Objective To investigate the current status of higher education of allied health professions (AHPs), professional human resource as well as the career development of allied health professionals, and to provide references for the planning of higher education of AHPs in China. Methods Literature was reviewed in relation to the current status of higher education of AHPs and professional human resource in China. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the career development conditions of allied health professionals. Results a) Currently, the higher education of AHPs in China was faced with such problems as a limited scale, a lower structural level, and an absent degree system. b) The number of allied health professionals was small with lower qualifications. Higher-end professionals were in shortage. C) The professionals saw multiples glass ceilings over career orientation, academic advancement, and professional entitlement. Conclusion Efforts should be made to expand the scale of higher education of AHPs, elevate degree structure, and to construct a professional education system with multiple layers and categories. The professional education should be combined with the career development for planning and collaboration to provide assurance for the career development of the professional in China.
In West China Medical School of Sichuan University, the practice and exploration of the medical curriculum construction of "inquiry-class" teaching mode has been implemented with the support of the school since the spring semester of 2013. As a result a series of achievements have been made through the recruitment of graduate assistants to participate in auxiliary teaching in the mode of "large class teaching - small group discussion", as well as the reform of assessment methods and implementation of formative evaluation plus building effective assessment and management mechanism for curriculum.
The teaching of Clinical Pharmacology plays a very important role in medical education. In this article, we introduce our exploration and practice in Clinical Pharmacology course in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, which combines Good Clinical Practice with teaching methods such as problem-based learning and case-based learning. Furthermore, we analyze the actual effects in optimizing teaching content, renewing teaching mode, and improving teachers’ teaching ability, etc. We hope this article could provide new ideas for the teaching reform of undergraduate Clinical Pharmacology course.
診斷學是臨床醫學的基礎和入門，是習得臨床執業風格最重要的環節。如何在診斷學學習階段，夯實學生基本理論和技能，培養其科學縝密的臨床思維能力，是各醫學院校共同面對的課題和挑戰。互動參與式教學摒棄傳統單一的被動式、灌輸式的教學模式，強調以學生為主體，賦予學生協作性、參與性的教學訴求，加強內在激勵，激發其主觀能動性和創造力。根據診斷學不同教學模塊的課程目標、內容和知識結構，有機地將互動參與式教學法應用于診斷學教學中：問診-角色扮演，查體-示教與實踐學習，癥狀學-小講課、小組討論、床旁實踐，臨床思維-案例分析，職業素養-小組討論、角色扮演、床旁實踐、辯論演講等。策略得當地將互動參與式教學的理念、元素、方法應用于診斷學教學中，符合臨床醫學教學實踐性強的特點，遵循個體認知規律，符合外部和內在發展并重的教學效果的深層考量，具備良好的教學容量和一定的普適性，值得在臨床醫學教學中推廣運用。
ObjectiveTo discuss the present situation of emergency physicians' communicational ability and the intervention measures. MethodsWe investigated 66 students who participated in continuing medical education of "emergency physicians' communication skills training course" from 2010 to 2013. All students accepted systematic training. After the training, we did the investigation again, and then made a comparison before and after the training. ResultsA major 78.8% of the students in this training had never taken part in the training of communication skills before; 51.5% of the students thought that the improvement of communication ability could be achieved mainly through long-term accumulation of clinical experiences. Students' self-evaluation showed that communication problem occurred 2 times a year in 10.6% of them, 3 times in 22.7%, 4 times in 24.2%, and five or more times in 34.8%. Students' role playing score in the scenario training rose from 5.374±0.686 to 6.717±0.517 after the training, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.024). ConclusionEmergency physicians lack knowledge of communication skills which needs to be improved. Through training, the skills can be improved significantly.
Objectives To establish a course evaluation model for overseas medical students in West China Medical School of Sichuan University, to identify problems in teaching and to solve problems based on evidence so as to futher improve the quality of teaching. Methods We conducted a preliminary course evaluation to determine the limitations of our evaluation methods and to convey our intention to related stakeholders. Firstly, we identified problems in teaching according to the feedback from our students using a questionnaire. Secondly, we proposed an initial list of possible solutions to these problems based on evidence from literature searching and discussion within the Department of Teaching Affairs. We submitted the initial list to the administrative departments, teaching departments (teachers) and students to identify applicable solutions through two rounds of formal consensus. Their attitudes to this procedure of evaluation and decision-making were collected. Finally, incentives were given out by administrative departments and teaching departments to facilitate the implementation of applicable solutions. Results Teachers’ English ability and the didactic teaching methods were the most concerned problems. In addition, some semesters and courses were not well arranged and there was not enough practice time. An initial list of 14 items was submitted to teaching departments and students. They all agreed with the procedure of evaluation and decision-making. We also found that some aspects of the evaluation methods and styles need to be improved. An additional paper would report further results. Conclusion This preliminary evaluation was helpful for improving teaching and formal evaluation in the future. We need to strengthen the English language skills of younger faculty and gradually adopt a model of student-centered and enquiry-based teaching. This process of evaluation and improvement should be applied as a long-term policy and an evidence-based research group should be established to work together with our quality assurance unit.