Shining a Light Inside the “Black Box” of NIH Application Submission and Review

What happens to applications after they are submitted to the National Institutes of Health, and how can you better prepare yourself and your application for the process of peer review? The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) works closely with the 24 funding institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health that provide funding support for projects of high scientific merit and high potential impact. CSR conducts the first level of review for the majority of grant applications submitted to the NIH, which includes 90% of R01s, 85% of Fellowships, and 95% of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) applications as well as many other research and training opportunity activities. In this capacity, CSR helps to identify the most meritorious projects, cutting-edge research, and future scientists who will advance the mission of the NIH: to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. The purpose of this project is to provide an overview of 1) what happens to NIH applications before, during, and after peer review at CSR; 2) a summary of new and current peer review policies and practices that impact investigators and their submitted applications; and 3) strategies for developing a strong NIH grant application. Peer review is the cornerstone of the NIH grant supporting process, and an insider’s view can shine a light inside the “Black Box” of how the most meritorious projects are identified.

Job Satisfaction of Health Assistants in Selected Upazila Health Complexes of Bangladesh

Health assistants play an important role in providing primary health care among the rural population in Bangladesh. Their improper working performance can hamper the entire nations’ health care. Proper productivity is related to the job satisfaction and job satisfaction is the result of attitude and behavior. The purpose of this study was to assess the job satisfaction level among health assistants working in selected Upazila Health Complex (UHC). 203 health assistants were interviewed through purposive sampling technique from four UHCs in the Dhaka district. Out of 203 respondents, 114 were female and 89 were male where Mean± SD was 38.80 ±7.62. The highest 109 (53.7%) participants had 1-10 years of working experience and 104 (51.2%) respondents had monthly income between 18000 -23000 BDTK. The percentage of neutral, satisfied and unsatisfied participants’ was 65%, 28% and 7%, respectively. There was significant (P < 0.05) relationship between job satisfaction and getting medical allowance, training opportunity and salary. Job nature such as security, meaningless, pride and enjoying, support colleagues such as supervisor and coworkers, acceptance by both the community and oneself were identified as the satisfied items where low and fair opportunities for promotion, low increment, and low pay, no praise, high work pressure, and null administrative capacity were found as dissatisfied factors of job. On the basis of these findings, policy makers and concerned authorities could take necessary steps for increasing the level of job satisfaction of health assistants.

Job Satisfaction of Health Assistants in Selected Upazila Health Complexes of Bangladesh

Health assistants play an important role in providing primary health care among the rural population in Bangladesh. Their improper working performance can hamper the entire nations’ health care. Proper productivity is related to the job satisfaction and job satisfaction is the result of attitude and behavior. The purpose of this study was to assess the job satisfaction level among health assistants working in selected Upazila Health Complex (UHC). 203 health assistants were interviewed through purposive sampling technique from four UHCs in the Dhaka district. Out of 203 respondents, 114 were female and 89 were male where Mean± SD was 38.80 ±7.62. The highest 109 (53.7%) participants had 1-10 years of working experience and 104 (51.2%) respondents had monthly income between 18000 -23000 BDTK. The percentage of neutral, satisfied and unsatisfied participants’ was 65%, 28% and 7%, respectively. There was significant (P &lt; 0.05) relationship between job satisfaction and getting medical allowance, training opportunity and salary. Job nature such as security, meaningless, pride and enjoying, support colleagues such as supervisor and coworkers, acceptance by both the community and oneself were identified as the satisfied items where low and fair opportunities for promotion, low increment, and low pay, no praise, high work pressure, and null administrative capacity were found as dissatisfied factors of job. On the basis of these findings, policy makers and concerned authorities could take necessary steps for increasing the level of job satisfaction of health assistants.

Competency-based education in general surgery: Are Canadian residents ready?

Competency-based education (CBE) is currently being implemented by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada across all residency programs. This shift away from time-based residency is proposed to be the answer to maximize training opportunity in the era of work hour restrictions and growing concerns regarding accountability in medical education. A Web-based survey was conducted to obtain feedback from Canadian general surgery residents on their experience and perception of competence within core procedures, as well as attitudes toward CBE. A total of 244 residents completed the survey. For most procedures, more than 50% of residents felt they could perform the procedure with no guidance after completing 11–30 cases. Generally, residents were welcoming of CBE; however, medium-sized programs reported some concerns regarding inadequate exposure to cases and risk of training less well-rounded surgeons. This is valuable resident feedback for programs to consider during the implementation process.

Integrated care: a new model for dental education

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating health, economic and social impact on the UK health services. The learning from redeployment demonstrated that dental professionals can be rapidly integrated into the wider healthcare system, but the challenge is how this can be sustained in the future. This is an opportunity for dental training to be incorporated into a more integrated model of care, and this article outlines a collaboration between NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and Local Dental Networks to establish a novel training opportunity. This Assistant Dentist Integrated Care Pilot Programme has provided retention of dentists within areas of unmet need and introduced innovative opportunities for dental workforce transformation.

Globális tendenciák a tehetségnevelésben - Tehetséggondozó programok

A tehetségnevelés mára univerzálisan elterjedt eszközei a tehetséggondozó programok, illetve a vegyes tehetséggondozó tevékenységek (Gagné, 2018). Míg az előbbiek hosszú távú, a tanulók fejlesztését akár több életkori és fejlettségi szakaszon keresztül komplexen támogató tehetségnevelési tevékenységek, amelyek jellegzetesen egy vagy néhány alapvető tehetségpedagógiai alapkoncepció köré szerveződnek, az utóbbiak rövid távú, egy-egy kisebb téma vagy tevékenységelem köré épülő fejlesztések, amelyeket a tanulók tipikusan mozaikosan válogatnak össze maguknak. Jelen tanulmány a tehetséggondozó programokra fókuszál. A szerző négy területen mutat be két-két tehetséggondozó programot, a vezetői tehetség fejlesztésére, a közoktatási és felsőoktatási tehetségnevelésre, az offline és online tehetséggondozásra, valamint a kisebbségi tanulók tehetséggondozására hozva példákat. Noha a cikk egyik példája azt mutatja meg, milyen változások történnek a tehetséggondozásban a globalizáció hatására, ahogyan azt manapság értjük, általában is az mondható, hogy a mai tehetséggondozás nemzetközi szinten az egyre globálisabbá válás irányába igyekszik haladni: arra törekszik, hogy egyetlen potenciális tehetségterület, egyetlen megfelelő tehetségazonosítási lehetőség, egyetlen oda való személy, egyetlen társadalmi csoport, egyetlen képzési lehetőség se maradjon ki a tehetséggondozás lehetőségeiből, elvetve a korábbi, nem kevéssé elitista irányvonalak számos jellemzőjét. Az új fejleményeket elemezve a tanulmány végén a szerző megfogalmazza azt a véleményét, miszerint a tehetséggondozás terén lezajló jelenlegi gyors fejlődés után a mesterséges intelligencia megjelenése hoz majd igazán kopernikuszi fordulatot a tehetséggondozásban.According to Gagné (2018), talent development programs and mixed talent development activities (provisions) are universally used tools in talent education. While the former are long-term talent development activities that comprehensively support the development of learners through several age and developmental stages, typically organized around one or a few basic concepts in talent development, the latter are short-term developmental activities, based on a smaller theme or activity element, and they are mosaically selected by the students. The present study focuses on talent development programs. The author presents two-two talent development programs in each of four areas, giving examples of leadership talent development, public and higher education talent education, offline and online talent management, and talent management for minority students. Although one example of the article shows the changes that are taking place in talent management as a result of globalization, as we understand it today, it can be said in general that today’s talent management is moving towards becoming increasingly global at the international level: no suitable opportunity for talent identification, no person there, no social group, no training opportunity should be left out of the possibilities of talent management, rejecting many features of the previous, rather elitist lines. Analyzing the new developments, at the end of the study, the author formulates his opinion that after the current rapid development in the field of talent management, the emergence of artificial intelligence will bring a truly Copernican turn in talent management.

242 Maintaining Surgical Training During the Covid-19 Pandemic; A Novel Use of Surgical Simulators

Introduction During Covid-19 pandemic, operation theatres limit the number of staff during each session, which causes a decrease in training opportunity. To counteract this lapse, the Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI) designs an innovative training session. During the nationwide lockdown, the closure of the Institute allowed for the transfer of the VirtaMed ArthrosTM (VA), to our NHS facility. VA is a surgical simulator which enables the participant to practise knee arthroscopy. Method Participants with little arthroscopic experience were included in the study. Three fellowship-trained surgeons conducted daily teaching sessions. Participants were taught necessary arthroscopic skills before undertaking training modules on diagnostic arthroscopy. 90% of the participants attended the session at least three times. At the end of every module, VA generates a score based on parameters which include procedure duration, visualisation of key structures and iatrogenic chondral damage. Structure questionnaires were also used to analyse feedback. Results The overall confidence and module scores progress with each subsequent session. A keystone of success is the location and ease of access to the simulator. Conclusions Surgical simulators are a useful tool for surgical education and training. We should encourage their use in the future, especially in the UK surgical training programme.