Interprofessional education (IPE) emphasizes collaborative practice that aims at promoting the working relationships between two or more healthcare professions. However, there is paucity of literature about the effectiveness of IPE program in the healthcare. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to objectively determine the effectiveness of IPE in that field in terms of the improvement of students' knowledge, skills and attitudes. The databases of OVID, ISI Knowledge of Science, and Medline (PubMed) were searched for the full-text English language articles published during 2000-2016 using the MeSH terms "interprofessional education" AND "healthcare professionals" AND "multi-professional" AND "impact" AND "effectiveness" OR "collaborative practice" OR "medical students" in Endnote X7. A systematic search finally selected 12 articles for detailed review and meta-analysis. The effect summary value of 1.37 with confidence interval of 0.92-1.82 identifies statistically significant effectiveness of intervention by IPE program in healthcare. The Z test value of 5.99, significant at 5% level of significance, also shows a significant impact of IPE intervention as calculated by the random-effects model. This meta-analysis shows a positive impact and effectiveness of educational intervention by IPE program in various disciplines of healthcare. However, analysis of further clinical trials may be helpful in identifying the effect of IPE program on the students' clinical competence.

Results from this systematic review and meta-analysis report that diabetic people have an increased risk of CRC as compared to non-diabetics.

Background:Online social networking sites (SNSs) (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube) have emerged as rapidly growing mechanisms to exchange personal and professional information among university students. This research aims to determine the medical students’ extent of usage of SNSs for educational purposes.Materials and Methods:Educational Resources Information Centre (ERIC), Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the Cochrane library, and Excerpta Medica Data Base (EMBASE) were searched to retrieve articles from 2004 to 2014, applying predefined search terms and inclusion criteria. The extracted 10 articles were outlined in a narrative synthesis of Quality, Utility, Extent, Strength, Target and Setting of the evidence (QUESTS).Results:Majority (75%) of the respondents admitted using SNSs, whereas 20% used these sites for sharing academic and educational information. No single study explored the impact of the SNSs on the academic performance.Conclusion:Understanding and knowledge of the significant use of SNSs by the medical students demand inclusion of such domains in medical curricula. This will train tomorrow's doctors in fostering their skills of digital technology for educational purposes.

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Regenerative medicine is a distinct major advancement in medical treatment which is based on the principles of stem cell technology and tissue engineering in order to replace or regenerate human tissues and organs and restore their functions. After many years of basic research, this approach is beginning to represent a valuable treatment option for acute injuries, chronic diseases and congenital malformations. Nevertheless, it is a little known field of research. The purpose of this review is to convey the state of the art in regenerative medicine in terms of historical steps, used strategies and pressing problems to solve in the future. This review represents a good starting point for more in-depth studies and personal research projects.

Background Faculty vitality is the main ingredient to enhance professional education and competence. Enriching the faculty vitality in key domains of teaching, assessing, research, professionalism, and administration is perceived to improve educational environment significantly and enhances the academic performance of learners. Faculty development program (FDP) has been considered as a stand-alone educational pedagogy in fostering knowledge and professional skills of faculty. However, few studies have provided objective reports about the impact of such programs in a healthcare system. Methods This research was conducted by selecting data sources of PubMed-Medline, Wiley online library, Cochrane library, Taylor & Francis Online, CINAHL, Springer link, Proquest, ISI Web of knowledge, ScienceDirect, EJS, EBSCO, Blackwell, Emerald and ABI Inform. This search followed a step-wise approach defined by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). A total of 37 studies that explored the impact of FDPs on medical and allied health faculty’s professional development were selected. Results This meta-analysis reported a mean effect size of 0.73 that reflects a significant and positive impact of FDPs in enhancing faculty’s knowledge and professional competence (z-statistics of 4.46 significant at p-value < 0.05) using the random effects model and forest plot. Conclusion This article reiterates the incorporation of FDPs in all healthcare institutions for improving the academic performance of faculty with resultant enrichment of learners’ knowledge and skills.

There is a sharp rise in the use of social networking sites (SNSs) by university students for various purposes. However, little is known about the use of SNSs for educational purposes. This study aims to determine educational use of SNSs by the medical students of two Saudi and a Kuwaiti medical school. A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering a 20-statement questionnaire to the undergraduate medical and allied health sciences students of two Saudi universities: Taibah University (TU) and Imam Abdulrahman AlFaisal University (IAFU), and one Kuwaiti university, Kuwait University (KU). The data were collected and analyzed by SPSS 20. Of a total of 1312 respondents, 1181 (90%) students used SNSs and 131 (10%) did not use SNSs for any reason. Further, only 442/1181 (37%, p < 0.00) students used SNSs for education and found these sites to be useful. As many as 357 (27%) students used SNSs for sharing education-related information once a day, 306 (23%) 3–5 times a day, and 331 (25%) once a week. A maximum of 678 (52%) used Facebook for educational purpose and most of the students, 469 (38%), used SNSs for sharing lectures. There were significant variations in responses among genders and year of schooling. The use of online social media in medical education is a rapidly evolving arena of scholarship. Low use of SNSs for sharing information and significant variations in perceptions of medical students about social media should draw attention of policy-makers for promoting awareness and educational reforms.

It is often perceived that undergraduate medical students do not select their career specialty until they are graduated. This study aimed to probe the preferences of undergraduate medical students about their career specialty and the factors influencing their choices. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 3rd through 5th year undergraduate medical students to record their choices of specialties and to identify the factors that influence their career selection. Out of 220 respondents, 29 (13.2%) students selected General Surgery, 24 (10.9%) Pediatrics, and 18 (8.2%) Internal Medicine as their career specialties; whereas 24 (10.9%) students were not able to select a major specialty. The least popular specialties were Gynecology and Obstetrics, Oncology, Histopathology, Orthopedics, Genetics, Psychology, each selected by one student. One hundred and seventeen (53.1%) thought their selected specialty 'matched their capabilities' and 82 (37.2%) perceived their selection as "innovative field in medicine". Career advice by friends and families and the desire to serve academic institutions could not influence career selection. Career preferences by medical students result from the interplay of a range of factors. General Surgery, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine were the most preferred specialties. The professional grooming programs to target specialties matching the trainees' capabilities and the specialties with state-of-the-art innovative technologies attract medical undergraduate students. The attained knowledge is vitally important for the policy makers in modifying the existing framework that can cater the popular and favored specialties.