Demand for the emergency medical technician (EMT) is 2 times greater than that of all other occupations. Sustainability of ambulance services (AS) personnel is dependent upon the recruitment of EMTs into the industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was the exploration of the recruiting strategies that AS administrators used to increase the number of EMTs. Herzberg's 2-€factor theory of motivation was the conceptual framework for this study. The data collection instrument included semistructured interviews with 6 AS company executives in southeastern New Mexico and southwestern Texas. Secondary data and document from each state's emergency medical services personnel and websites related to EMTs were reviewed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis alignment between the recruiting strategies and the conceptual framework. Two key themes emerged: AS administrators have minimal data-€driven recruitment tracking mechanisms and recruiting strategies for EMTs must align with the motivational aspects of growth, advancement, recognition, and responsibility in the AS business to entice people into the industry. The implications of this study for social change include the potential for AS executives to identify recruiting strategies they might use to increase the recruitment of EMTs to meet patient and community needs for medical transport while reducing the demand for EMTs nationwide.

Purpose To assess radiography faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses. Methods An original survey instrument was created by selecting items from 3 instruments used in prior research and adding unique questions designed to elicit demographic data from faculty. The sample included a national dataset of radiography faculty members employed in Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology–accredited programs in the United States. Results Findings showed that faculty perceptions of online course effectiveness are not affected significantly by faculty position, type of institution, faculty age, or years of teaching experience. Positive perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses moderately increased with years of teaching online courses, number of online courses taught in the past 5 years, and perceived competence with the use of technology. Faculty satisfaction with interaction in online courses moderately increased as the years of teaching online courses increased. However, the number of years of teaching online courses was not related to faculty satisfaction with teaching online courses or faculty satisfaction with institutional support. Online technology acceptance had a moderately positive relationship with perceived ease of use and a strong positive relationship with perceived usefulness of online technology. In addition, the use of technology-enhanced learning methods had a strong positive relationship with technological self-efficacy. Conclusion Radiography faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses improved with experience in teaching online courses and competence with use of technology. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of online technology were related directly to online technology acceptance. Furthermore, faculty members with technological self-efficacy were more likely to use technology-enhanced learning methods in the online environment.

BACKGROUND: South Africa bares a significant burden of HIV and imaging is commonly performed as part of the workup for respiratory distress. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to document the prevalence of pulmonary thrombo-embolic disease (PTED) and other findings in HIV-infected patients referred for CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for suspected PTED. METHOD: Forty CTPA studies of documented HIV-infected individuals investigated for suspected PTED during a 1-year period were retrieved, anonymised and interpreted by three consultant radiologists. Inter-reader reliability was calculated using Free Marginal multi-rater Kappa. RESULTS: Fourteen of the forty cases (35%) were positive for PTED. In the pulmonary embolism (PE)-positive group, 57.14% had peripheral disease and 42.86% had both peripheral and central disease. Associated findings in the PE-positive cases were pulmonary infarcts (17.5%), mosaic attenuation (17.5%) and linear atelectasis (7.5%). The most common incidental findings were solid pulmonary nodules (52.5%), non-wedge-shaped consolidation (45%), cardiomegaly (52.5%) and enlarged intra-thoracic lymph nodes (52.5%). Thirty per cent of the study population had findings related directly to the presence of PTED, whilst most cases in the study (77.5%) had pulmonary findings unrelated to PTED. In the PE-negative cases, 55% reported emergent findings that warranted immediate or urgent medical attention. CONCLUSION: Computed tomography pulmonary angiography imaging is critical for diagnosing PE. However, further investigation into the judicious application of CTPA in HIV-infected patients with suspected PTED is required, as CTPA findings in most of the cases in this study were unrelated to PE.

The dexterity of computer systems to resemble and mimic human intelligence is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has reformed the diagnostic and therapeutic precision and competence in various fields of medicine. Artificial intelligence appears to play a bright role in medical diagnosis. Computer systems using artificial intelligence help in the assessment of medical images and enormous data. This research aims to identify how artificial intelligence-based technology is reforming the art of medicine. Artificial intelligence empowers providers in improving efficiency and overall healthcare. Newer machine learning techniques lead the automatic diagnostic systems. Areas of medicine such as medical imaging, automated clinical decision-making support have made significant advances with respect to artificial intelligence technology. With improved diagnosis and prognosis, artificial intelligence possesses the capability to revolutionize various fields of medicine. Artificial intelligence has its own limitations and cannot replace a bedside clinician. In the evolving modern medical digital world, physicians need to support artificial intelligence rather than fear it replacing trained physicians for improved healthcare.

Renal hypoperfusion from renal artery stenosis (RAS) activates the renin-angiotensin system, which in turn causes volume overload and hypertension. Atherosclerosis and fibromuscular dysplasia are the most common causes of renal artery stenosis. Recurrent flash pulmonary edema, also known as Pickering syndrome, is commonly associated with bilateral renal artery stenosis. There should be a high index of clinical suspicion for renal artery stenosis in the setting of recurrent flash pulmonary edema and severe hypertension in patients with atherosclerotic disease. Duplex ultrasonography is commonly recommended as the best initial test for the detection of renal artery stenosis. Computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA) or magnetic resonance (MR) angiography (MRA) are useful diagnostic imaging studies for the detection of renal artery stenosis in patients where duplex ultrasonography is difficult. If duplex ultrasound, CTA, and MRA are indeterminate or pose a risk of significant renal impairment, renal angiography is useful for a definitive diagnosis of RAS. The focus of medical management for RAS relies on controlling renovascular hypertension and aggressive lifestyle modification with control of atherosclerotic disease risk factors. The restoration of renal artery patency by revascularization in the setting of RAS due to atherosclerosis may help in the management of hypertension and minimize renal dysfunction.

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) supports the expansion of Occupational Therapy (OT) in primary care (PC), including specialty areas like Obstetrics & Gynecology (OB/GYN) (AOTA Commission of Education, 2017). The American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG) recommends that physicians utilize an interdisciplinary team to address obesity (ACOG, 2016). However, OT’s role in OB/GYN is undefined and both disciplines are unaware of this role. The hope of this project is to facilitate the integration of OT services into OB/GYN PC teams by defining a role for OTs, increasing OTs’ awareness of this role, and contributing to the tools for OTs in OB/GYN PC. A webinar will be used to increase OT’s awareness because of their convenience, interactivity, and efficacy to increase OT’s knowledge and confidence on a subject (Pittman & Lawdis, 2017).The Ecology of Human Performance (EHP) framework is used to understand the healthcare need. There is an increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity and low rate of physical activity (PA) in women of reproductive age (WRA, 19-39 years) (Flegal, Kruszon-Moran, Carroll, Fryar, & Ogden, 2016; Melton, Bland, Marshall & Bigham, 2016). Therefore, WRA are limited in their performance of health management and maintenance tasks that influence obesity (AOTA, 2014). This is a public health concern because women with obesity and little PA have an increased chance of developing other chronic conditions, having a child with neurodevelopmental conditions and obesity, also social stigma and limited performance of life tasks (Mitchell & Saw, 2015;Saliman Reingold, Jordan, & Amini, 2013). This population relies on OB/GYNs for their PC (Stormo, Mona, Hing, Henderson, & Sawa, 2014). However, OB/GYNs do not routinely treat obesity because of self-reported barriers including lack of time/training and social/weight bias (Lindheim et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2015). Also, OT’s—who are distinctly qualified to address health management and maintenance—are not utilized in OB/GYN PC because of both profession’s decreased awareness of OT’s role. This project proposes that OTs have a distinct role in OB/GYN PC teams by supporting physicians in treating obesity using a context and occupation-based approach, not currently utilized, which impacts WRA and future generations. / 2019-10-23T00:00:00Z

No description available.

<p>Primary care multi-disciplinary teams were central to recent reform plans for Canadian primary care, in response to limited resources and increasing demands. Health Information Technology was also an integral part of those plans as supporting infrastructure for the modernization of healthcare services, facilitating coordination, collaboration and access to services. As provider-centric Health Information Technology matures, attention turns to the patient. The hallmark of patient-centered applications is the electronic Personal Health Record System (PHR). These systems have grown beyond simple repositories of personal health information, extending to a range of information collection, sharing, self-management and exchange functions.</p> <p>The implementation of PHRs in primary care multi-disciplinary teams involves many stakeholders including patients, physician, allied health professionals and support staff. There is significant literature on physician and patient perspectives on all PHR functions. However, little attention has been given to the other stakeholders: allied health professionals and support staff.</p> <p>In this study, we explored the views of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and support staff, working in a primary care clinic adopting a patient-centered, multi-disciplinary model called the Family Health Team (FHT) model. Participants provided their insight on benefits, concerns and recommendations regarding the implementation of MyOSCAR, a PHR, at their clinic. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews that were analyzed to extract common themes and summarize participant views. Process diagrams were produced to highlight opportunities for improvement of current work processes through the integration of MyOSCAR functions.</p> <p>As more teams are created in primary care and they attempt to implement new technologies, it is important to get a complete picture of all stakeholder views. This is the first study that focuses on the views of AHPs and support staff, contributing to the literature on PHR implementations. Findings from this study can contribute to future PHR implementations by informing planning and implementation.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Yes

Yes / Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) have the capacity to promote healthy behaviours in young children through routine ‘contact points’, as well as structured weight management programmes. This scoping review aims to evaluate the impact of AHPs in the prevention of obesity in young children. Methods: Databases were searched for relevant evidence between 1st January 2000 and 17th January 2022. Eligibility criteria included primary evidence (including, but not limited to; randomised controlled trials, observational studies, service evaluations) evaluating the impact of AHPs on the primary and secondary prevention of obesity in young children (mean age under five years old). Results: AHP related interventions typically demonstrated improvements in outcomes such as nutritional behaviour (e.g., lower sweetened drink intake), with some reductions in screen time. However, changes in weight outcomes (e.g., Body Mass Index (BMI) z score, BMI) in response to an AHP intervention were inconsistent. There was insufficient data to determine moderating effects, however tentative evidence suggests that those with a lower socioeconomic status or living in an underprivileged area may be more likely to lose weight following an AHP intervention. There was no evidence identified evaluating how AHPs use routine ‘contact points’ in the prevention of obesity in young children. Conclusion: AHP interventions could be effective in optimising weight and nutritional outcomes in young children. However, more research is required to determine how routine AHP contact points, across the range of professional groups may be used in the prevention of obesity in young children.