Can Consent Training End Sexual Violence On Campus?: Students, Consent and Sexual Ethics

The ongoing, potentially worsening problem of sexual violence and harassment on university campuses has emerged in the last few years as an area of concern. Female students have been identified as one of the most likely groups to experience sexual violence and this violence is exacerbated by contemporary student cultures around alcohol consumption and gendered and sexual norms. University campuses have also become central to prevention efforts in many countries due to their relatively accessible populations and an ability to implement social policies at an institutional level.
Many of these measures are based around promoting or educating students about sexual consent, and particularly notions of affirmative consent, expressed as ‘Yes means Yes’. However, there exists little research around sexual ethics with students exploring whether consent is in fact the best way to tackle cultural problems of sexual violence on campus. This paper makes use of existing literature on sexual ethics and focus group research undertaken with Australian university students to argue for an approach to the problem of sexual ethics on campus that is broader than simply focusing on training programs in sexual consent. It identifies a number of limitations to the consent framework and argues that prevention efforts need to more seriously engage with broader cultural norms around heterosexuality and gendered relationships.

Empathy in UK pharmacy students: assessing differences by gender, level in the degree programme, part-time employment and medical status

Background: Empathy is an important aspect of patient–healthcare professional interactions.Aims: To investigate whether gender, level in the degree programme, employment and health status affected empathy scores of undergraduate pharmacy students.Method: All undergraduate pharmacy students (n=529) at Queen’s University Belfast were invited via email to completean online validated empathy questionnaire. Empathy scores were calculated and non-parametric tests used to determine associations between factors.Results: Response rate was 60.1% (318/529) and the mean empathy score was 106.19. Scores can range from 20 to 140,with higher scores representing a greater degree of empathy. There was no significant difference between genders (p=0.211). There was a significant difference in scores across the four levels of the programme (p<0.001); scores were lowest at Level 1 and greatest at Level 4 (final year). There were no significant differences in scores for respondents who had a part-time job, a chronic condition, or took regular medication in comparison to those who did not (p=0.028,p=0.880, p=0.456, respectively).Conclusion: A reasonable level of empathy was found relative to other studies; this could be further enhanced at lower levels of the degree pathway.

Incorporation of spiritual care as a component of healthcare and medical education: comparison of viewpoints of healthcare providers from a rural community hospital in Uganda with those of medical students from United Kingdrom

This study addresses cultural differences regarding views on the place for spirituality within healthcare training and delivery. A questionnaire was devised using a 5-point ordinal scale, with additional free text comments assessed by thematic analysis, to compare the views of Ugandan healthcare staff and students with those of (1) visiting international colleagues at the same hospital; (2) medical faculty and students in United Kingdom. Ugandan healthcare personnel were more favourably disposed towards addressing spiritual issues, their incorporation within compulsory healthcare training, and were more willing to contribute themselves to delivery than their European counterparts. Those from a nursing background also attached a greater importance to spiritual health and provision of spiritual care than their medical colleagues. Although those from a medical background recognised that a patient’s religiosity and spirituality can affect their response to their diagnosis and prognosis, they were more reticent to become directly involved in provision of such care, preferring to delegate this to others with greater expertise. Thus, differences in background, culture and healthcare organisation are important, and indicate that the wide range of views expressed in the current literature, the majority of which has originated in North America, are not necessarily transferable between locations; assessment of these issues locally may be the best way to plan such training and incorporation of spiritual care into clinical practice.

Combining environmental and medical datasets to explore potential associations between environmental factors and health: Policy implications for human health risk assessments

This review paper discusses the use of Tellus and Tellus Border soil and stream geochemistry data to investigate the relationship between medical data and naturally occurring background levels of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as heavy metals in soils and water. The research hypothesis is that long-term low level oral exposure of PTEs via soil and water may result in cumulative exposures that may act as risk factors for progressive diseases including cancer and chronic kidney disease. A number of public policy implications for regional human health risk assessments, public health policy and education are also explored alongside the argument for better integration of multiple data sets to enhance ongoing medical and social research. This work presents a partnership between the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queen’s University Belfast, and the nephrology (kidney medicine) research group.

Healthcare and medical tourism - Cascais Municipality case study

The purpose of this work project is to evaluate Cascais’ potential of becoming a reference in Health Care and Medical Tourism in the near future. It is done a careful research about the industry, followed by a thorough analysis of the region. It is concluded that it holds many key characteristics and conditions for the development of this kind of clusters, even though it lacks consumers’ perception regarding this product. Some guidelines are suggested in order to position Cascais as a competitive player in this field.

Utilitarianism and Buddist ethics: a comparative approach to the ethics of animal research

This thesis explores the comparison utilitarianism and Buddhist ethics as they can be applied to animal research. It begins by examining some of the general discussions surrounding the use of animals in research. The historical views on the moral status of animals, the debate surrounding their use in animals, as well as the current 3R paradigm and its application in Canadian research are explored. The thesis then moves on to expound the moral system of utilitarianism as put forth by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, as well as contemporary additions to the system. It also looks at the basics of Buddhist ethics well distinguishing the Mahayana from the Therevada. Three case studies in animal research are used to explore how both systems can be applied to animal research. It then offers a comparison as to how both ethical systems function within the field of animal research and explores the implications in their application on its practice.

A Narrative Study of Patient Encounter Accounts of Physicians, Nurses, and Medical Receptionists after Two Decades of a Paradigm of Patient-Centered Care

Despite recent well-known advancements in patient care in the medical fields, such as patient-centeredness and evidence-based medicine and practice, there is rather less known about their effects on the particulars of clinician-patient encounters. The emphasis in clinical encounters remains mostly on treatment and diagnosis and less on communicative competency or engagement for medical professionals. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore interactive competencies in diagnostic and therapeutic encounters and intake protocols within the context of the physicians’, nurses’, and medical receptionists’ perspectives and experiences. Literature on narrative medicine, phenomenology and medicine, therapeutic relationships, cultural and communication competency, and non-Western perspectives on human communication provided the guiding theoretical frameworks for the study. Three data sets including 13 participant interviews (5 physicians, 4 nurses, and 4 medical receptionists), policy documents (physicians, nurses, and medical receptionists) and a website (Communication and Cultural Competency) were used. The researcher then engaged in triangulated analyses, including N-Vivo, manifest and latent, Mishler’s (1984, 1995) narrative elements and Charon’s (2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2013) narrative themes, in recursive, overlapping, comparative and intersected analysis strategies. A common factor affecting physicians’ relationships with their clients was limitation of time, including limited time (a) to listen, (b) to come up with a proper diagnosis, and (c) to engage in decision making in critical conditions and limited time for patients’ visits. For almost all nurse participants in the study establishing therapeutic relationships meant being compassionate and empathetic. The goals of intake protocols for the medical receptionists were about being empathetic to patients, being an attentive listener, developing rapport, and being conventionally polite to patients. Participants with the least iv amount of training and preparation (medical receptionists) appeared to be more committed to working narratively in connecting with patients and establishing human relationships as well as in listening to patients’ stories and providing support to narrow down the reason for their visit. The diagnostic and intake “success stories” regarding patient clinical encounters for other study participants were focused on a timely securing of patient information, with some acknowledgement of rapport and emapathy. Patient-centeredness emerged as a discourse practice, with ambiguous or nebulous enactment of its premises in most clinical settings.

Interprofessional Collaboration: The Experience of Nursing and Medical Students’ Interprofessional Education

In this hermeneutic phenomenological study, we examined the experience of interprofessional collaboration from the perspective of nursing and medical students. Seventeen medical and nursing students from two different universities participated in the study. We used guiding questions in face-to-face, conversational interviews to explore students’ experience and expectations of interprofessional collaboration within learning situations. Three themes emerged from the data: the great divide, learning means content, and breaking the ice. The findings suggest that the experience of interprofessional collaboration within learning events is influenced by the natural clustering of shared interests among students. Furthermore, the carry-forward of impressions about physician–nurse relationships prior to the educational programs and during clinical placements dominate the formation of new relationships and acquisition of new knowledge about roles, which might have implications for future practice.

Christian Education and the Ethics of Authenticity

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore the concept of authenticity in Christian education. The study was situated in the context of Christian schools in Ontario. Some of these schools have experienced declining enrolment and all of these schools face the challenge of being distinctive in a secular culture. To investigate the potential of the concept of authenticity for reclaiming the vision of Christian education, interviews were conducted with 3 experienced principals of Christian schools. Data analysis yielded an emergent conceptual framework of authenticity consisting of 5 concepts: authorship, relatedness, reflection, autonomy, and excellence. Authenticity was found to be a useful tool for school analysis of both the deep structures and the surface structures within Christian schools. To offset unauthentic tendencies that can arise within these schools, this study calls for an intentional use of the lens of authenticity to expose these tendencies and revitalize core expectations. Through the narratives shared by the Christian school principals, the study also develops a picture of the role of authentic Christian education in the development of the authentic Christian person.

Adam Smith, Moral Motivation and Business Ethics

This paper shows how Adam Smith’s concept of moral motivation applies to business ethics and ethical consumption. Moral motivation for Smith is embedded in his moral psychology and his theory of virtue, particularly in terms of socialization and our social interactions and in his view that people always seek approval for their conduct, either though actual or ideal spectators. It follows that right conduct depends on the spectator’s awareness of one’s conduct. Thus concerning business ethics, transparency and accountability are essential, as opposed to anonymity which is detrimental. Applying Smith’s theory of motivation to consumption entails two further points: One, information concerning business conduct without consumers seeking it and acting accordingly will only have a limited effect. Two, people’s concern for the propriety of their action can and should include consumption, such that purchasing behavior becomes a moral issue rather than a mere economic one.

Conflict of Interest Policies at Canadian Universities and Medical Schools: Some Lessons from the AMSA PharmFree Scorecard

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