Periodontitis is prevalent in half of the adult population and raises critical health concerns as it has been recently associated with an increased risk of cancer. While information about the topic remains somewhat scarce, a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanistic pathways promoting neoplasia in periodontitis patients is of fundamental importance. This manuscript presents the literature as well as a panel of tables and figures on the molecular mechanisms of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, two main oral pathogens in periodontitis pathology, involved in instigating tumorigenesis. We also present evidence for potential links between the RANKL–RANK signaling axis as well as circulating cytokines/leukocytes and carcinogenesis. Due to the nonconclusive data associating periodontitis and cancer reported in the case and cohort studies, we examine clinical trials relevant to the topic and summarize their outcome.

Objectives: Medical students suffer from a considerable level of stress, which can result in the deterioration of their mental health, including depression or suicidal ideation. They are afraid to seek help due to stigmatization and environmental ostracism. The goal of the study is to analyze...

Background: The goal of this exploratory study is to analyse which psychological characteristics of students are related to the effectiveness of learning clinical interview skills with the use of a virtual patient (VP). Methods: The sample consisted of 29 final-year clinical psychology students. The authors’ VP tool was used for measuring and teaching clinical interview skills: building contact with the patient, gathering important information, and identifying the students’ mistakes. Psychological questionnaires were used to measure the students’ psychological features: need for cognitive closure, ability to achieve cognitive structure, beliefs in the changeability of human traits, level of hope, intelligence, positive vs negative affect, and academic knowledge. Results: The most important aspect of the diagnostician’s psychological features which substantially influence effectiveness of learning interview skills is belief in the stability or changeability of human traits and the need to achieve cognitive closure. Participants who have a belief in human changeability are able to perform the task correctly even without training, while those who believe in human stability improve only slightly with training. Students with lower need of cognitive closure successfully learned to build a good relation with the patient. Conclusions: The study allows a better understanding of the phenomena occurring during the learning of clinical interview skills with the use of a VP.

Introduction: Since there was no general model of competencies to determine a successful clinical assessment, we based our study on the many skills that are needed to perform one. We analysed students’ learning performance based on inner determinants, such as affect and cognitive closure, with the use of two teaching methods (i.e., simulated patient (SP) or virtual patient (VP)). Methods: The sample comprised 56 fifth-year clinical psychology students. The need for closure (NFC) and efficacy in fulfilling the need for closure (EFNC) were measured using standardised questionnaires. The authors’ VP and SP tools were used to teach and measure the effectiveness of learning psychological interview techniques and clinical reasoning. Clinical interview skills included building contact with the patient, gathering important information and making mistakes. Clinical reasoning skills were divided into eight dimensions for the assessment of mental health. Results: Affect and cognitive closure are important psychological variables in anticipating and developing interview and clinical reasoning skills for psychology students. The simulated patient was more effective for interview skills, while the virtual patient was a beneficial teaching tool for most clinical reasoning skills. Virtual patient training was a useful teaching method for students with a low EFNC, probably because it provided a stable and strong structure. Simulated patient training was effective for people with a high EFNC, presumably because it allowed them to build on their advanced structuring skills. Conclusions: Affect and cognitive closure can be used to identify students’ learning abilities to provide a more personalised education. The results of the present study may be useful for evaluating different teaching methods, monitoring their effectiveness and enhancing students’ performance.

Background: The demanding nature of the medical career path leads to reflection on the motivations, values and expectations of medical students towards their course, their satisfaction with its components and the stress they experience. Research suggests that these parameters may change in the course of the studies, which may be linked to varying forms of the training and students’ personal circumstances. The following study aimed to analyse differences in these areas across various stages of medical education. Methods: A total of 334 Polish medical students in 1st, 4th and 6th year were surveyed. The study included questionnaires to assess motivations for choosing medical studies, satisfaction with them, students’ values, competencies developed during the studies and the Brief Resilience Scale. Additional questions addressed students’ life situation and stress levels, preferred medical specialties, and alternative career paths. The Mann-Whitney U test with Benjamini-Hochberg p-value correction was applied to analyse motivation, health and stress levels, and satisfaction. Fisher’s exact test with Benjamini-Hochberg p-value correction was applied to assess life values, competencies, medical specialty preferences and alternative paths. Results: Significant differences were found in motivations to study such as interests, high income and social prestige, as well as in health assessment and stress levels, satisfaction with the university, relationships with peers and teachers, various classes, practical skills, workload and time spent on studies. Life values showed shifts in the importance of peace and quiet, education, achievement and fame. Competencies gained and expected to develop differed by the year of study. Resilience levels showed no significant changes across the groups. Few notable results were found regarding the changes in specialty preferences or consideration of alternative career paths. Conclusions: As students advance in their medical education, extrinsic motivations such as financial gain and prestige become less prominent, but intrinsic motivations like interest in the subject also decrease. Satisfaction with medical education diminishes over time, particularly in areas related to the university, relationships, or skills. Values such as achievement, fame and education gradually become less important. Interpersonal and analytical skills appear to develop more prominently in the later stages of training. Stress levels typically peak around the fourth year of study.