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Underrepresented in medicine individuals have historically been discouraged to consider surgical subspecialties and instead encouraged toward primary care fields thus representing less than 2% of the workforce in these areas. In the last 15 years, the Rabb-Venable Excellence in Research program has worked with medical students, residents, and fellows in preparing them to become ophthalmologists, medical researchers, academicians, or private practice. While the Rabb-Venable program centers on expanding the number of ophthalmologists, pipeline programs exist to enhance the representation of URM individuals in other medical specialties to decrease health disparities.

This chapter discusses the Rabb-Venable program, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the sponsorship of the National Medical Association (NMA), has combined a research competition at the annual meeting of the NMA. The Rabb-Venable program is geared toward increasing the number of (URM) in the field of ophthalmology and increasing the number of URM participants in academic medicine. The program has a twofold mission of supporting the development of the clinical specialty of ophthalmology and creating physician researchers through leadership, academic excellence, professionalism, service, and mentorship. Exploration of the different types of eye diseases that disproportionally affect minority groups are identified. In addition the medical students who have been part of the program and are eligible to apply have had an 84% rate of matching in ophthalmology.

A major challenge in teaching medicine in a rural setting is that long geographical distances separate students, instructors, and educational resources. Clinical schools within the University of Sydney Medical Program are geographically dispersed and face similar challenges. As a result, a virtual ophthalmology clinic (VOC) was developed (Succar et al., 2013) and it is being delivered online to enable equitable access and consistency in the foundations of ophthalmology education for rural-based students. The program allows students to sharpen their clinical reasoning skills by formulating a diagnosis and treatment plan on virtual patients with simulated conditions. To evaluate the educational effectiveness of VOC, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with the University of Sydney medical students (n = 188). The pre- and post-test and student satisfaction questionnaire were administered. Twelve months later, a follow-up test was conducted to determine the long-term retention rate of graduates. On the basis of a statistically significant improvement in academic performance and highly positive student feedback, it became clear that the online delivery of VOC can serve as a model for higher education institutions creating an all-inclusive learning environment experienced by rural students and staff regardless of location and distance, while making a positive impact on learning.

Purpose: This chapter examines how healthcare technologies (electronic medical records, personal cell phones, and pagers) help manage patient care work to accelerate processes of communication and blur boundaries between work time and non-work time, thereby revealing dynamics of power as indicated through temporal capital, or the amount of time under an individual’s control.

Method: The data were collected from 35 in-depth semistructured interviews of health practitioners, which included 26 physicians, 7 nurses, and 2 administrators.

Findings: Communication technologies fulfill promises of temporal autonomy and efficiency, but not without cost, particularly as it intersects with organizational/institutional power structures and non-work-related social factors such as pre-existing technological literacy and proficiency. The blurring of work and non-work time gives practitioners perceived higher quality of life while also increasing temporal flexibility and autonomy. The higher up one is in the relevant hierarchy, the more control one has over one’s own time, resulting in higher levels of temporal capital. The power hierarchies serve to complicate the potential recuperation of temporal capital by communication technologies.

Implications: This study uses a critical cultural perspective that takes into consideration structures of institutional power hierarches impact temporal organization through the use of communication technologies by health practitioners. Practitioner-facing research is particularly crucial given the high rates of burnout within the profession and concerns around the well-being of health practitioners, and autonomy and control over one’s time is a factor in work and life satisfaction.

We are all a part of the structures and struggles of a wider society, the impact of which is also felt at the classroom level which creates its own society. Classrooms are guided by the invaluable contribution of teachers who play a key role in imbibing inclusivity, compassion, and social justice in the classroom atmosphere. The teachers ensure that the classrooms are spaces in which every learner feels wanted and included. An inclusive classroom has huge positive impact on learner where every child, regardless of their background, benefits from the learning process. Inclusiveness is far from being mere rhetoric and achieving an equitable opportunity for all is a challenge. Tools, frameworks, and standardized procedures have been formulated with an effort to minimize learning barriers and create a genuine inclusive environment. Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education advocates inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all in every part of the world by 2030. It emphasizes inclusion and equity as the foundations for quality education and learning. This chapter explores the meaning of inclusiveness and multiculturalism in a classroom context and further explores strategies that have been adopted toward formulating an all-inclusive classroom. In this volume, authors have written about inclusion and equity in and through education systems and programs. Through case studies and narratives, they have described steps undertaken in different parts of the world to prevent and address all forms of exclusion and marginalization, disparity, and inequality in educational access. The chapters will serve as a resource for educationists and practitioners and contribute toward inclusive education.

This chapter outlines the role of vision-specific service providers for young children with visual impairments. The responsibilities of teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) and orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists in special education programming for young children with visual impairments are overviewed. Basic information about the signs and symptoms of eye conditions that commonly occur during the early childhood years are presented. Commonly used assessments and instructional methods for working with young children who are visually impaired are discussed. Additionally, there is an emphasis on the critical aspect of family involvement during these early childhood years and suggested resources are provided.

Reading fluency, which is critical for developing reading comprehension, is a fundamental skill in both school and life. However, many students with learning and behavioral disabilities are disfluent readers. To improve reading performance for these learners, educators should implement practices shown by reliable research to cause improved reading fluency. In this chapter, following a discussion of reading fluency and its importance, we describe two instructional practices that educators might use to improve students’ reading fluency: colored filters and repeated reading. The research on the colored filters is, at best, inconclusive, whereas the research literature suggests that repeated reading is an effective practice. To bridge the gap between research and practice and improve the reading fluency of students with learning and behavioral disabilities, educators and other stakeholders should prioritize the use of research-based practices (e.g., repeated reading) but avoid practices without clear research support (e.g., colored filters).

Health care institutions in many Western countries have developed preoperative testing and assessment guidelines to improve surgical outcomes and reduce cost of surgical care. The aims of this chapter are to (1) summarize the literature on the effect of preoperative testing on clinical outcomes, efficiency, and cost; and (2) to compare preoperative testing guidelines developed in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

We reviewed the literature from 1975 to 2014 for studies and preoperative testing guidelines.

We identified 29 empirical studies and 8 country-specific guidelines for review. Most studies indicate that preoperative testing is overused and comes at a high cost. Guidelines are tied to payment only in one country studied. This is the most recent review of the literature on preoperative testing and assessment with a focus on quality of care, efficiency, and cost outcomes. In addition, this chapter provides an international comparison of preoperative guidelines.