Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Integrating Interprofessional Experience Throughout A First-Year Physician Assistant Curriculum Improves Perceptions Of Health Care Providers, Martina Reinhold, Sango Otieno, Theresa Ann Bacon-Baguley

Funded Articles

Purpose: Interprofessional collaboration is essential in Physician Assistant (PA) practice. Therefore, a three-semester sequence of Hospital Community Experience (HCE) was implemented during the didactic phase of the PA program providing students with weekly opportunities to shadow/observe health care professions.

Methods: This longitudinal, cohort study evaluated the effect of the HCE on PA students' perceptions of other health care professions prior to HCE, immediately after HCE, and one year later, after the clinical clerkships. The Interprofessional Perception Scale (IPS) survey was used to assess perceptions.

Results: Comparison of the IPS between the Pre-HCE and subsequent time points revealed statistically significant positive …

Replicable Interprofessional Competency Outcomes From High-Volume, Inter-Institutional, Interprofessional Simulation, Deborah Bambini, Matthew Emery, Margaret De Voest, Lisa Meny, Michael J. Shoemaker

Peer Reviewed Articles

There are significant limitations among the few prior studies that have examined the development and implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) experiences to accommodate a high volume of students from several disciplines and from different institutions. The present study addressed these gaps by seeking to determine the extent to which a single, large, inter-institutional, and IPE simulation event improves student perceptions of the importance and relevance of IPE and simulation as a learning modality, whether there is a difference in students’ perceptions among disciplines, and whether the results are reproducible. A total of 290 medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy students …

Driving In Early-Stage Alzheimer’S Disease An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Rebecca Davis, Jennifer M. Ohman

Funded Articles

One of the most difficult decisions for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is when to stop driving. Because driving is a fundamental activity linked to socialization, independent functioning, and wellbeing, making the decision to stop driving is not easy. Cognitive decline in older adults can lead to getting lost while driving, difficulty detecting and avoiding hazards, as well as increased errors while driving due to compromised judgment and difficulty in making decisions. The purpose of the current literature review was to synthesize evidence regarding how individuals with early-stage AD, their families, and providers make determinations about driving safety, interventions to …

Helping Others To Keep Hope, Take Action, And Gain Control Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Stephanie Hamilton

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Genetic Amplification: Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction And Its Problems And Uses, Drew Mcwilliams

Honors Projects

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), also called real-time PCR, has become a cornerstone of DNA analysis, enabling detection of minute amounts of nucleic acids (Whittwer et. al, 1997). In 1983, Kary Mullis developed a new method of genetic amplification—the polymerase chain reaction [PCR] (Bartlett & Stirling, 2003). A little over 20 years later, PCR now is a common and often crucial technique used in medical and biological research laboratories for a variety of applications. Some of these applications include DNA cloning for sequencing, DNA-based phylogeny, the diagnosis of hereditary diseases, the identification of genetic fingerprints (used in forensic sciences and …

Proof Of Concept Of A Mobile Health Short Message Service Text Message Intervention That Promotes Adherence To Oral Anticancer Agent Medications: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Sandra L. Spoelstra, Charles W. Given, Alla Sikorskii, Constantinos K. Coursaris, Atreyee Majumder, Tracy Dekoekkoek, Monica Schueller, Barbara A. Given

Peer Reviewed Articles

Introduction: This multisite, randomized controlled trial assigned 75 adult cancer patients prescribed an oral anticancer agent to either an experimental group that received daily text messages for adherence for 21 days plus usual care or a control group that received usual care.

Materials and Methods: Measures were administered at baseline, weekly (Weeks 1–8), and at exit (Week 9). A satisfaction survey was conducted following the intervention. Acceptability, feasibility, and satisfaction were examined. Primary outcomes were adherence and symptoms. Secondary outcomes were depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, cognition, physical function, and social support. Mixed or general linear models were used for the analyses …

Importance And Implementation Of Exercise Programs In The Geriatric Population, Denise Grezeszak

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Nursing’S Role In Physician Aid In Dying: Assisting Suicide Or Providing Death With Dignity, Elizabeth Miklos

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Neonatal Mortality In Ghana, Clorissa M. Diedrich

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Bilateral Ovarian Dermoid Cysts’ Treatment, Hilary Skalski

Honors Projects

Ovarian dermoid cysts are the most common neoplasm found in the ovary. They are also the most commonly removed ovarian neoplasm. Still, most reported cases of ovarian dermoid cysts are unilateral, so there is little research on bilateral ovarian dermoids. Nevertheless, bilateral treatment options should be explored, due to an increased likelihood of obtaining complications from a treatment or lack thereof. A meta-analysis on ovarian dermoid literature from 1991 to 2015 was performed to compile a treatment and prognosis for bilateral dermoids. The results found that a bilateral laparoscopic cystectomy was the optimal treatment method when treatment was desired. There …

Prevention Of Glaucoma-Induced Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss Using Alpha7 Nachr Agonists, P J. Birkholz, C A. Gossman, M K. Webster, David M. Linn, Cindy L. Linn

Peer Reviewed Articles

In this study, the neuroprotective effect of various nicotinic alpha7 acetylcholine receptor agonists in an in-vivo model of glaucoma using adult Long Evans rats was analyzed. Glaucoma-like conditions were induced in the eyes of Long Evans rats after injection of hypertonic saline into episcleral veins to create scar tissue and increase the animal’s intraocular pressure. This procedure produced significant loss of retinal ganglion cells within one month and was associated with an increase of intraocular pressure. Using this model system, various alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (a7 nAChR) agonists were applied at different doses as eye drops to the right eye …

Shape Ontogeny Of The Distal Femur In The Hominidae With Implications For The Evolution Of Bipedality, Melissa Tallman

Funded Articles

Heterochrony has been invoked to explain differences in the morphology of modern humans as compared to other great apes. The distal femur is one area where heterochrony has been hypothesized to explain morphological differentiation among Plio-Pleistocene hominins. This hypothesis is evaluated here using geometric morphometric data to describe the ontogenetic shape trajectories of extant hominine distal femora and place Plio-Pleistocene hominins within that context. Results of multivariate statistical analyses showed that in both Homo and Gorilla, the shape of the distal femur changes significantly over the course of development, whereas that of Pan changes very little. Development of the …

A Trial Examining An Advanced Practice Nurse Intervention To Promote Medication Adherence And Symptom Management In Adult Cancer Patients Prescribed Oral Anti-Cancer Agents: Study Protocol, Sandra L. Spoelstra, Peggy S. Burhenn, Tracy Dekoekkoek, Monica Schueller

Peer Reviewed Articles

Aim: To report a study protocol that refines then examines feasibility, preliminary efficacy, and satisfaction of ADHERE, an intervention using motivational interviewing and brief cognitive behavioral therapy as a mechanism for goal-oriented systematic patient education to promote symptom management and adherence among cancer patients prescribed oral anti-cancer agents.

Background: Cancer treatment with oral anti-cancer agents shifts responsibility for managing treatment from clinicians in supervised cancer centers to patients and their caregivers. Thus, a need exists to standardize start-of-care for support patient self-management of care at home.

Design: A two-phase quasi-experimental sequential design with repeated measures.

Methods: Sixty five adult patients …

Driving In Early-Stage Alzheimer’S Disease: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Rebecca L. Davis, Jennifer M. Ohman

Peer Reviewed Articles

One of the most difficult decisions for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is when to stop driving. Because driving is a fundamental activity linked to socialization, independent functioning, and wellbeing, making the decision to stop driving is not easy. Cognitive decline in older adults can lead to getting lost while driving, difficulty detecting and avoiding hazards, as well as increased errors while driving due to compromised judgment and difficulty in making decisions. The purpose of the current literature review was to synthesize evidence regarding how individuals with early-stage AD, their families, and providers make determinations about driving safety, interventions to …