Finnish Medical Journal

Lääkärilehti is a general medical journal and the leading journal aimed at medical doctors in Finland.

Lääkärilehti disseminates new medical information, and functions as a journal for continuing medical education and professional proceedings for doctors. The journal publishes original research articles, reviews, case reports, opinion pieces and letters to the editor, as well as news and feature articles. It monitors trends in healthcare and healthcare policy and serves as a forum for professional information and discussion. As a membership journal it also functions as a medium for professional discussion and other information for doctors.

The journal is published by the Finnish Medical Association, the professional organisation for doctors with a membership of 95% among all doctors registered in Finland. Apart from doctors, the readership of the journal includes other healthcare professionals, healthcare decision-makers, pharmacy staff, staff of companies in the sector and medical students.

The print run is 30,000. A free copy is sent to all doctors and medical students who are members of the Finnish Medical Association. Subscribers include healthcare administrators, libraries and private individuals.

Contact information

Editor-in-Chief Pekka Nykänen
tel. + 358 40 583 1770
email: pekka.nykanen@laakarilehti.fi

Co-Editor-in-Chief (Science) Pertti Saloheimo, MD, PhD
tel. + 358 40 456 6441
email: pertti.saloheimo@laakarilehti.fi

Address: Mäkelänkatu 2 A, 00500 Helsinki (P.O. BOX 49, 00501 Helsinki), Finland
email: laakarilehti@laakarilehti.fi

Media Sales

Katrin Penttinen
Marketing Director
+358 40 762 6535
katrin.penttinen@laakariliitto.fi

Aku Karasti
Sales Manager
+358 40 069 9929
aku.karasti@laakariliitto.fi

English summary: ENTERTAINING IN TEACHING - NEEDLESS OR SPICING? Entertainment as a part of teaching is a rarely studied and published issue. Only the dimensions of humour and teachers' teaching behaviour have been previously studied. Initially in this study, 29 medical teachers were questioned as to how they conceptualize "entertainment in teaching". On the basis of the qualitative material obtained, a questionnaire was compiled consisting of twenty items and a five-digit Likert scale that 75 teachers and 250 students completed. A versatile questionnaire for measuring entertainment in teaching was created, which brought up four distinct dimensions; humour and entertainment, seriousness in teaching, use of teaching technology, and contradiction between entertainment and learning. Both students and teachers saw entertaining in teaching as positive, but definitely still valued learning more than entertainment. Some minor differences appeared: between men and women, and between students and teachers. Students appreciated humour and entertainment more than teachers and women did. Women, especially female teachers, found that an inspiring study atmosphere helps learning. Our study suggests that it is favourable to insert humour and inspiring methods of presentation into medical education. We encourage teachers to create, with relaxing behaviour, an inspiring atmosphere for study. These findings were generally similar to those of previous international studies, except that these showed no gender differences and that humour was more appreciated by students than by teachers. A new large-scale study is needed to validate these findings.

Markku Kaipainen, Ulla Broms, Helka Hosia-Randell, Maria Söderlund-Venermo, Marit Granér, Pertti Heikman, Harri Öistämö
Liitto toi­mii 4/2006 Kommentteja

English summary: SURGICAL TREATMENT OF COLON CANCER The oncologic resection techniques in colon cancer are quite standardized. According to recent prospective randomized studies, a laparoscopic technique is at present an acceptable alternative to open surgery. The significance of radial margins, en bloc resection and no touch isolation technique are also discussed in this article. The benefit of palliative surgery in advanced colon cancer is appraised and the placement of a self-expanding metal stent for palliation and for the treatment of acute colon obstruction is introduced. The prognostic value of the number of lymph nodes examined is emphasized and the significance of sentinel node mapping is reviewed.

Heikki Huhtinen, Arto Rantala
Katsaus­artikkeli 3/2006 Kommentteja
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