Cognitive behavioural skills for practice a model for delivery in the Irish mental health service.

This publication outlines a model of delivery for introductory level Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) training in the Mental Health Service, HSE South (Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford). This model has proved useful in guiding the development of four introductory programmes during 2009 and 2010. As a result of this experience, we have amended and updated our programme delivery strategies. We see this process as organic and ever changing, thus these reflections are a snap shot of our current thinking which we have no doubt will evolve as we proceed with future programmes. This booklet will act as a guide for our upcoming programmes in 2010 and 2011 and we believe it may also offer guidance to others who will be involved in the delivery of CBT training within the Irish Mental Health Service.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Addressing High Level ICT Skills Recruitment Needs

Ireland is a successful major centre for ICT operations with ten of the top ICT companies in the world having substantial operations here. The large talent pool of ICT professionals that exists here is valuable both for foreign-owned and Irish companies. The cluster of internationally renowned firms and Irish companies offer a range of attractive career opportunities for professionals. A range of skills recruitment difficulties have been raised through the work of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), specifically the immediate issue of high-level ICT skills within both the ICT sector and from other sectors such as international financial services, banking and business services. Forfs, with the support of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, engaged in discussions with a selected range of foreign–owned and Irish companies employing approximately 30,000 employees to establish the nature of positions involved, the reasons for recruitment difficulties and to identify measures to help address them. Consultations were also held with key stakeholders including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, ICT Ireland, Software Ireland, IT@Cork, Engineers Ireland and Dublin Chambers of Commerce. Discussions were held with the heads of the computing departments of all Universities and Institutes of Technology at a meeting chaired by the Higher Education Authority. An in-depth analysis of third-level ICT supply statistics and trends was undertaken to inform the research.

HEA Report to the Minister for Education and Skills on Irish higher education

This report to the Minister for Education and Skills from the Higher Education Authority is the culmination of a series of consultations and reports aimed at addressing the challenges and recommendations outlined in the National Strategy for Higher Education(the National Strategy), in particular as these relate to the structure or configuration of the Irish higher education system. This advice builds on other major changes announced since the publication of the strategy, including the agreement of the Process and Criteria for Designation as a Technological University setting out how institutions can become designated as technological universities and the significant role these new institutions can play in Irish higher education. At the same time it must be recognised that other elements of the implementation of the strategy (for example, those relating to sustainability) are still under way. This report to the Minister is concerned with the structure and institutional disposition of the system.

HEA Report to the Minister for Education and Skills on Irish higher education (Response Letter)

HEA Report to the Minister for Education and Skills on Irish higher education (Response Letter). Provided by the Department of Education and Skills, Ireland.

ICT Action Plan Meeting the high-level skills needs of enterprise in Ireland

The technology sector in Ireland is thriving. Employment, through indigenous and multinational technology firms continues to grow strongly year on year. All of the top 10 multinational technology companies have a significant presence in Ireland and the indigenous software sector’s exports are worth well in excess of €1 billion annually. Five of the top 10 exporters in Ireland are technology companies, and the sector is responsible for approximately one-third of Ireland’s total turnover. Since January 2011, over 80 jobs a week have been announced in the sector. This is on foot of 6% employment growth in 2009 and 4% in 2010. A recent global competitiveness report ranks Ireland as the top destination in the world by quality and value of investments. With a growing multinational technology presence in Ireland and a vibrant and innovative indigenous software sector, the future prospects for Ireland’s technology sector are bright.

ICT Skills Action Plan 2014-2018

In January 2012, in a direct response to specific skills shortages for people with high-level ICT skills, the Department of Education and Skills published a joint Government–industry ICT Action Plan aimed at building the supply of high-level ICT graduates. One of the key measures in the Plan was the roll-out, from March 2012, of more than 800 places on intensive NFQ level 8 higher diploma ICT skills conversion programmes by higher education providers in partnership with industry. In recognition of the ICT and software development skills shortages that continue to exist, a second phase of the ICT Skills Programme was rolled-out in late 2012, with the Higher Education Authority requesting proposals from higher education providers for a further round of specialist programmes aimed at addressing identified ICT and software development skills gaps. From spring 2013, a number of higher education providers are again offering a number of Level 8 Conversion Programmes, in collaboration with industry partners, which will provide graduates from other skills areas with the opportunity to up-skill or re-skill through a 1 year full-time HDip Conversion Programme in core computing/programming, software and data analysis.

Management Framework Agreement between the Department of Education and Skills and City of Dublin ETB

Management Framework Agreement between the Department of Education and Skills and City of Dublin ETB. Provided by the Department of Education and Skills, Ireland.

Naming the Reformed Junior Cycle Proposals for the Minister for Education and Skills - Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU)

It was important to us to engage with as many students as possible throughout the process of developing a new name for the reformed junior cycle. In this vein, we used a wide variety of methods to engage with students in order to capture as many ideas as possible; text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, email and consultation sessions. We circulated posters to all schools via post and/or email, and contacted schools in catchment areas for the consultation sessions by phone. In our consultation sessions, we had discussions with the participating students about what the new junior cycle would be, closely guided by the content of “Towards a Framework for Junior Cycle” from the National Council for Curriculum and assessment. In these sessions, students then gave feedback on what they thought of the reformed junior cycle, developed their own ideas, and identified what they thought should be reflected in the name of the reformed junior cycle

Medical students' skills and needs for training in breaking bad news.

This study assessed medical students' perception of individual vs. group training in breaking bad news (BBN) and explored training needs in BBN. Master-level students (N = 124) were randomised to group training (GT)-where only one or two students per group conducted a simulated patient (SP) interview, which was discussed collectively with the faculty-or individual training (IT)-where each student conducted an SP interview, which was discussed during individual supervision. Training evaluation was based on questionnaires, and the videotaped interviews were rated using the Roter Interaction Analysis System. Students were globally satisfied with the training. Still, there were noticeable differences between students performing an interview (GT/IT) and students observing interviews (GT). The analysis of the interviews showed significant differences according to scenarios and to gender. Active involvement through SP interviews seems required for students to feel able to reach training objectives. The evaluation of communication skills, revealing a baseline heterogeneity, supports individualised training.

Evaluation à l'aide d'un livre de bord des compétences cliniques acquises par des stagiaires en médecine. [Evaluation using a logbook of mastering of clinical skills by medical students]

La maîtrise des compétences cliniques est extrêmement importante pour le médecin. Leur enseignement est aujourd'hui facilité grâce à la disponibilité du «Swiss Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Training» où sont décrits les niveaux de compétence à atteindre au terme des études de médecine. Un carnet de bord a été préparé à la Faculté de biologie et de médecine de Lausanne à partir de ce document. Il a permis de mettre en évidence chez les étudiants une très nette amélioration de la maîtrise des compétences cliniques entre le début et la fin des stages en médecine interne, chirurgie/orthopédie, pédiatrie, gynécologie/obstétrique et psychiatrie. Un tel outil devrait permettre dans l'avenir de mieux guider l'apprentissage des étudiants et de suivre leurs progrès à chaque étape du curriculum. [Abstract] The mastering of the clinical skills is of utmost importance for the physician. The teaching of the skills is nowadays made easier with the <<Swiss Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Training>> which lists all the skills and their respective level of expected mastering at graduation. In order to do a survey on how good the students are at those skills, a logbook based on this document has been setup at the Faculty of biology and medicine of the University of Lausanne. This has shown that students went through a clear progression of the mastering of the skills during their elective year in internal medicine, surgery/orthopaedics, paediatric, obstetric and gynaecology as well as psychiatry. Such an instrument should in the future help to better guide the learning process of the clinical skills and to do a better follow-up of their progress.

Impact of cannabis inhalation on driving skills in occasional smokers

Objectives: Our aim was to study the brain regions involved in a divided attention tracking task related to driving in occasional cannabis smokers. In addition we assessed the relationship between THC levels in whole blood and changes in brain activity, behavioural and psychomotor performances. Methods: Twenty-one smokers participated to two independent cross-over fMRI experiments before and after smoking cannabis and a placebo. The paradigm was based on a visuo-motor tracking task, alternating active tracking blocks with passive tracking viewing and rest condition. Half of the active tracking conditions included randomly presented traffic lights as distractors. Blood samples were taken at regular intervals to determine the time-profiles of the major cannabinoids. Their levels during the fMRI experiments were interpolated from concentrations measured by GCMS/ MS just before and after brain imaging. Results: Behavioural data, such as the discard between target and cursor, the time of correct tracking and the reaction time during traffic lights appearance showed a statistical significant impairment of subject s skills due to THC intoxication. Highest THC blood concentrations were measured soon after smoking and ranged between 28.8 and 167.9 ng/ml. These concentrations reached values of a few ng/ml during the fMRI. fMRI results pointed out that under the effect of THC, high order visual areas (V3d) and Intraparietal sulcus (IPS) showed an higher activation compared to the control condition. The opposite comparison showed a decrease of activation during the THC condition in the anterior cingulate gyrus and orbitofrontal areas. In these locations, the BOLD showed a negative correlation with the THC level. Conclusion: Acute cannabis smoking significantly impairs performances and brain activity during active tracking tasks, partly reorganizing the recruitment of brain areas of the attention network. Neural activity in the anterior cingulate might be responsible of the changes in the cognitive controls required in our divided attention task.

An electronic portfolio for quantitative assessment of surgical skills in undergraduate medical education.

BACKGROUND We evaluated a newly designed electronic portfolio (e-Portfolio) that provided quantitative evaluation of surgical skills. Medical students at the University of Seville used the e-Portfolio on a voluntary basis for evaluation of their performance in undergraduate surgical subjects. METHODS Our new web-based e-Portfolio was designed to evaluate surgical practical knowledge and skills targets. Students recorded each activity on a form, attached evidence, and added their reflections. Students self-assessed their practical knowledge using qualitative criteria (yes/no), and graded their skills according to complexity (basic/advanced) and participation (observer/assistant/independent). A numerical value was assigned to each activity, and the values of all activities were summated to obtain the total score. The application automatically displayed quantitative feedback. We performed qualitative evaluation of the perceived usefulness of the e-Portfolio and quantitative evaluation of the targets achieved. RESULTS Thirty-seven of 112 students (33%) used the e-Portfolio, of which 87% reported that they understood the methodology of the portfolio. All students reported an improved understanding of their learning objectives resulting from the numerical visualization of progress, all students reported that the quantitative feedback encouraged their learning, and 79% of students felt that their teachers were more available because they were using the e-Portfolio. Only 51.3% of students reported that the reflective aspects of learning were useful. Individual students achieved a maximum of 65% of the total targets and 87% of the skills targets. The mean total score was 345 ± 38 points. For basic skills, 92% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and all achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer and assistant. For complex skills, 62% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and 98% achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer or assistant. CONCLUSIONS Medical students reported that use of an electronic portfolio that provided quantitative feedback on their progress was useful when the number and complexity of targets were appropriate, but not when the portfolio offered only formative evaluations based on reflection. Students felt that use of the e-Portfolio guided their learning process by indicating knowledge gaps to themselves and teachers.

New challenges, new skills for a digital library

The Andalusian eHealth Library (BV-SSPA) was set up in 2006, but the region already had 42 librarians who worked at hospitals or other centers and were in charge of their libraries. The Digital library meant for all of them the availability of a greater amount of scientific resources and also the challenge of adapting to this new environment which brought new tasks and responsibilities to their daily work, and required the development of new skills. The time has arrived to analyze how they have implemented this change and how it has transformed their professional profile within the Andalusian Health System. Nowadays, the Andalusian eHealth Library establishes the librarian’s targets and their work is evaluated according to the fulfillment of these targets. This evaluation is carried out by the director of the BV-SSPA, taking into account the performance related to the general stated targets, as well as their level of commitment to the Digital Library through the performing of specific assigned tasks.