Cicero, Tullia, and Marcus: Gender-Specific Concerns for Family Tradition?

A fair number of Cicero's letters reveal his concern for his daughter Tullia and his son Marcus. Recent scholarship has read these letters as evidence for a ‘natural’ emotional attachment of a father to his children, in reaction to Philippe Ariès's opposite claim. This chapter considers whether Cicero's letters can be analysed only as expressions of paternal affection. The fact that the pater familias Cicero occupies a political position simultaneously in his nuclear family, his domus, and the Senate, results in a concern for his prestige within the social field of the aristocracy. And this concern is necessarily conferred upon his support of the education and the social and political career of his children. The chapter traces the gender-specific differences between Cicero's treatment of Tullia and Marcus, shows the social construction of parental affection, and contributes to a further understanding of the different functions of daughters and sons in the social force field of family memory.

Arguments for and against a career in surgery: a qualitative analysis

To evaluate arguments given by board-certified surgeons in Switzerland for and against a career in surgery.

Threats to patient safety in the primary care office: concerns of physicians and nurses

Little is known about primary care professionals' concerns about risks to patient safety.

Swiss residents' speciality choices--impact of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goals

BACKGROUND: The medical specialties chosen by doctors for their careers play an important part in the development of health-care services. This study aimed to investigate the influence of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goal aspirations on the choice of medical specialty. METHODS: As part of a prospective cohort study of Swiss medical school graduates on career development, 522 fourth-year residents were asked in what specialty they wanted to qualify. They also assessed their career motivation and life goal aspirations. Data concerning personality traits such as sense of coherence, self-esteem, and gender role orientation were collected at the first assessment, four years earlier, in their final year of medical school. Data analyses were conducted by univariate and multivariate analyses of variance and covariance. RESULTS: In their fourth year of residency 439 (84.1%) participants had made their specialty choice. Of these, 45 (8.6%) subjects aspired to primary care, 126 (24.1%) to internal medicine, 68 (13.0%) to surgical specialties, 31 (5.9%) to gynaecology & obstetrics (G&O), 40 (7.7%) to anaesthesiology/intensive care, 44 (8.4%) to paediatrics, 25 (4.8%) to psychiatry and 60 (11.5%) to other specialties. Female residents tended to choose G&O, paediatrics, and anaesthesiology, males more often surgical specialties; the other specialties did not show gender-relevant differences of frequency distribution. Gender had the strongest significant influence on specialty choice, followed by career motivation, personality traits, and life goals. Multivariate analyses of covariance indicated that career motivation and life goals mediated the influence of personality on career choice. Personality traits were no longer significant after controlling for career motivation and life goals as covariates. The effect of gender remained significant after controlling for personality traits, career motivation and life goals. CONCLUSION: Gender had the greatest impact on specialty and career choice, but there were also two other relevant influencing factors, namely career motivation and life goals. Senior physicians mentoring junior physicians should pay special attention to these aspects. Motivational guidance throughout medical training should not only focus on the professional career but also consider the personal life goals of those being mentored.

Further concerns about self-assessment: are medical students aware of their progress in clinical skills during clerkship

Background: Medical students do not accurately self-assess their competence. However, little is known about the awareness of change of competence over time. The aim of this study was to evaluate if students are aware of their progress. Summary of work: Twenty-two fourth year medical students had self- and expert-assessments of their clinical skills in musculoskeletal medicine in an OSCE like station (4 point Likert scale) at the beginning (t0) and end (t1) of their eight weeks clerkship in internal medicine. Thirteen students were assigned to the intervention of a 6x1 hour practical examination course; nine took part in the regular clinical clerkship activities only and served as controls. Summary of results/Conclusions: The intervention students significantly improved their skills (from 2.78 ± 0.36 to 3.30 ± 0.36, p<0.05) in contrast to the control students (from 3.11 ± 0.58 to 2.83 ± 0.49, n.s.). At t0, 19 students, at t1 21 out of 22 students underestimated their competence. Correlations between the change of self- and expert-assessment were r=0.43, p<0.05 (all), r=0.47, n.s. (control) and r=-0.12, n.s. (intervention), respectively. Take-home message: Medical students improving their clinical skills by an interactive course in addition to their regular clerkship activities are not aware of their progress

Management of children with autism spectrum disorder in the dental setting: concerns, behavioural approaches and recommendations

OBJECTIVES This article reviews the present literature on the issues encountered while coping with children with autistic spectrum disorder from the dental perspective. The autistic patient profile and external factors affecting the oral health status of this patient population are discussed upon the existing body of evidence. MATERIAL AND METHODS The MEDLINE database was searched using the terms 'Autistic Disorder', 'Behaviour Control/methods', 'Child', 'Dental care for disabled', 'Education', 'Oral Health', and 'Pediatric Dentistry' to locate related articles published up to January 2013. RESULTS Most of the relevant studies indicate poor oral hygiene whereas they are inconclusive regarding the caries incidence in autistic individuals. Undergraduate dental education appears to determine the competence of dental professionals to treat developmentally disabled children and account partly for compromised access to dental care. Dental management of an autistic child requires in-depth understanding of the background of the autism and available behavioural guidance theories. The dental professional should be flexible to modify the treatment approach according to the individual patient needs.