title: Implementing Activities Developed by the Organ Transplantation Academic Society of the Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer: A Pilot Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The number of academic societies has been growing significantly in Brazilian universities, offering an extra opportunity for the development of educational activities and research. Because organ donation and transplantation is an area still insufficiently approached during the graduation of health professionals, we evaluated how academic societies might be a valuable tool.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants of the course promoted by the Organ Transplantation Academic Society of the Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer were evaluated through the use of a questionnaire and cognitive tests with 16 multiple-choice questions about topics approached during the course, before and after the lectures. Topics approached consisted of a general introduction about transplantation in Brazil, brain death, organ allocation and removal, post-transplant follow-up, and clinical cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 45 participants, 30 answered the tests at both times. The subjects were students of medicine, nursing, and phonoaudiology; 93.3% were organ donors, 84.6% said their families knew about this decision, and 65% had relatives who were organ donors. The mean score of correct answers was 7.63 of 16 before the activities and 12.54 after activities, demonstrating a 64.4% improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The improvement in performance suggests that academic societies are a useful resource for educational purposes and for students to get a deeper insight about organ donation and transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address: anawtech@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Tech
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cornelli
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: do Valle Pereira
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bertoglio
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brasil
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perusato
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: A J C
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marinho
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanon
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: A P S
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Garcia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012955:Societies, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D014495:Universities