Republished in:
1. Republished in: Teng CL, Khoo EM, Ng CJ (editors). Family Medicine, Healthcare and Society: Essays by Dr M K Rajakumar, Second Edition. Kuala Lumpur: Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, 2019: 91-98
2. An Uncommon Hero. p345-353
Given the international growth of physician associate/physician assistant (PA) and PA-comparable professions, it is crucial to understand the educational curricula of PA/PA-comparable professions worldwide. This article provides an overview of the process and development of the PA/PA-comparable curricula mapping design applying an international framework. It uses an innovative web-based tool, the Learning Opportunities, Objectives, and Outcomes Platform (LOOOP), to map and evaluate course content, teaching strategies, assessment formats, and learning outcomes. It highlights the project's rationale, challenges, and future implications.
Breaking bad news is a process of delivering news, which may negatively affect a patient's view of the future, however is an essential skill for doctors. There are a multitude of benefits if doctors can execute this task well, and will improve the disease journey for the patient. There are several published models including the SPIKES and ABCDE models to help guide the doctor to break bad news effectively. This important skill can be taught through various methods but the most effective may be actually observing a session by senior clinicians.
This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of Supporting Family Doctors to Address Elder Abuse (SAFE) educational intervention among family doctors practicing at public primary care clinics in Malaysia. SAFE is an intensive, multimodal, locally tailored, and culturally sensitive face-to-face educational intervention on elder abuse. A significant mean score improvement of knowledge [Baseline: 5.33 (SD:1.33) to 6-month post-intervention: 6.45 (SD: 1.35); p<0.001] and perceived behavioral control [Baseline: 50.83 (SD: 8.87) to six-month post-intervention: 56.16 (SD: 9.56); p<0.001] observed in the intervention group compared to the control group. No significant difference in attitude, subjective norm, and practice scores between the two groups over time. SAFE educational intervention for family doctors was effective to improve but not sustainable knowledge and perceived behavioral control toward elder abuse identification and management. We recommend SAFE educational intervention as part of the continuous medical education for family doctors supplemented with a change in organization and national policy.
The training of emergency medical officers has always been informal. Only recently, the presence of emergency physician may have a positive influence in their training and development. This study aims to determine the effect of Emergency Physician (EP) presence on the training exposure and confidence level of medical officers in their practice.