Daniel Rosenfield

Student leadership in interprofessional education: benefits, challenges and implications for educators, researchers and policymakers

Context  Interprofessional collaboration is gaining increasing prominence as a team‐based approach to health care delivery that synergistically maximises the strengths of each health professional to enhance patient care, decrease medical errors and optimise efficiency. The often neglected role that student leaders have in preparing their peers, as the health professionals of the future, for collaboration in health care should not be overlooked.

Perceptions versus reality: a qualitative study of students’ expectations and experiences of interprofessional education

Medical Education 2011: 45: 471–477

Magnetic foreign body injuries: a large pediatric hospital experience

OBJECTIVE To examine trends in magnet-related injuries and hypothesize that changes are a result of new neodymium-iron-boron magnets that are smaller, stronger, and commonly sold in sets. STUDY DESIGN In this retrospective chart review, we searched our institutions electronic patient record for patients less than 18 years old who were diagnosed with magnetic foreign body ingestion between 2002 and 2012. Cases were analyzed for patient, magnetic foreign body, and management characteristics. Incidence rates and case characteristics were compared between the first 8 years of the study period and the last 3. RESULTS We identified 94 patients who met our search criteria. Of confirmed ingestions, the median age was 4.5 years and 65% were male. The incidence of visits increased between the 2002-2009 period and the 2010-2012 period by a factor of 2.94 (95% CI, 1.84-4.70), whereas the incidence of injuries involving multiple magnets increased by a factor of 8.40 (95% CI, 3.44-20.56). The volume of the magnets decreased from 878.6 mm3 to 259.8 mm3. Six cases required surgical removal of the magnets because of intra-abdominal sepsis or concern for imminent bowel perforation. CONCLUSIONS Since 2002, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of magnetic foreign body injuries. These injuries have increasingly involved multiple, smaller magnets and required operative intervention.

Time to address stimulant abuse on our campuses.

Universities and colleges need to do more to protect our young adults from and educate them about the dangers of illicit stimulant use. Abuse of prescription medications such as methylphenidate and atomoxetine has been estimated at an alarming rate ranging from 5% to 35%.[1][1] Without action, some

Being smarter with smartphones

Seemingly overnight, smartphones have become the latest must-have, irreplaceable tool in the armamentarium of the contemporary clinician. However, their use is often banned or seriously limited in health care institutions, best depicted by ominous signage from Big Brother — “no cellphones or

Why Mentorship Matters: Students, Staff and Sustainability in Interprofessional Education

Mentors and positive role models are almost always instrumental in guiding students towards a particular career path. In the context of interprofessional education this is also true of positive role models among students who aid their peers and will take a leading role in these education programs moving forward. Providing strong mentorship programs for student leaders that engage their values, guide them in accordance with principles of self-directed learning, and create greater awareness of the opportunities that facilitate self-discovery and maturation, will ensure the future success of interprofessional education programs.

Gonorrhea: what goes around comes around.

Neisseria gonorrhoea is rapidly evolving into a multiresistant bacteria, recalcitrant to all single-dose antibiotics in common use including second- and third-generation cephalosporins. Without serious attention, multiresistant gonorrhea will spread globally, causing increased rates of pelvic inflammatory disease and urethritis. Worse, it will promote antibiotic resistance in nongonococcal microbes by direct gene transfer and other mechanisms as it travels around the world. As a result, life-threatening infections may become untreatable.

Industry’s neglect of prescribing information for children

Physicians caring for Canadian children are frequently denied easy access to important prescribing information. The reason? The pharmaceutical industry generally has not submitted evidence in its possession supporting safe pediatric doses and dosing intervals to Health Canada. As a result, the

No regulatory double standard for natural health products

Many consumers believe that natural health products are effective therapies and are safer than prescription drugs. This is oddly illogical reasoning. Although both appear to carry a similar Health Canada stamp of approval, there remains a specious dichotomy in the criteria and evidence needed for

Magnet ingestion by a 3-year-old boy.

A previously healthy 3-year-old boy was brought to hospital by his mother, who was concerned that he had ingested several small, spherical magnets earlier that day. The only symptom noted by his mother was increased drooling. Physical examination was unremarkable and revealed a child in no distress