Search

Background: Selection into UK-based GP training has used the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) and a face-to-face selection centre (SC). The MSRA comprises of a situational judgement test and clinical problem-solving test. The SC was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence is needed to guide national and international selection policy. Aim: To evaluate the validity of GP training selection. Design & setting: A retrospective cohort study using data from UK-based national recruitment to GP training, from 2015–2021. Method: Data were available for 32 215 GP training applicants. The ability of scores from the specialty selection process to predict subsequent performance in the Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) of the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners examination was modelled using path analysis. The effect sizes for sex, professional family background, and world region of qualification were estimated. Results: All component scores of the selection process demonstrated statistically significant independent relationships with CSA performance (P<0.001), thus establishing their predictive validity. All were sensitive to demographic factors. The SC scores had the weakest relationship with future CSA performance. However, for candidates with MSRA scores below the lowest quartile, the relative contribution of the SC scores to predicting CSA performance was similar to that observed for MSRA components. Conclusion: The MSRA has predictive validity in this context. Re-instituting an SC for those with relatively low MSRA scores should be considered. However, the relative costs and potential advantages and disadvantages should be carefully weighed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subject knowledge is an important component of primary teachers' repertoire, though it has not been studied widely beyond their understandings of aspects of science and mathematics. Evaluations of the quality of teachers' geographical knowledge for teaching primary geography indicate a disparity between high quality teachers and less strong teachers. Good or weaker geography subject knowledge influences primary teachers' capacity to plan well for and intervene effectively in children's learning. This small-scale interview-based enquiry explores several teachers' senses of geography subject knowledge. They are enthusiasts for geography and are identified as expert teachers of the subject in their classes and schools. Five themes emerge as very tentative findings from their reflections: the subject's breadth, knowledge about the world, a living subject, an accessible subject for children and need for geography to be visible in the curriculum. There are indications that these primary teachers have a sense of geographical knowledge as informational knowledge, conceptual knowledge and geographical thinking. However, there were limits to these teachers' clear articulations of their understandings. Questions emerge about the nature and value of subject knowledge in relation to pedagogical content knowledge for primary teachers.

This paper summarises the findings of research conducted with one cohort of English undergraduate primary teacher trainees on point of entry to a 4-year course. The research examines the perceptions held of geography as a subject discipline and the purposes of teaching the subject. Two hundred and eleven trainees were asked to define geography and provide information about their pre-course qualifications as well as their perceptions of the current primary geography curriculum. A volunteer sample of 12 students then completed a nominal group exercise which explored trainees' understanding of the purposes of teaching geography and the skills that they considered they brought to the teaching of the subject. The findings indicate that trainees had an information-orientated perception of geography and did not appear to fully appreciate the breadth of the subject. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

Advances in computer communication technology have enabled the rapid growth of e-health services for delivering healthcare, such as facilitating online consent and data sharing between patients and health professionals. Developing a patient-centric healthcare system is challenging because by necessity, it should be secure, reliable, and resilient to cyber threats, whilst remaining user-friendly. Key to any development aiming for a refined proof-of-concept (PoC) system is the pursuit of comprehensive public system testing and evaluation. This paper focuses on the methodology and results obtained from the participatory approach adopted by the EU H2020 project Serums to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of a smart healthcare system based on emergent technologies like blockchain, data lake, and multi-factor authentication. We discuss the challenges faced by remote PoC system evaluations with end-users as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.