18 Results: Significant learning has arisen from these collected stories that have directly influenced our approach to students. The changes made focus not only on practical solutions but have also provided a platform for discussing the more complex issues of recruitment, retention and attrition rates. 7.7. Radiography Service-Learning: student experiences in relation to reciprocity, personal growth and the development of critical thinking skills Presenter: René Botha, Central University of Technology, South Africa Authors: RW Botha, J Bezuidenhout, MM Nel Introduction: Reciprocity in Service-Learning is created by the “interplay between teaching and learning”. Active learning places strong emphasis on dialogue and deliberation as primary modes of teaching and learning. Service-Learning includes activities and resources that draw from and build upon students’ own experiences, creative ideas, and “funds of knowledge” to increase and diversify the intellectual resources available to all students. Additionally Service-Learning enriches the lives of students since it promotes personal, social, and intellectual growth, as well as civic responsibility. Service-Learning promotes students’ self-improvement and self-actualisation and enriches the lives of all students. Literature also indicates that Service-Learning assists in the development of students’ critical thinking skills, the reasoning process that involves reflecting on ideas, actions and decisions. Since Service-Learning requires ‘a complex set of abilities and a willingness to deal with ideas’, critical thinking is not a discrete isolated skill, but is conceptualised and learned within a specific discipline. The purpose of this study was to analyse whether Radiography Service-Learning cultivates reciprocity, personal growth and critical thinking in students. Methods: Students and communities were paired into five groups. Students (n=68) completed a structured reflection and participated in interviews after each visit. Students also completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking tool pre- and post interventions. Results / conclusions: Feedback from the reflections and interviews showed that Service-Learning enhanced the curriculum and reinforced prior knowledge. Students collaborated, used additional resources and had to simplify information. The Service-Learning experience was positive (90.3%) and it challenged (33.5%) and reinforced (50%) students’ values and believes. The results of the critical thinking pre-test was 77.72% and for the post-test 81.22%, indicating an increase of the students’ critical thinking abilities. 7.8. Attitudes and perceptions of students and teachers about problem based learning in the radiography curriculum at Makerere University, Uganda Presenter: Aloysius Gonzaga Mubuuke, Makerere University School of Medicine, Uganda Authors: Kiguli-Malwadde Elsie, Businge Francis, Mubuuke Aloysius Gonzaga Introduction: The College of Health Sciences, Makerere University has been training health professionals since 1924 using a lecture based curriculum. After a curriculum review, the curriculum was changed to Problem Based Learning (PBL)/Community Based Education and Service (PBL/COBES) for all undergraduate programmes of which radiography is part. This study was carried out to find the attitudes and perceptions of students and faculty about PBL in the radiography curriculum. This study focused on finding out the attitudes and perceptions of students and teachers about PBL in the radiography curriculum. Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which selfadministered questionnaires were used and focus group discussions conducted with both radiography students and faculty. Results: All the students and 80% of teachers rated PBL highly as a good instructional method. 100% of the students and 100% of the teachers reported that PBL is a gateway to the acquisition of key generic skills like team work, problem-solving and self-directed learning. In adequate learning resources as well as student assessment in PBL were noted as the major challenges. 7.9. Using 3D simulation environment to enhance patient care, student communication skills and interdisciplinary learning across multiple healthcare disciplines in Australia – Preliminary Findings Presenter: Charlotte Sale, Andrew Love Cancer Centre and RMIT University, Australia Authors: Sale, C; Pow, D; Dobos, M; Sim, J Introduction: Healthcare practitioners often struggle in the area of patient communication skills. Student exposure to clinical settings is limited, adhoc and variable. While it is appropriate for practitioners to handle difficult communication situations, this further limits student learning opportunities. Although, the traditional mode of face-to-face role play is still being used in some undergraduate curriculum in developing student communication skills, an alternative mode of simulated learning presents multiple advantages. This project has been funded by Health Workforce Australia and builds on a previous study in the cancer care setting. This project aims to engage professional entry students and practitioners in the use simulation learning by extending collaborations between universities and clinical centres across Victoria, Australia. It is aimed to develop and enhance communication skills of professional entry students in radiation science, chiropractic and nursing. Project Aims and Expected Outcomes: •extend the benefit of simulation learning to five groups of professional entry students in health sciences; •extend and strengthen education collaborations on simulation learning between universities education providers and clinical centres across Victoria providing healthcare education; •engage radiation science and sonography practitioners on the use of simulated learning resources via a collaborative state-wide approach; •develop high quality three-dimensional (3D) simulated learning resources on patient communication for participating professions; and •provide equal access to simulated learning resources especially for students in regional and rural regions. Methods: The project uses a virtual learning platform for role play. The project will develop discipline specific scenarios that range from simple interactions to challenging cases that students may not be exposed to when on clinical placement. Results/Conclusions: At the time of abstract submission, the project was in the implementation phase. As part of this paper, preliminary findings of this Health Workforce Australia funded project will be presented at the conference. In previous research, Sim et al. (2010; 2011) and Sale and Sim (2012) found participants use of 3D simulated learning to be fun, engaging, interactive and stimulating - enhancing their learning. 7.10. Effective dose calculation – tool for dose optimization Presenter: Anja Henner, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland Author: Anja Henner Introduction: Effective dose in x-ray examination is the sum of the weighted average absorbed doses in all the tissues and organs of the body. International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has produced a list of tissue weighting factors for a number of organs and tissues. These factors have changed e.g. in 1991 (ICRP60) and 2007 (ICRP 103). Reason for this is new information of the sensitivity of the tissues to radiation. Since more time runs after atomic bombs were dropped in Japan, the more scientific research and results are found by the survivors and their next generations. According to ICRP 103 (2007) effective dose is not suitable for risk estimation of one patient. In teaching purposes it is easy way to show the effects of small changes to the doe and risk due to radiation. Calculation of effective dose is based on the Monte Carlo technique or direct organ dose measurements. PCXMC is a widespread and well tested Monte Carlo program for calculating patients’ organ doses and the effective dose in medical X-ray examinations developed in Finland. Methods: Student can make her / him familiar with the program by watching a recorded guide (Video clip) on a learning platform. The program is installed on computers at school. Students have collected earlier data for ESD (Entrance Surface Dose) calculation. Results: Typical examinations used are chest and lumbar spine.The PCXMC program calculates the whole body effective dose according to tissue weighting factors from ICRP 60 (1991) and ICRP 103 (2007) so in these examinations it is easy to find difference in ap / pa projection. Effect of added filtration, distance, exposed area and increase / decrease in kVp are easily demonstrated. It is also easy to find differences in effective dose between female and male with the same dose as well as the correlation
ISRRT | Book Of Abstracts
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