Professional Life (professional + life)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Overcoming Fragmentation in Professional Life: The Challenge for Academic Development

HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2002
Stephen Rowland
This paper portrays the fragmented nature of higher education, experienced in terms of a number of fractures. I have chosen to concentrate here on five of these fractures or fault lines: the diverse assumptions about the nature of higher education; the separation between teachers and learners; the separation between academic staff and those who manage them; the split between teaching and research; and the fragmented nature of knowledge itself. Policy initiatives have tended to aggravate these fractures. I suggest that the task for academic development is to work within these fractures, to attempt to create coherence in academic practice. To do this, we need to develop a series of critical conversations between teachers and learners, between academics and managers and between the disciplines. Such conversations might be seen as contributing to the development of a new academic professionalism. The first and foremost subject of this thinking together must concern the purposes of higher education itself. [source]


Looking back over my professional life

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2009
FMedSci, Sir David Goldberg KB
First page of article [source]


The academic environment: the students' perspective

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 2008
K. Divaris (nci)
Abstract Dental education is regarded as a complex, demanding and often stressful pedagogical procedure. Undergraduates, while enrolled in programmes of 4,6 years duration, are required to attain a unique and diverse collection of competences. Despite the major differences in educational systems, philosophies, methods and resources available worldwide, dental students' views regarding their education appear to be relatively convergent. This paper summarizes dental students' standpoint of their studies, showcases their experiences in different educational settings and discusses the characteristics of a positive academic environment. It is a consensus opinion that the ,students' perspective' should be taken into consideration in all discussions and decisions regarding dental education. Moreover, it is suggested that the set of recommendations proposed can improve students' quality of life and well-being, enhance their total educational experience and positively influence their future careers as oral health physicians. The ,ideal' academic environment may be defined as one that best prepares students for their future professional life and contributes towards their personal development, psychosomatic and social well-being. A number of diverse factors significantly influence the way students perceive and experience their education. These range from ,class size', ,leisure time' and ,assessment procedures' to ,relations with peers and faculty', ,ethical climate' and ,extra-curricular opportunities'. Research has revealed that stress symptoms, including psychological and psychosomatic manifestations, are prevalent among dental students. Apparently some stressors are inherent in dental studies. Nevertheless, suggested strategies and preventive interventions can reduce or eliminate many sources of stress and appropriate support services should be readily available. A key point for the Working Group has been the discrimination between ,teaching' and ,learning'. It is suggested that the educational content should be made available to students through a variety of methods, because individual learning styles and preferences vary considerably. Regardless of the educational philosophy adopted, students should be placed at the centre of the process. Moreover, it is critical that they are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Other improvements suggested include increased formative assessment and self-assessment opportunities, reflective portfolios, collaborative learning, familiarization with and increased implementation of information and communication technology applications, early clinical exposure, greater emphasis on qualitative criteria in clinical education, community placements, and other extracurricular experiences such as international exchanges and awareness of minority and global health issues. The establishment of a global network in dental education is firmly supported but to be effective it will need active student representation and involvement. [source]


Who was the man who discovered the "Lewy bodies"?,

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 12 2010
Antonio M. Rodrigues e Silva MD
Abstract In 1912, Fritz Heinrich Lewy described neuronal inclusions in the brain of patients who had suffered from Paralysis agitans (i.e., Parkinson's disease). Later, these findings became the so-called "Lewy bodies." However, little is known about the man who made this discovery. Our aim was to investigate Lewy's private and professional life and to gather information for a detailed biography. We contacted over 100 archives, libraries, and museums in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Over 300 documents, publications, and photos were collected. Lewy was born in Berlin, Germany in 1885 and lived there until 1933. After his dismissal on racial grounds by the Nazis, Lewy emigrated to England in 1933 and to the United States of America in 1934, where he lived and worked until his death in 1950. This article gives a summary of Lewy's life and briefly presents his contribution to German and American neurology. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society [source]


Aripiprazole: A treatment for severe coprolalia in "refractory" Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 3 2008
Mouna Ben Djebara MD
Abstract Coprolalia is one of the most distressing symptoms in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. We report on a 28-year-old man with severe coprolalia at the forefront of symptoms, which had a dramatic impact on his social and professional life and that did not fluctuate for years. Moreover, he presented hypersensitivity to neuroleptics. The use of aripiprazole, as a last resort, induced a 75% of improvement of his symptoms with good tolerance. This suggests that aripiprazole constitutes a valuable therapeutic in coprolalia. Moreover, its biochemical class specificity makes it an alternative for patients hypersensitive to other classes of neuroleptics. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society [source]


Professional knowledge and the epistemology of reflective practice

NURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2010
Elizabeth Anne Kinsella PhD
Abstract Reflective practice is one of the most popular theories of professional knowledge in the last 20 years and has been widely adopted by nursing, health, and social care professions. The term was coined by Donald Schön in his influential books The Reflective Practitioner, and Educating the Reflective Practitioner, and has garnered the unprecedented attention of theorists and practitioners of professional education and practice. Reflective practice has been integrated into professional preparatory programmes, continuing education programmes, and by the regulatory bodies of a wide range of health and social care professions. Yet, despite its popularity and widespread adoption, a problem frequently raised in the literature concerns the lack of conceptual clarity surrounding the term reflective practice. This paper seeks to respond to this problem by offering an analysis of the epistemology of reflective practice as revealed through a critical examination of philosophical influences within the theory. The aim is to discern philosophical underpinnings of reflective practice in order to advance increasingly coherent interpretations, and to consider the implications for conceptions of professional knowledge in professional life. The paper briefly examines major philosophical underpinnings in reflective practice to explicate central themes that inform the epistemological assumptions of the theory. The study draws on the work of Donald Schön, and on texts from four philosophers: John Dewey, Nelson Goodman, Michael Polanyi, and Gilbert Ryle. Five central epistemological themes in reflective practice are illuminated: (1) a broad critique of technical rationality; (2) professional practice knowledge as artistry; (3) constructivist assumptions in the theory; (4) the significance of tacit knowledge for professional practice knowledge; and (5) overcoming mind body dualism to recognize the knowledge revealed in intelligent action. The paper reveals that the theory of reflective practice is concerned with deep epistemological questions of significance to conceptions of knowledge in health and social care professions. [source]


Financing the Treatment of Chronic Pain: Models for Risk-sharing among Pain Medicine Physicians, Health Care Payers, and Consumers

PAIN MEDICINE, Issue 1 2000
FABPM, Richard L. Stieg MD
Chronic pain patients are among a growing group of medically underserved Americans. Despite increasing public awareness about pain and widespread legislative activity that is focusing on the needs of pain patients, there remain significant roadblocks in bringing the expertise of Pain Medicine specialists to these unfortunate people. This paper explores how the managed care revolution has impacted the practice of Pain Medicine in the United States. The dissolution of many prominent multi-disciplinary pain treatment centers has been paralleled by the evolution of pain management as an area of interest by several competing medical specialty societies. Despite this fragmentation, the American Academy of Pain Medicine continues to grow and to promote the needs of Pain Medicine specialists and their patients. The advantages and disadvantages of various practice patterns for Pain Medicine specialists is explored against a backdrop of discussions about: (1) the problems currently faced by chronic pain patients; (2) the role of organized Pain Medicine in helping patients to access and finance care; and (3) the future of American health care and the new responsibilities that will bring to physicians. Finally, we have some specific recommendations for pain medicine specialists about: (1) sharing risk; (2) exerting individual leadership; and (3) simplifying one's professional life in the new health care environment, that we hope will enable them to continue caring for as many chronic pain patients as possible. It is opined that the development of sophisticated regional specialty networks is the best model to accomplish this task in the future. [source]


Combining Work as an Historian and Activist: A Personal Account1

PEACE & CHANGE, Issue 2 2007
Lawrence S. Wittner
This essay examines how I have blended my roles as an activist and as a historian. Over the years, I have participated in the peace, racial justice, and labor movements, and this activism has significantly affected both my scholarship and teaching. It has also complicated my professional life in a number of ways,absorbing time and energy that might have been devoted to additional scholarship, limiting fellowship opportunities, and (at least initially) blocking my receipt of tenure. Overall, however, I have found the combination of activism and historical work very satisfying, for it has contributed to humane causes and provided me with an interesting and meaningful life. [source]


Teaching energy metabolism using scientific articles

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 2 2010
Implementation of a virtual learning environment for medical students
Abstract This work describes the use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) applied to the biochemistry class for undergraduate, first-year medical students at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The course focused on the integration of energy metabolism, exploring metabolic adaptations in different physiological or pathological states such as starvation, diabetes, and exercise. The VLE was designed to combine online activities with traditional course content and presented guided inquiry-based activities to assist in the use of original scientific articles as educational resources. Based on the analysis of a semi-open questionnaire, the results provided evidence that the VLE encouraged students' engagement in activities and improved feedback. The results also suggested that guided inquiry-based activities were an effective way to stimulate students to critically read relevant scientific articles and to acquire skills to build and contextualize their knowledge through content association. In addition, most of the students involved in this experience considered the use of these resources important to become familiar with scientific language and to learn how to obtain up-to-date scientific information during their professional life. [source]


Preparing the senior or graduating student for graduate research

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 4 2005
Bor Luen Tang
Abstract Senior undergraduates in the honors or graduation year with an intention to further their career in science would soon face the real world of scientific research as a junior scientist. It is important to acquaint these students with and adequately prepare them for the key aspects of a scientist's professional life. These include technical capacities indispensable for continuous and intense appraisal of data and knowledge as well as awareness that would ensure proper professional conduct within the laboratory. We have designed and conducted a module called "Scientific Critique" in the fourth year for Biochemistry majors. The module emphasizes scientific literature review and critique. It also incorporates techniques in preparing research grant proposals and an exercise in peer review of grant proposals as well as lectures and presentations on scientific integrity and research ethics. Positive response and feedback from students are indicative of an appreciation for the module contents, and we believe it of value to include such contents in any senior undergraduate life sciences curriculum. [source]


Time for a Change?

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001
Women's Accounts of the Move from Organizational Careers to Self-Employment
This paper is based on a study of women's transition from careers within organizations into self-employment. It focuses on three key issues: the ways in which women accounted for their career transition, their decisions to opt for self-employment, and the extent to which, in telling their stories, respondents engaged with emerging career discourses. First, this paper considers recent debates within the literature on women's exit from organizations, and emerging discourses of career and self-employment, focusing on the position of women within these changing discourses. Research findings are then presented, examining three central themes: entrepreneurial orientation, dissatisfaction with the organization and balance of personal and professional life. The concluding section considers how women made sense of the web of factors involved in their career transition and reflects on whether indeed it is ,time for a change'. [source]


Lawyers at Mid-Career: A 20-Year Longitudinal Study of Job and Life Satisfaction

JOURNAL OF EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2009
John Monahan
This study is the first to our knowledge to simultaneously measure the predictors of lawyers' satisfaction with their careers and the predictors of lawyers' satisfaction with their lives more broadly. One class of the University of Virginia School of Law was studied between their matriculation in 1987 and their graduation in 1990. All 360 living graduates of this class were contacted in 2007, with a response rate of 72.2 percent. Descriptive information was obtained and empirically validated measures of both career satisfaction and life satisfaction were administered. Respondents were found to have taken many diverse career paths, with most (85 percent) having changed jobs at least once, and half having changed jobs at least twice. Gender differences in the personal and professional lives of respondents were pervasive. Women graduates were far more likely than men to interrupt or forego full-time employment (39 percent vs. 1 percent), mainly in order to care for children, and were also more likely to have a spouse or partner employed full time outside the home (77 percent vs. 24 percent). Working conditions at large private law firms emerged as a significant problem for many respondents; half of those who started their careers in large firms left to go to a different type of employer. Finally, both career satisfaction and life satisfaction were found to be high, with 81 percent of the respondents satisfied with their decision to become a lawyer, and 86 percent satisfied with their lives more broadly. [source]


The role of entrepreneurial activities in academic pharmaceutical science research

JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 6 2010
Audra L. Stinchcomb
Abstract Academic pharmaceutical science research is expanding further and further from the University setting to encompass the for-profit private company setting. This parallels the National Institutes of Health momentum to include multiple funding opportunities for University and private company collaboration. It has been recognized that the nonprofit and for-profit combination research model can accelerate the commercialization of pharmaceutical products, and therefore more efficiently improve human health. Entrepreneurial activities require unique considerations in the University environment, but can be modeled after the commercialization expansion of the academic healthcare enterprise. Challenges and barriers exist to starting a company as an entrepreneurial faculty member, but the rewards to one's personal and professional lives are incomparable. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 99: 2532,2537, 2010 [source]


The Competitive Advantage of Foreign Languages and Cultural Knowledge

MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2004
Christine Uber Grosse
This study presents the results of an electronic survey of 2,500 randomly selected alumni from the graduating classes of 1970 through 2002 of Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. Of the 2,500 alumni, 581 responded. Thunderbird required a minimum of 4 semesters of foreign language for graduation. The survey concerned whether or not the alumni had received a competitive advantage in their careers from their foreign language skills and cultural knowledge. The vast majority of the respondents acknowledged that both foreign language skills and cultural knowledge had benefited them in their professional lives. Slightly more of them reported receiving an edge from their cultural skills (89%) than from their foreign language abilities (82%). The research results provide empirical data on how members of the U.S. and international business communities perceive the value of foreign language and cultural knowledge to their work. [source]


Best starting point to comprehensive process safety education

PROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2007
Milos Ferjencik
Abstract Instruction in process safety began at the Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice, in the nineties. In 1994, a course named the Safety Engineering was formed. We aimed to equip our students with a theory that would orientate them in safety problems during their professional lives. Similar to analogous courses at other universities, the Safety Engineering course tends to follow basic steps of the quantitative risk analysis (QRA). An accident analysis and two basic notions,a system and a hazard,were selected as starting points of the course. But after a few years of experience we felt that the Safety Engineering course did not represent exactly what the majority of our students needed. Although the concept of risk analysis represents a fundamental part of any process safety theory, there is another concept that seems to be essential for professionals involved in the process industry,safety management. We started to recognize that an introduction into comprehensive process safety education should be divided into two stages. The safety management and the risk analysis should represent focal points of the first and the second stages, respectively. Two stage arrangement of the process safety course seems to suit needs of our students better than the previous scheme. After the idea of division of the process safety course had arisen, a new starting point for the comprehensive safety education had to be found. An old approach of Kletz's on "learning from accidents" showed itself to be suitable to fulfill this role most naturally. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 26:195,202, 2007 [source]


Finding fame: painting and the making of careers in Renaissance Italy

RENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 1 2010
Michelle O'Malley
Most of the papers in this collection consider issues concerning the design and function of objects; they address their intended sites, the requirements of their owners and the import they held for their users. The objects made by artists and artisans were also nexus points in their careers: objects stood as much for their makers as for their owners. They constituted connections between artists and their clients, and they often acted as agents for the creation of new objects. This paper looks at the design and function of works of art from the point of view of the profession. Specifically, it considers the role key commissions played in the creation of reputations and the launch of stellar careers. Looking at the very early careers of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino, the paper investigates connections among clients and the paths individuals took to hiring the painters, examines the response the painters made to their early commissions, and looks at the associations and reputations these painters built up in the years before they were hired to paint the walls of the Sistine chapel in 1481. It considers the role of Cosimo Rosselli, the fourth member of the Sistine team, in identifying and defining fame, and proposes a new way of considering the route Florentine painters took to painting the chapel newly built by Sixtus IV. The paper aims to demonstrate the significance of works for the trajectory of their makers' professional lives and to suggest how certain works, in specific contexts, attracted clients and drew new works into being. [source]


Field primatology of today: current ethical issues

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 9 2010
K.C. MacKinnon
Abstract As members of professional organizations such as American Society of Primatologists (ASP) and the International Primatological Society (IPS), primatologists must adhere to a set of nonhuman primate-focused principles outlined in resolutions and policy statements on, for example, the ethical treatment of nonhuman primates. Those of us that work in the field must also address issues such as the protection of primate health in the wild and the conservation of wild primate populations. Moreover, we increasingly find ourselves in complex situations where we must balance human and nonhuman primate needs and interests. The selection of commentary pieces in this edition of the American Journal of Primatology originated from presentations given in the symposium, Field Primatology of Today: Navigating the Ethical Landscape, held at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) in September 2009. The goals of that symposium and these resulting commentary pieces are threefold: (1) to revive a discussion of key contemporary ethical issues faced by field primatologists, (2) to highlight the need for centrally placed ethical considerations in various facets of our professional lives, particularly research and teaching, and (3) to consider what a comprehensive ethical code that addresses all of these issues might look like. Am. J. Primatol. 72:749,753, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


An academy of surgical educators: sustaining education , enhancing innovation and scholarship

ANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 1-2 2010
John P. Collins
Abstract Context:, The aims of surgical education, training and professional development programmes are to ensure surgeons will provide high quality health care throughout their professional lives. Development and delivery of these programmes requires a mixture of surgeons with a different but complimentary range of competencies in medical education, all eager to facilitate learning and support educational scholarship. Methods:, The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has undertaken a major review of the challenges, risks and opportunities surrounding the development and delivery of its education and continuing professional development programmes. Results:, Conflicting demands on surgeons' time have compromised their availability for educational activities. At the same time, a decline has occurred in the recognition and value of teaching and educational scholarship as a consequence of financial rewards and prestige now coming principally from patient care and biomedical research. New educational methods have been introduced which have added to the complexities involved and the level of commitments required. In response, the College and its surgical specialty partners have established an Academy of Surgical Educators as a resource for the nine specialties of surgery. It will promote high quality patient care by providing expert educational leadership, guidance and advice and through the advancement and application of educational scholarship. Conclusion:, The establishment of the Academy serves as a powerful symbol of the importance the College places on its core responsibility as an educational body. Working in association with the University Departments of Surgery throughout Australia and New Zealand, the Academy will better equip the College and its partner Specialist Societies and Associations to meet and sustain the increasingly sophisticated requirements involved in higher education. [source]