BackgroundLinking undergraduate medical education to scientific research is necessary for the quality of future health care, and students´ individual research projects are one way to do so. Assessment of the impact of such projects is of interest for both educational and research-oriented segments of medical schools. Here, we examined the scholarly products and medical students’ career preferences 2 years after a mandatory research project course.MethodsA prospective cross-sectional questionnaire study. All 581 students registered on a 20-week research project course between September 2010 through September 2012 were e-mailed a questionnaire 2 years after completing the course.ResultsIn total, 392 students (mean age 27 years; 60% females) responded (67% response rate). 59 students (15%) were co-authors on a scientific paper published in an international journal, 6 students had published in a national journal, and 57 students had co-authored a paper submitted for publication. Totally, 122 scientific papers had been submitted. Moreover, 67 (17%) students had given 107 oral or poster presentations nationally or internationally during the follow-up. Career-wise, 36 students (9%) had been registered as PhD students and an additional 127 students (34%) were planning to register. Those who did not plan doctoral studies were significantly older (p = 0.013) than those who did. However, 35% reported that they would in the coming 5 years prefer to work as clinicians only, and this group was significantly younger than those who envisaged participation in research. There were no significant gender differences.ConclusionsApproximately a third of the students had authored papers and/or public presentations, and a similar fraction had career plans involving a PhD degree. The results indicate that the project course had a positive impact on continued supervisor-student collaboration on a professional level, but also that strategies to encourage young doctors to perform clinical research may be needed.

The PRSQ showed good psychometric properties and may become a valuable instrument for assessing LPR disease.

To assess the long-term results of the nasal airflow-inducing maneuver in olfaction rehabilitation in patients who had undergone laryngectomy.

Conclusion The Swedish Eating Assessment Tool (S-EAT-10) is a reliable and valid self-administered tool in assessment of dysphagia in adult Swedish patients with high internal consistency, reliability, and discriminative validity. The normative data show that a score of 3 or more is abnormal. S-EAT-10 is recommended to be used in preliminary diagnostics of dysphagia. Objective To translate and adapt the EAT-10 for use in the Swedish patient population, and to present norms and measures of discriminative validity and reliability of a Swedish version of the Eating Assessment Tool-10 (S-EAT-10). Methods Prospective consecutive clinical study. In total, 134 community-dwelling adult respondents/controls without dysphagia completed the S-EAT-10, as did 119 patients referred for fiberendoscopic evaluation of swallowing at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Patient vs control status was used as the criterion for discriminative validity assessment by logistic regression analysis. Results The mean S-EAT-10 score was 0.2 (range = 0-3) for controls and 18 (range = 0-38) for patients. Based on a cut-off score of ≥ 3 which was considered to be reflective of abnormalities, sensitivity was 98.5% and specificity 94.1%. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88), as was test-re-test reliability (ICC = 0.90).

BackgroundAs total laryngectomy results in loss of airflow through the nose, one of the adverse effects for a majority of patients is the reduced or complete loss of olfactory function. However, with the introduction of a new method, the Nasal Airflow-Inducing Maneuver (NAIM), an important technique is available for laryngectomized patients to regain the ability to smell. The purpose of the present study was to assess changes in olfaction, health-related quality of life (HRQL) and communication 3 years after NAIM rehabilitation.Methods18 patients (15 men and 3 women; mean age, 71 years) who had undergone laryngectomy and NAIM rehabilitation were followed longitudinally for 3 years. For comparison an age and gender matched control group with laryngeal cancer treated with radical radiotherapy was included. Olfactory function was assessed using the Questionnaire on Odor, Taste and Appetite and the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test. HRQL was assessed by: 1) the European Organization for Research and Treatment for cancer quality of life questionnaires; and 2) the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Communication was assessed by the Swedish Self-Evaluation of Communication Experiences after Laryngeal Cancer. Descriptive statistics with 95% confidence interval were calculated according to standard procedure. Changes over time as well as tests between pairs of study patients and control patients were analyzed with the Fisher nonparametric permutation test for matched pairs.ResultsThirty-six months after rehabilitation 14 of 18 laryngectomized patients (78%) were smellers. There were, with one exception (sleep disturbances), no clinically or statistically significant differences between the study and the control group considering HRQL and mental distress. However, statistical differences (p < 0.001) were found between the study and the control group concerning changes in communication.ConclusionOlfactory training with NAIM should be integrated into the multidisciplinary rehabilitation program after total laryngectomy. Our study shows that patients who were successfully rehabilitated concerning olfaction and communication had an overall good HRQL and no mental distress. Moreover, the EORTC questionnaires should be complemented with more specific questionnaires when evaluating olfaction and communication in laryngectomized patients.