: Early exposure to subspecialties may assist in making important career decisions. The implementation of this neurosurgical elective improved medical students’ perception of the field and enhanced knowledge of the lectures and procedures. This study can be used as a framework for implementation of this curriculum at other institutions.
The top priority of medical institutions is to provide quality patient care services. Considering that healthcare personnel are to work with colleagues from various cultures, important are medical personnel training, in-service training, improvement of professional knowledge and skills, ability to adapt to working in a diverse team. The planning of employee training and in-service training is based on the strategic targets and personnel training needs of each institution. Qualification support programmes are organised for medical personnel to improve their professional knowledge and the knowledge and skills of medical nurses in the areas primarily related to patient care, but there is lack of training in stress management and development of stress resistance, as well as facilitation of collaboration with individuals of various cultures. The aim of the research study is to assess the work stress levels of healthcare personnel, the applied work stress management strategies, the levels of social and psychological adaptation of personnel, the ability to adapt to cultural diversity, and their mutual correlations. Research questions: What are the levels of work stress of healthcare personnel? What are the work stress management strategies applied by healthcare personnel? What are the levels of social and psychological adaption of healthcare personnel? What is the ability of healthcare personnel to adapt to cultural diversity? Are there statistically significant correlations between personnel work stress, the applied work stress management strategies, the levels of social and psychological adaptation, the ability to adapt to cultural diversity of the personnel? What exactly should be included in the personnel training plan while preparing the personnel for work in a multicultural environment? The respondents in the research study are healthcare personnel carrying out their duties in Latvia and Scandinavia simultaneously. The following surveys were used for data collection: A Work Stress Scale, a Stress Management Survey, a survey regarding social and psychological adaptation and a Cultural Diversity Self-evaluation Survey. The results of the research study suggest that most of the respondents have low levels of work stress, the active and pro-social management strategies are most frequently used to manage stress, the social and psychological adaptation score corresponds to a medium level. As a result of the research study, the authors prepared recommendations for the Human Resources Department regarding the organisation of training in stress management and development of stress resistance, as well as in the fundamentals of collaboration with individuals of various cultures in order to improve their professional and personal competences.
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