The rapidly growing older population has generated the need for more gerontological or geriatric care professionals. This study evaluated the undergraduate programs offered by the departments of medicine, nursing studies and social work at a university in Hong Kong, based on the data of a recent alumni survey. It also identified factors that determine the perceived adequacy of training. The training was found to be moderately adequate in preparing the alumni for practice in the field of aging, but there is a need to improve the existing curricula. Suggestions for further studies are discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Gerontology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03601270701569200]

Evidence for the use of a patient-centred model for interviewing is well established in the West. There is much less evidence for the application of the model in other cultural settings. This paper describes the impact of a communication skills (CS) course for doctors (n = 32) working in government outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. Emphasis is placed on the cultural relevance of the patient-centred interview (PCI) and educational techniques. Knowledge scores increased immediately after the course and again 8 weeks later (p < 0.001). Participants held favourable attitudes at the outset of the course and these were largely maintained. Qualitative data suggests that the doctors' competence in CS increased. The PCI model was perceived as relevant to the practices of these doctors. Barriers preventing the implementation of this approach related to organizational rather than cultural factors. The educational strategies were well received, suggesting that adult Chinese learners are not dissimilar to their Western counterparts in approaches to learning.
[Copyright of Medical Teacher is the property of Informa Healthcare . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01421590020031147]

A four-hour integrated teaching session on clinical decision analysis has been developed and introduced as part of the Life Long Learning Skills course for medical students at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The feasibility and effectiveness of teaching the principles and practice of clinical decision analysis to final-year undergraduate medical students was evaluated. One hundred and thirty-two students were randomly assigned to medical (intervention) and surgical rotations (control) and were assessed two weeks before and three weeks following a teaching session. The students' performance was assessed in response to 10 A-type multiple choice question items that incorporated various clinical scenarios requiring decision making and interpreting cost-effectiveness ratios and sensitivity analysis graphs. More students in the intervention group improved their overall performance scores compared with those in the control group (23.4% vs. 7.4%; 16.1% difference; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.8-28.5%; p = 0.01). Improvements were in interpretation of decision making (22.2% difference; 95% CI, 10.1-34.4%; p < 0.001). No improvements were seen for calculating cost-effectiveness ratios or interpreting sensitivity analysis graphs. The overall educational intervention was well received by students and effective in improving students' clinical decision analysis skills under simulated conditions. Practice points Clinical decision-making skill is an important aspect of evidence-based medicine. A randomized controlled trial assessed the effect of teaching clinical decision analysis to undergraduate medical students. An integrated teaching session consisting of three 40-minute lectures on the principles and practice of clinical decision analysis, followed by two 1-hour workshops is effective in undergraduate final-year medical students.
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The University of New England (Australia) and Chinese University of Hong Kong offer a collaborative graduate diploma and master of health science in gerontology via mixed-mode and web-based education. The multidisciplinary curriculum takes into account Hong Kong's health care system and cultural context.
[Copyright of Educational Gerontology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/036012700407866 ]

Three key publications from September 2000 point to rapid changes in the educational and arts environment in Hong Kong that will impact on the development of dance education. This paper provides some contextual details on the current state of dance education in Hong Kong and also examines the influence and possible ramifications implicit within these publications. A brief outline of the prevailing scope of professional activity is also provided. The necessity for teacher training to facilitate change is then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Research in Dance Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.
[Copyright of Research in Dance Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14647890220129131]

With healthcare staff called upon to use ever more sophisticated medical techniques and computer technology, there has been an increasing importance placed upon Continuing Nursing Education (CNE). In response to this, we decided to investigate whether recent developments in Internet technology might provide an innovative way to design and develop a cost effective, flexible, multilingual, CNE system to help staff learn specialist knowledge required to work within our Department of Neurosurgery. This was the basis for our Nursing Intranet Learning System (NILS). This paper discusses the issues involved in developing and delivering courses via this new medium. It will also describe some of the significant advantages of web-based learning over traditional computer based learning systems, as well as highlight some of the difficulties encountered in utilizing this rapidly evolving technology. Finally, future work for the system will be mentioned.
[Copyright of Innovations in Education & Teaching International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703290110074939]

Dance education has not played a significant role in Hong Kong schools. Teacher education may be at a crossroads in determining its future directions in relation to dance as art rather than physical activity. Taking Marcel Mauss's characterizations of the techniques of the body as the ways in which, from society to society, people learn how to use their bodies, this paper looks back at the context in which forms of dance education were introduced into the physical education curriculum of Hong Kong schools and examines social, cultural and political constraints upon their directions and development in a colonial and post-colonial society. Viewing dance education as forms of socially mediated practices, we show how bodies that are subjected to formal and informal programmes of dance education can be both inscribed and inscribing. Developments in dance education inevitably involve statements about the body, attempts to capture it, impose disciplines upon it, or mitigate their force. To reflect upon Hong Kong's changing destiny is to ask how the history of colonialism's disciplining of the body can be shaken loose from the domination of categories and ideas it produced and incorporated into the educational system, and what potency might dance education practices have in the future for troubling and negotiating meanings around identity and "Chinese-ness".
[Copyright of Sport, Education and Society is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13573320601081575 ]