伊藤 彰一

In clinical clerkship (CC), medical students can practice evidence-based medicine (EBM) with their assigned patients. Although CC can be a valuable opportunity for EBM education, the impact of EBM training, including long-term behavioral changes, remains unclear. One hundred and nine fourth- and fifth-year medical students undergoing CC at a medical school in Japan attended a workplace-based learning program for EBM during CC (WB-EBM), which included the practice of the five steps of EBM. The program's effect on the students' attitudes toward EBM in CC was assessed through questionnaires. A total of 88 medical students participated in the program. Responses to the questionnaire indicated high satisfaction with the WB-EBM program. The most common theme in students' clinical problems with their assigned patients was the choice of treatment, followed by its effect. Based on the responses in the post-survey for the long-term effects of the program, the frequency of problem formulation and article reading tended to increase in the 'within six months' group comprising 18 students who participated in the WB-EBM program, compared with the control group comprising 34 students who did not. Additionally, the ability to self-assess problem formulation was significantly higher, compared with the control group. However, among 52 students who participated in the WB-EBM program more than six months later, EBM-related behavioral habits in CC and self-assessments of the five steps of EBM were not significantly different from those in the control group. The WB-EBM program was acceptable for medical students in CC. It motivated them to formulate clinical questions and enhanced their critical thinking. Moreover, the WB-EBM program can improve habits and self-evaluations about EBM. However, as its effects may not last more than six months, it may need to be repeated across departments throughout CC to change behavior in EBM practice.

Abstract Background Hidden curriculum (HC) can limit the effects of professionalism education. However, the research on how HC triggers unprofessional behavior among medical students is scant. Furthermore, there is no established approach for how faculty members may create a context, such as an educational environment and education system, that prevents students’ unprofessional behavior. This study aimed to develop an educational approach to prevent unprofessional behavior and clarify how faculty members consider HC that triggers students’ unprofessional behavior. Methods The study sample comprised 44 faculty members and eight medical students from the Chiba University School of Medicine. The participants were divided into groups and asked the following question: “What attitudes, statements, and behaviors of senior students, physicians, and faculty members trigger medical students’ unprofessional behavior?” The responses were collected using the affinity diagram method. The group members discussed the causes and countermeasures for the selected attitudes, statements, and behaviors of senior students, physicians, and faculty members based on the affinity diagram. The impact of the group work on the faculty members was surveyed using questionnaires immediately after its completion and six months later. Furthermore, the cards in the group work were analyzed using content analysis. Results The responses to the questionnaire on group work indicated that some faculty members (43.8%) improved HC, while others suggested conducting group work with more participants. The content analysis revealed six categories – inappropriate attitude/behavior, behavior encouraging unprofessional behavior, lack of compliance with regulations, harassment of other medical staff, inappropriate educational environment/supervisor, and inappropriate self-control – and 46 subcategories. Conclusions The HC that triggers students’ unprofessional behavior includes the words and actions of the educator, organizational culture, and educational environment. Group work makes faculty members aware of the HC that triggers unprofessional behavior, and induces behavioral change for HC improvement in the educational activities. Educators should refrain from using words and actions that encourage unprofessional behavior, such as personal anecdotes, as they reduce students’ learning motivation.

An educational augmented reality auscultation system (EARS) is proposed to enhance the reality of auscultation training using a simulated patient. The conventional EARS cannot accurately reproduce breath sounds according to the breathing of a simulated patient because the system instructs the breathing rhythm. In this study, we propose breath measurement methods that can be integrated into the chest piece of a stethoscope. We investigate methods using the thoracic variations and frequency characteristics of breath sounds. An accelerometer, a magnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, a pressure sensor, and a microphone were selected as the sensors. For measurement with the magnetic sensor, we proposed a method by detecting the breathing waveform in terms of changes in the magnetic field accompanying the surface deformation of the stethoscope based on thoracic variations using a magnet. During breath sound measurement, the frequency spectra of the breath sounds acquired by the built-in microphone were calculated. The breathing waveforms were obtained from the difference in characteristics between the breath sounds during exhalation and inhalation. The result showed the average value of the correlation coefficient with the reference value reached 0.45, indicating the effectiveness of this method as a breath measurement method. And the evaluations suggest more accurate breathing waveforms can be obtained by selecting the measurement method according to breathing method and measurement point.

Multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism (MSA-P) can hardly be distinguished from Parkinson’s disease (PD) clinically in the early stages. This study investigated whether a standardized T1-weighted/T2-weighted ratio (sT1w/T2w ratio) can effectively detect degenerative changes in the middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP) associated with MSA-P and PD and evaluated its potential to distinguish between these two diseases. We included 35 patients with MSA-P, 32 patients with PD, and 17 controls. T1w and T2w scans were acquired using a 1.5-T MR system. The MCP sT1w/T2w ratio was analyzed via SPM12 using a region-of-interest approach in a normalized space. The diagnostic performance of the MCP sT1w/T2w ratio was compared between the MSA-P, PD, and controls. Patients with MSA-P had significantly lower MCP sT1w/T2w ratios than patients with PD and controls. Furthermore, MCP sT1w/T2w ratios were lower in patients with PD than in the controls. The MCP sT1w/T2w ratio showed excellent or good accuracy for differentiating MSA-P or PD from the control (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.919 and 0.814, respectively) and substantial power for differentiating MSA-P from PD (AUC = 0.724). Therefore, the MCP sT1w/T2w ratio is sensitive in detecting degenerative changes in the MCP associated with MSA-P and PD and is useful in distinguishing MSA-P from PD.