The General Medical Council encourages the integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) teaching into basic medical education. We wished to explore the attitudes of medical students to CAM and its inclusion in their undergraduate curriculum. Medical students were invited to complete the validated Integrative Medicine Attitude Questionnaire (IMAQ) and to state whether they considered it appropriate for them to learn about CAM in medical school. The questionnaire was completed by 308 students (65.8% response rate). CAM had been received by a majority of respondents and their families. Participants believed that doctors with knowledge of CAM provide better patient care and that it is desirable for physicians to exploit the placebo effect. Most students expressed the view that doctors should be able to answer patients' questions about herbal medicines. There was a belief that patients should be warned to avoid using supplements which have not undergone rigorous testing. Students who were current or previous users of CAM or whose family members used CAM had higher total IMAQ scores and openness subscale scores than those who did not report use of CAM. Two-hundred and nine (68%) students expressed a desire to study CAM as part of their medical curriculum. This study reveals a positive attitude towards a holistic approach to patient care which embraces CAM. Medical students believe that integrative medicine should be taught in medical school.
Attitude of Health Personnel ; Complementary Therapies ; education ; Female ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; education ; Male ; Students, Medical ; psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Teaching

Background: The impact of a research publication has traditionally been quantified by its citation count. Newer bibliometric indices such as Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) and article page views are emerging as supplementary measures to quantify the academic influence of research. Objective: The aim of the current study was to interrogate the relationship between novel and traditional bibliometric indices for research published in a leading surgical journal and evaluate the role of these newer indices in measuring the impact of surgical research. Methods: All articles published in JAMA Surgery between 1 January 2019 and 1 September 2021 were examined. The literature database PubMed was used to identify all articles published within the specified time period. Cumulative citation count (Web of Science), AAS and article page views were retrieved from the journal website. Statistical analysis using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (r) was performed on Minitab 19. Results: A total of 1,071 articles were retrieved for further analysis. The correlation (95% CI) between ranks for all articles was 0.635 (0.594-0.673) for AAS and citation scores, 0.680 (0.642-0.714) for citations and article page views, and 0.813 (0.788-0.835) for AAS and article page views. Conclusions We demonstrated a strong correlation between citations and AAS for articles published in a leading surgical journal. The inter-year correlation between 2019 and 2021 was similar, suggesting that AAS could be predictive of future citations. AAS may be useful in evaluating the wider societal impact of the surgical literature and could serve to promote greater public engagement in surgical research.
Altmetrics ; Bibliometrics ; Social Media

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic focused public attention on the importance of responsible tourism. The purpose of this study was to characterise irresponsible tourist behaviour leading to deportation from the destination country Methods: A web-based search of media reports relating to deportations of tourists was conducted. Results: The most common reasons for deportation were related to indecent exposure or physical damage to sacred monuments and violations of COVID-19-related national public health rules. Other incidents resulted from social media posts and breach of environmental regulations. Conclusions The results of this study may inform future research efforts and targeted public awareness campaigns.
Deportation ; COVID-19 ; Cultural Competency

Introduction: Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are designed to accommodate large numbers of geographically dispersed learners. Few healthcare students receive exposure in travel medicine. We aimed as partner medical universities to develop a novel introductory MOOC in travel medicine suitable for undergraduate healthcare students, and to evaluate it among a cohort of learners. Methods: A course development team, comprising a senior travel medicine academic from National University of Ireland Galway, local International Medical University faculty and instructional/graphic designers, was convened in November 2017. The MOOC proposal was subsequently refined. Course construction commenced in December 2017 and involved communication between team members based in Malaysia and Ireland. Lectures were recorded in January-July 2018. Development of learning and assessment material and the pilot phase were completed in December 2019. Course evaluation was based on the results of a questionnaire and qualitative free text comments from users. Results: The MOOC is being delivered to a multinational cohort on a rolling basis. It is organised into five four-themed units: travel health risk assessment; pre-travel health advice; tropical infectious diseases; specialised travellers; and illness in returned travellers. Pedagogical methods include short video lectures, journal articles, a discussion forum, and self-assessment quizzes. Learners have the option of completing an online test to receive a certificate of achievement. Participant evaluation from the first run of the MOOC has revealed very high levels of satisfaction with content and mode of delivery. Conclusions This is the first MOOC in travel medicine and it may provide a model for development of other collaborative international e-learning courses. It will address a significant deficit in undergraduate health professional education.
Travel Medicine ; Global Health ; Education, Medical