While objective clinical structured examination (OSCE) is a worldwide recognized and effective method to assess clinical skills of undergraduate medical students, the latest Ottawa conference on the assessment of competences raised vigorous debates regarding the future and innovations of OSCE. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive view of the global research activity on OSCE over the past decades and to identify clues for its improvement. We performed a bibliometric and scientometric analysis of OSCE papers published until March 2024. We included a description of the overall scientific productivity, as well as an unsupervised analysis of the main topics and the international scientific collaborations. A total of 3,224 items were identified from the Scopus database. There was a sudden spike in publications, especially related to virtual/remote OSCE, from 2020 to 2024. We identified leading journals and countries in terms of number of publications and citations. A co-occurrence term network identified three main clusters corresponding to different topics of research in OSCE. Two connected clusters related to OSCE performance and reliability, and a third cluster on student\'s experience, mental health (anxiety), and perception with few connections to the two previous clusters. Finally, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada were identified as leading countries in terms of scientific publications and collaborations in an international scientific network involving other European countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy) as well as Saudi Arabia and Australia, and revealed the lack of important collaboration with Asian countries. Various avenues for improving OSCE research have been identified: i) developing remote OSCE with comparative studies between live and remote OSCE and issuing international recommendations for sharing remote OSCE between universities and countries; ii) fostering international collaborative studies with the support of key collaborating countries; iii) investigating the relationships between student performance and anxiety.

UNASSIGNED: Early marriage and maternity represent a violation of human rights and a barrier to achieving gender equality in education. Studies conducted across various regions and countries, including Mozambique, have highlighted the negative consequences of early marriage and maternity, particularly on adolescent girls\' physical, educational and mental health. Adolescent girls who marry before the age of 18 are more prone to a broad spectrum of mood, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders. In the districts of Maganja da Costa and Morrumbala in Zambézia Province, Mozambique, high rates of early marriage persist despite government policies and interventions.
UNASSIGNED: This study aims to understand early marriage\'s socio-cultural, economic, and psychological drivers and impacts on adolescent girls\' lives, focusing on education, mental health, and well-being.
UNASSIGNED: This paper used a qualitative research design. We employed a life-story approach and used purposeful sampling to identify participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants and the data were analysed using Tesch\'s thematic analysis approach.
UNASSIGNED: Elements contributing to early marriage and pregnancy are intricately linked with socio-cultural elements. These include the induction into specific societal roles, the affirmation of childbearing, the perceived importance of dowry, the impact of rite-of-passage ceremonies, and the cultural significance associated with a girl\'s initial menstruation. School dropout often originates from geographical and transportation challenges, nudging adolescent girls towards early marriage. In some instances, termination of pregnancy was viewed as a solution, while engaging in sexual activities was seen as a means to inject purpose into their lives or as a response to poverty. Positive changes and emotions were evident, yet regrettably, the ramifications of early pregnancy and marriage were primarily detrimental. These influenced the adolescent girls\' interpersonal connections, educational and career opportunities, emotional well-being, and access to support networks.
UNASSIGNED: The modern perspective, which advocates for equal educational rights for boys and girls and posits that marriage should occur after the age of 18, contradicts the socio-cultural perspective of adulthood.
UNASSIGNED: This study adds to the ongoing efforts to prevent and combat early marriage and maternity in Africa.

Implementing and deploying advanced technologies are principal in improving manufacturing processes, signifying a transformative stride in the industrial sector. Computer vision plays a crucial innovation role during this technological advancement, demonstrating broad applicability and profound impact across various industrial operations. This pivotal technology is not merely an additive enhancement but a revolutionary approach that redefines quality control, automation, and operational efficiency parameters in manufacturing landscapes. By integrating computer vision, industries are positioned to optimize their current processes significantly and spearhead innovations that could set new standards for future industrial endeavors. However, the integration of computer vision in these contexts necessitates comprehensive training programs for operators, given this advanced system\'s complexity and abstract nature. Historically, training modalities have grappled with the complexities of understanding concepts as advanced as computer vision. Despite these challenges, computer vision has recently surged to the forefront across various disciplines, attributed to its versatility and superior performance, often matching or exceeding the capabilities of other established technologies. Nonetheless, there is a noticeable knowledge gap among students, particularly in comprehending the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within Computer Vision. This disconnect underscores the need for an educational paradigm transcending traditional theoretical instruction. Cultivating a more practical understanding of the symbiotic relationship between AI and computer vision is essential. To address this, the current work proposes a project-based instructional approach to bridge the educational divide. This methodology will enable students to engage directly with the practical aspects of computer vision applications within AI. By guiding students through a hands-on project, they will learn how to effectively utilize a dataset, train an object detection model, and implement it within a microcomputer infrastructure. This immersive experience is intended to bolster theoretical knowledge and provide a practical understanding of deploying AI techniques within computer vision. The main goal is to equip students with a robust skill set that translates into practical acumen, preparing a competent workforce to navigate and innovate in the complex landscape of Industry 4.0. This approach emphasizes the criticality of adapting educational strategies to meet the evolving demands of advanced technological infrastructures. It ensures that emerging professionals are adept at harnessing the potential of transformative tools like computer vision in industrial settings.

Equine Assisted Interventions (EAIs) integrate the active participation of horses in therapeutic or educational interventions. A bibliometric analysis was carried out on this topic, using traditional bibliometric laws and recommendations. For this purpose, a search on the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database was carried out, obtaining 333 documents. Annual publications followed an exponentially increasing trend (R2 = 86%), pointing out that this topic is a growing interest among researchers, publishers, and journals. The USA was the most productive country worldwide and Jeong-yi Kwon and Ji Lee were the prolific co-authors. The WoS category with the highest number of papers was Rehabilitation (84 papers). The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and Pediatric Physical Therapy were the journals with the highest number of publications. The most cited paper was \"State of the Evidence Traffic Lights 2019: Systematic Review of Interventions for Preventing and Treating Children with Cerebral Palsy\". The most used author keywords were rehabilitation, balance, and those related to specific populations such as Cerebral Palsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder. These results suggest that EAIs is a topic of increasing interest for researchers, editors, and professionals.

BACKGROUND: Projects for workplace health promotion (WHP) for back pain traditionally focus exclusively on work-related but not on leisure-time stress on the spine. We developed a comprehensive WHP project on the back health of hospital workers regardless of the physical characteristics of their work and compared its effects on sedentary and physically active hospital workers.
METHODS: Study assessments were carried out before and six months after participation in the WHP intervention. The primary outcome parameter was back pain (Oswestry Disability Index, ODI). Anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), work ability (Work Ability Index), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10), and quality of life (Short Form-36) were assessed via questionnaires as secondary outcome parameters. Physical performance was measured via the 30 seconds Sit-to-Stand test (30secSTS).
RESULTS: Sixty-eight healthcare workers with non-specific back pain were included in the evaluation study of the WHP project \"Back Health 24/7/365\". After six months, back pain, physical performance, and self-perceived physical functioning (SF-36 Physical Functioning subscale) improved significantly in both groups. Not a single parameter showed an interaction effect with the group allocation.
CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive WHP-intervention showed significant positive effects on hospital workers regardless of the physical characteristics of their work.

Preschoolers with disabilities and their caregivers have been neglected in health and social service provision in most low-income countries and arguably also in low-resourced areas of more affluent nations. Yet as this rapid review of the published literature identifies, there are low-cost, evidence-based strategies to address their needs that can be implemented in communities by local people. Five key features of the necessary supports are examined. First, the leadership functions required to create and implement the support services. Second, the family-centred, home-based support provided to caregivers and the personnel undertaking this form of support. Third, providing opportunities for peer support to flourish and encouraging the formation of advocacy groups across families. Fourth, mobilizing the support of significant groups within the community: notably, traditional healers and leaders, health services and poverty alleviation initiatives. Fifth, devising ways in which preschool educational opportunities can be offered to children as a prelude to their inclusion in primary schools. The review serves a further purpose. It provides an example of how public health researchers and academics could achieve more rapid implementation of evidence-based knowledge into existing and new support services through dissemination to community practitioners.

The ultimate goal of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes is to decrease the occurrence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In response to this, a pharmacist partnership was established between Malawi and Wales (UK) with the aim of strengthening antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) activities in Malawi, with the initial project focusing on two tertiary referral hospitals. The Global Point Prevalence Survey (GPPS) was undertaken for the first time in Malawi at these sites and demonstrated a prescribing rate slightly lower than the African average, with ceftriaxone indicated for almost every bacterial infection. An educational intervention was also delivered, with a train-the-trainer approach upskilling pharmacists at the two sites, who then cascaded co-produced training sessions to an additional 120 multidisciplinary health professionals. A toolkit to support AMS at an individual patient level was also developed and disseminated to provide an ongoing reference to refer to. Both the trainings and toolkit were well received. Over the course of this project, significant progress has been made with the AMS programmes at the two sites, with local staff empowered to implement AMS activities. These interventions could be easily replicated and scaled and support the delivery of some of the AMS elements of the Malawi Ministry of Health National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance.

OBJECTIVE: The HypoCOMPaSS multi-centre trial achieved improvement in hypoglycaemia awareness and 20-fold reduction in severe hypoglycaemia (SH) in a cohort with long-standing type 1 diabetes (T1D). All participants received \'my hypo compass\' (MHC) brief structured psycho-educational intervention in addition to optimisation of insulin delivery/glucose monitoring. In this 24-week, prospective, single-centre feasibility RCT, we piloted MHC as a sole intervention in comparison to standard clinical care alone (CON).
METHODS: Participants with T1D and impaired hypoglycaemia awareness (IAH) (Clarke score ≥4) were recruited. MHC comprised a group/individual 1-2 h face-to-face session followed by a telephone call and second face-to-face session at 4 weeks. Outcome measures at 24 weeks were compared with baseline.
RESULTS: Fifty-two individuals provided consent for screening with 39 fulfilling eligibility criteria. Fifteen withdrew before any study intervention. Twenty-four adults with (mean ± SD) T1D duration 41.0 ± 15.1 years commenced/completed the study (100% visit attendance); 12 randomised to MHC and 12 to CON. All had IAH at baseline and at 24 weeks. Annualised SH rate following MHC was 3.8 ± 19.0 (24 weeks) versus 12.6 ± 3.5 (Baseline) and in CON group 2.0 ± 19.0 (24 weeks) versus 4.6 ± 11.5 (Baseline). \'Immediate Action\' for and \'Worry\' about hyperglycaemia measured by the Hyperglycaemia Avoidance Scale appeared lower following MHC. Participants attended all study visits and reflected positively on the MHC intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: Feasibility of MHC implementation without additional intervention has been demonstrated. MHC education was associated with positive changes in attitudes and behaviours with the potential to reduce SH risk. MHC provides a validated, simple, well-received programme to fulfil the educational component within RCTs targeting problematic hypoglycaemia and as part of holistic clinical care.

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of collaboration and communication in global health, existing educational approaches often rely on traditional one-way instruction from instructor to student. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed undergraduate curriculum on global health in enhancing nursing students\' competencies in global health and communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skills.
METHODS: A 15-week course \"Global Health and Nursing\" was designed for undergraduate nursing students, and a collaborative project-based learning method was used. Study participants were undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the course. The study was a multi-method study and included quantitative and qualitative components. It employed a one-group pretest-posttest design to quantitatively assess the impact of the curriculum. Additionally, student experiences with the learning process were qualitatively explored through a focus group interview. A total of 28 students participated in this study, and 5 of them participated in the focus group interview.
RESULTS: The collaborative project-based learning method significantly improved global health competency (t = - 10.646, df = 22, p < 0.001), with a large effect size. It also improved communication skills (t = - 2.649, df = 22, p = 0.015), problem-solving skills (t = - 3.453, df = 22, p = 0.002), and self-directed learning skills (t = - 2.375, df = 22, p = 0.027). Three themes were found through the focus group interview: (a) Promoting global health competency; (b) Fostering life skills through collaborative projects; and (c) Recommendations for future classes. The focus group interview indicated that overall, the study participants were satisfied with the collaborative project-based method for global health education.
CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that project-based learning significantly boosts the competencies and skills of students, recommending its broader adoption in nursing education. Nursing instructors should consider adopting this teaching approach for global health education at the undergraduate level. Future studies may employ a longitudinal design to assess the prolonged effects of the collaborative project-based learning approach, particularly focusing on the long-term retention of skills and the broader applicability of this model across different educational settings.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring the career intentions of medical students during their undergraduate studies could help to address the shortage of physicians, particularly in general practice. This study aimed to investigate changes in medical students\' career openness, attractiveness and determinants of medical career choice during their bachelor\'s studies.
METHODS: The design was cross-sectional, recruiting all medical students who started a bachelor\'s program in one of the four different educational tracks in Zurich, Switzerland, in the fall of 2019 (first survey) and completed it in the summer of 2022 (second survey). Students\' perceptions of the attractiveness and determinants of different medical career options were assessed using a structured online questionnaire. Absolute changes between the two-time points were reported in percentage points overall and by educational track. Regression analysis was used to examine the association of student characteristics and determinants of career options with the attractiveness of each option.
RESULTS: We surveyed 354 medical students at the beginning and 433 at the end of the bachelor\'s program (participation rate: 71.1% and 86.9%, respectively). Overall, the proportion of students open to all proposed medical career options decreased (from 52.8% to 43.8%, p = 0.004). The attractiveness of outpatient gynecology or pediatrics increased (from 27.4% to 43.4%, p < 0.001), whereas the attractiveness of both general and specialized inpatient care decreased (from 47.8% to 40.3%, p = 0.05 and from 71.1% to 61.1%, p = 0.006 respectively). There was an increase in the proportion of students who perceived part-time work, autonomy and relationships with patients as important career determinants (from 47.3% to 64.7%, p < 0.001; from 63.3% to 77.8%, p < 0.001; from 80.8% to 89.3%, p = 0.002 respectively), while the importance of reputation and career opportunities decreased (from 42.6% to 26.2%, p < 0.001; from 79.2% to 63.6%, p < 0.001 respectively). The importance of part-time work and relationships with patients were positively associated with the attractiveness of general practice.
CONCLUSIONS: During the bachelor\'s program, the attractiveness of a career in general practice tended to decrease, but the importance of part-time work, autonomy and relationships with patients as career determinants increased. Helping students understand how these determinants relate to general practice may increase their interest in the profession.
BACKGROUND: Not applicable.