The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is an opportunity to redesign medical education. Academic training is now focused on acquiring not only knowledge, but also those competencies critical to face complex professional scenarios. Together with re-evaluating traditional teaching methods, EHEA has forced a technological shift in the way we teach. By critically assessing the impact of novel teaching methodologies, we can better define biomedical education demands. Here, we address this question on a sample of medical students instructed in basic subjects along the first two academic courses. Two hundred and one medical students participated in the study (n = 128 first year, n = 73 second year). Quantitative (conventional survey statistics) and qualitative (open coding) approaches were combined to analyze data from surveys, confidential questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and open discussion. First year medical students rated more positively the use of participatory methodologies than second year students. A major drawback is detected in the perceived workload. Active teaching methodologies show a strong reliance on their time of implementation for medical students, a key aspect to be considered in the design of integrative participatory curricula along the first academic courses.
A web application has been developed using the Microsoft .NET technology, which allows to use the Mathematica software from any personal computer connected to Internet. It is not necessary to have the Mathematica software in the own computer, therefore the requirements are limited to have a web browser. All the power of a high level package for numerical and symbolic calculation can be used with no need to spend great amounts of money in individual licenses. This allows students to use this software from their houses, by means of a simple interface, in any subject or project with mathematical calculations, even to attend virtual laboratories.
Background: There is few literature on the difficulties and different meanings of gastrostomy tubes (GST) for parents of children with palliative needs, and what specific palliative care teams contribute to this process. Aim: To explore the process of information in the decision of performing a gastrostomy and the meanings that parents of children with palliative needs build around them. Design: Semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analysed using Grounded Theory. Setting/participants: Parents and caretakers of children admitted in Paediatric Palliative Care Unit of Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain) whose children bore a gastrostomy device. Results: Two core categories arise (‘Fight’ and ‘The child as a life-meaning generator’). In all the cases, the child supplied the meaning to go on, and the Palliative Care Unit (CPU) helped in the daily care of the child and solving problems derived from the handling of the GT. Conclusions: It is necessary to improve the process of giving bad news and to introduce models of health care that focus on parents and child as the center of palliative care. It is also necessary to develop educational programs that enable continuity of care at home for children with palliative needs.
A project is being developed with the main goal of creating an application of web server which allows students to use Mathematica software from their computers without the necessity of installing this software and of programming the necessary algorithms. The project consists of a set of mathematical models programmed with Mathematica and stored in a web server, which has been installed in a computer of our department. At the moment, it is possible to access to the web pages of the application from any computer of the intranet of our School.
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