Thursday, April 30, 2020
The Wine Market in the United States
Case analysis It is evident that the wine market in the United States is growing tremendously. The same can be evidenced in European countries. The improvement of the wine quality in recent years has proven that the demand for the product is high, especially in the United States. Moreover, the competition for the US market as a strategic and high priced wine market is an indication that the market is growing with time.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Wine Market in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, the resuscitation of the old world wine producers in the European countries is an indication that wine market is yet to saturate. Over the years, the demand of wine has fluctuated as can be evidenced in the case study of the global wine war. Some of the factors that has affected this demand include, price, customer preferences, market distance, chain of distribution and wine quality (Ande rson 278). On the other hand, the supply of the wine has been affected by the following factors; the price of the product, wine producing technology, the price of related products such as beer, the climatic conditions of the wine producing countries and subsidies given to wine producers or grapevine growers. In the following discussions, the above aspects will be outlined in an in-depth manner. As earlier indicated, the wine market is growing rapidly. An example of such is exemplified in the US wine market. It is asserted that with time a new generation of wine consumers started to prefer wine compared to conventional alcohol consumers in America. From this perspective, it is notable that majority of the Americans are used to liquor and beer (Bartlett 3). However, with time, majority of the alcohol consumers started to understand the health benefits that are accrued from taking wine. As a matter of fact, American wine producers could not satisfy the domestic market, prompting more w ine to be imported from the old worldââ¬â¢s wine producers. Another justification of the expanded market of wine is that some of the old world wine producers had already started to battle for a ready market of wine in America. The competition was largely contributed by price and quality factors. The Europeââ¬â¢s advance on the American market through various tactics is an example of a promising wine market. An example of such is evidenced by the subsidized marketing on wine products. As a matter of fact, the subsidizing of these products is as a result of a European Union policy on agriculture. On the other hand, the American US producers have taken another role of rebranding the foreign wines as their own. Examples of such wine are the Italian wines; Ecco Domania and the Bella sera wines.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In order to determine the demand of wine in the wine industry, one has to consider the various factors that influence the commoditiesââ¬â¢ demand. In this case, the wineââ¬â¢s demand has incredibly changed or fluctuated over time. First, the price of the wine in old world wine producers was relatively high. This is due to the fact that, wine was only associated with class and prestige. The increasing of the price affected the demand of the product and in due time, the demand of wine had reduced in many of the old world wine producing countries. Example of such is evidenced in Chile, Argentina and in Spain. The entrance of the new world wine producers, namely; US and Australia, saw the reverse of this demand. The two countries ensured that wine was produced with the newest technology and made available at lower prices to many of the wine consumers. Relatively, this increased the demand for wine. America has a lot of alcohol consumers and their preference sometimes depends on the price of the commodity. In the same context, t he consumersââ¬â¢ preferences will determine the demand of the product in question. In case of the American wine consumers, most of them preferred the foreign wines. This was after the domestic wine producers in America started to increase the price of their wines (6). Moreover, some of the wine consumers in America believed in the authenticity of the wine blended in the old world. This affected the demand of the local American-made wines, prompting for more wine imports into the country. Another reason that affects the demand of wine in America is the price of other alcoholic drinks such as beer and liquor (Bartlett 3). As indicated earlier, majority of the conventional Americans are used to beer and liquor. Beer and liquor can be termed as substitutes to alcohol. Since the prices of the two substitutes are relatively lower than wine, the demand for wine goes down. However other factors such health benefits make more of the Americans consume wine than other alcoholic drinks. How ever, a higher demand on wine does not make beer and liquor inferior. The superiority of a commodity depends on the preference of the consumer. Majority of the wine consumers in the US are well endowed people, well educated and internet savvy. According to the case study on the global wine wars, the US wine clientele is also termed as price-sensitive (6). This exhibits the sophistication of the US wine consumers. This means that they have the ability to buy wine regardless of the price, but with certain considerations; utility. The wine consumers want to buy a product of value and which they consider as quality. This is the reason they prefer low-priced wine from foreign countries, and which they still believe is still of good quality.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Wine Market in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Supply is another major aspect to consider when discussing the wine industry in the US. According to Amerine and Josyln (146), the supply of wine into the US market has been influenced by factors discussed herein. Firstly, the price of the commodity in the US was relatively high considering that the product was under strict regulations (Bartlett 2). On the other hand, most of the old world wine producers had little wine production capacity. This made the new world wine producers monopolize their market territories making the price of the commodity go high. In most of the European countries, the price of the grapevines was bought relatively low by the merchants and other corporations that were involved in large-scale wine production. The price of essential factors that contribute to production of wine such as land or labor can either reduce or increase the supply of the commodity. For example, the fragmentation of land in many of the European countries like Germany and UK reduced the supply of wine. In this case, farming of the grapevine was done in small-sca le and only few growers supplied the vines. On the other hand, large tracts of land in both Australia and America were used as vineyards. With time, the new technology used in producing wine by the new world made it easier to reduce labor and all costs associated with land and production (4). Therefore, this reduction of the production costs increased the supply of wine in the expanding of wine market. Thirdly, the governmentââ¬â¢s action to subsidize farmers who had vineyards and wine making companies ensured that some of the old world wine producers supplied more wine. Works Cited Amerine, A., Maynard and Josyln, A., Maynard. Table wines: The technology of their production, Volume 2. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1970. Print. Anderson, Kym. The worldââ¬â¢s wine markets: Globalization at work. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004. Print. Bartlett, A., Christopher. Global wine war 2009: New world versus old. Harvard Business School Case Study, August 13, 2009. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This essay on The Wine Market in the United States was written and submitted by user Juliana Weber to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Friday, April 10, 2020
Bar Exam Essay Sample Questions and Answers
Bar Exam Essay Sample Questions and AnswersBar exam essays are the next step in preparation for a legal career. A great way to learn the basics is to look at legal practice essays that focus on a particular area of law, such as trademark law, business law, real estate law, civil law, or family law. These types of essays typically include topics for the reader to work with and then give examples of cases that illustrate what is being said. An example of this would be to look at 'An example of civil asset forfeiture in Kentucky'An example of a mistrial under the First Amendment in South Carolina.'Exams can be taken as either written or oral exams. If you do not want to study for both, you can always find an essay sample to practice on. This can also be helpful if you are taking the written part of the bar exam on paper rather than through an online form. Some writing samples for the written portion of the exam include 'A De Facto Blood Test in South Carolina,' 'Introduction to real est ate ethics,' and 'Introduction to labor law.' Oral exams include 'My Neighbors Grew Up There,' 'Talk About a Crime in South Carolina,' and 'Publicity in South Carolina.'The best way to learn how to write your bar exam essay is to find an example that has already been written. There are a number of resources available online, and in the local library, to help you find a practice sample to use. Additionally, you should look at the original examples that were used in the examples section of the exam so that you can get a feel for what the different areas of law are like. It is important to note that sometimes you will have to follow a specific format for the bar exam essay sample questions and answers. However, the majority of them will be fairly similar to the types of questions and answers that are given on actual legal exams.Bar exam essays can vary greatly in length, but it is usually recommended that you keep the sample essay to at least four or five hundred words. The essay shoul d contain one major idea for each chapter. Some example essays that are available for practice are 'The Beginning of a Family Law Fight,' 'How to Design a Tasteful Lawyer Website,' and 'My Partner and I Made a Record Breaking Case.'The first thing to keep in mind when writing your bar exam essay is that it should be informative and concise. Keep in mind that some essay sample questions and answers will require a lot of research, so make sure you are giving an excellent oral summary. Writing an excellent essay is easier if you structure your thoughts and start with the basics before delving into detail.The last thing to remember when writing your bar exam essay is to put a personal spin on your ideas. If you have a strong connection to the topic, make sure to include that in your essay. You can tell stories from your personal experiences and even write about your childhood and past. Consider including a short story, poem, or song that you love that relates to the topic. Some examples of writing an essay for the bar exam include 'The Best Place For Me to Eat,' 'Why I Love Me Some Fish,' and 'Why I Love Learning.'Writing your bar exam essay will be very different than writing any other type of essay. It is important to remember that this is a chance to put your own personal spin on a piece of paper, so you may want to consider including notes about your own experiences and give examples that you would use in a situation similar to the one described in your essay. If you decide to use examples from your own life, make sure to include specific dates and details so that the reader can relate to your writing and understand what it is that you were going through during the example. Finally, make sure that the content of your essay is relevant to the type of case that you are writing about so that you have a good idea of how you are going to write a good essay for that particular test.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Free Essays on Stephen Hawkings Affects On The Science Community
Professor Stephen Hawkingââ¬â¢s Affects on the Scientific Community Professor Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist who specializes in the study of black holes while also working in the areas of general relativity, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. He also holds the holds the chair of Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University. Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England. At age eight Hawking moved from Oxford to St. Albans, which is located about 20 miles north from England. Hawking described St. Albans as, ââ¬Å"a somewhat stodgy place compared with Highgate or Harpended. My parents made hardly any friends thereâ⬠¦ But it also reflected a different kind of populationâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ (Childhood 7) At age 17 Hawking attended University College in Oxford, he intended to study in the field of mathematics but the college didnââ¬â¢t offer it, so instead, he studied physics, and after three years received a first class honors degree in Natural Science. After Oxford Hawking moved on to study cosmology at Cambridge University, under the supervision of Denis Sciama. After receiving his Ph.D. he became a Research Fellow, and later a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. In 1973, Hawking then went to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. With this said, how has Hawkingââ¬â¢s work affected peopleââ¬â¢s views on the universe? When Hawking was 21 he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrigââ¬â¢s disease, it is a, ââ¬Å"fatal disease of the motor neurons (nerve cells) that control the skeletal muscles of the body. The disease characteristically produces a wasting away of the muscles that have lost their nerve supply, resulting in weakening and paralysis. There are also signs of spasticity, or stiffness, of the muscles and exaggerated reflexes. Eventually, ALS results in total paralysis an... Free Essays on Stephen Hawking's Affects On The Science Community Free Essays on Stephen Hawking's Affects On The Science Community Professor Stephen Hawkingââ¬â¢s Affects on the Scientific Community Professor Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist who specializes in the study of black holes while also working in the areas of general relativity, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. He also holds the holds the chair of Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University. Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England. At age eight Hawking moved from Oxford to St. Albans, which is located about 20 miles north from England. Hawking described St. Albans as, ââ¬Å"a somewhat stodgy place compared with Highgate or Harpended. My parents made hardly any friends thereâ⬠¦ But it also reflected a different kind of populationâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ (Childhood 7) At age 17 Hawking attended University College in Oxford, he intended to study in the field of mathematics but the college didnââ¬â¢t offer it, so instead, he studied physics, and after three years received a first class honors degree in Natural Science. After Oxford Hawking moved on to study cosmology at Cambridge University, under the supervision of Denis Sciama. After receiving his Ph.D. he became a Research Fellow, and later a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. In 1973, Hawking then went to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. With this said, how has Hawkingââ¬â¢s work affected peopleââ¬â¢s views on the universe? When Hawking was 21 he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrigââ¬â¢s disease, it is a, ââ¬Å"fatal disease of the motor neurons (nerve cells) that control the skeletal muscles of the body. The disease characteristically produces a wasting away of the muscles that have lost their nerve supply, resulting in weakening and paralysis. There are also signs of spasticity, or stiffness, of the muscles and exaggerated reflexes. Eventually, ALS results in total paralysis an...
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Rose Water Recipe
Rose Water Recipe Rose water is one of several products your can buy or make that retains the fragrance of rose petals. It is used in perfumes and cosmetics, plus it has slightly astringent properties, so it makes an excellent facial toner. Because the commercial process used to make rose water is labor intensive and requires a lot of roses, its an expensive product to buy. However, if you have roses, you can make your own rose water quite easily. Its an easy example of distillation, an important chemical separation and purification process. Rose Water Materials rose petalswatersmall pancotton balls Experiment with different types of roses, since each rose has its own characteristic scent. Damask rose has the classic rose scent, but some roses smell like citrus fruit, spices, or licorice.The resulting rose water wont smell exactly the same as the original flowers because distillation only captures some of the volatile compounds present in the petals. There are other methods used to capture other essences, such as solvent extraction and more complex distillations. Directions Place the rose petals in a small pan.Add enough water to just barely cover the petals.Gently boil the water.Collect the steam that boils off using a cotton ball. You may wish to place the cotton ball on a fork or hold it with tongs, to avoid getting burned. Once the cotton ball is wet, remove it from the steam and squeeze it out over a small jar. This is the rose water.You can repeat the process to collect more steam.Store your rose water in a sealed container, away from direct sunlight or heat. You can refrigerate it to keep it fresh longer. Large Scale Rose Water Recipe Are you ready for a more advanced version of the project? If you have a few quarts of rose petals, you can collect much more rose water using a slightly more complex home steam distillation apparatus: 2-3 quarts rose petalswaterice cubespot with rounded lidbrickbowl that fits inside pot Place the brick in the center of the pot. There is nothing magical about the brick. Its purpose is simply to hold the collection bowl above the surface of the roses.Put the rose petals in the pot (around the brick) and add enough water to barely cover the petals.Set the bowl on top of the brick. The bowl will collect the rose water.Invert the lid of the pot (turn it upside down), so the rounded part of the lid dips into the pot.Heat the roses and water to a gentle boil. Place ice cubes on the top of the lid. The ice will cool the steam, condensing the rose water inside the pot and making it run down the lid and drip into the bowl.Continue gently boiling the roses and adding ice as needed until you have collected the rose water. Dont boil off all the water. Youll collect the most concentrated rose water in the first few minutes. After that, it will become more and more dilute. Turn off the heat when you notice the condensation isnt as rose-scented as you would like. You can collect be tween a pint and quart of rose water in 20-40 minutes using 2-3 quarts of rose petals. Other Floral Scents This process works with other floral essences, too. Other flower petals that work well include: honeysucklelilacvioletshyacinthirislavender You can experiment with mixing the scents to make custom fragrances. While rose water, violet water, and lavender water are edible and safe for use in cosmetics, some other types of flowers are only good as fragrances and shouldnt be applied directly to the skin or ingested. Safety Notes This is a fun project for kids, but adult supervision is required because boiling water and steam are involved. Kids can collect flowers and squeeze liquid from cooled cotton balls.If you are using the rose water (or violet or lavender water) for cooking or cosmetics, be sure to use flowers that are free of pesticides. Many gardeners spray flowers with chemicals or feed them with systemic pesticides. For a simple fragrance project, its fine to simply rinse off the flower petals to remove any residue, but avoid using chemically treated flowers for food projects or cosmetics. Learn More Design Your Own PerfumeSolid Perfume RecipeSafety Tips for Making Perfume
Monday, February 17, 2020
Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1
Macroeconomics - Essay Example ââ¬Å"Although technology, tastes, and public policy each have important independent influences on the pattern and pace of economic integration in its various dimensions, they clearly interact in important ways. Improvements in the technology of transportation and communication do not occur spontaneously in an economic vacuum. The desire of people to take advantage of what they see as the benefits of closer economic integrationââ¬âthat is, the taste for the benefits of integrationââ¬âis a key reason why it is profitable to make the innovations and investments that bring improvements in the technology of transportation and communicationâ⬠(Mussa, n.p.).à Balance of payments is a balance through international operations, expressed in value of all complex economic relations of a country in the form of the ratio of receipts and payments. Balance of Payments is a statistical report that provides data on the foreign trade of a country with other countries over time. Simply speaking, this document reflects economic transaction of a country with the rest of the world. From the accounting point of view, the balance of payments is always in balance. However, deficit or surplus may occur in its separate sections, when receipts exceed payments, or when payments exceed revenues. The principle of double-entry accounting is used in a balance of payments, every transaction has two sides - debit and credit. Under this accounting system total of the debit should always be equal to the total amount of the loan. Generally, any balance of payments consists of two accounts ââ¬â current account and capital account. A current account reflects operations with real assets, while capital account ââ¬â with financial assets. According to the majority of experts, current account plays more significant role in the overall balance. For instance, negative current account of the USA has played a tremendous role in negative dynamics of the countryââ¬â¢s balance of pay ments. It can be seen on the following graph. The other important theoretical item in international economics is exchange rate. Simply speaking, exchange rate is a price of a motional currency in some particular amount of a foreign currency. There are nominal and real exchange rates. Nominal exchange rate - is the relative price of currencies of two countries, or the currency of one country, expressed in the currency of another country. In turn, the real exchange rate describes the ratio in which products of one country can be sold in exchange for goods of another country. The following law is related to the problem of exchange rates. ââ¬Å"The law of one price is the theory that the price of a given security, commodity or asset will have the same price when exchange rates are taken into consideration. The law of one price is another way of stating the concept of purchasing power parityâ⬠(Financial Theory, n.p.). Chapter 9 A curve of production opportunities is dependence tha t graphically illustrates the possibility of simultaneous production of two products based on limited resources spent on producing these products. A simple production possibilities curve is presented on the following picture. The curve is constructed in a coordinate system, each of which reflects the output of one of the products. It restricts the production capabilities so that any point on the curve shows the maximum possible resource constraints on the combination of production of two products. Aggregate supply is the total amount
Monday, February 3, 2020
Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 16
Philosophy - Essay Example But both the types of existentialists think that existence precedes essence. In simple words, idea of the object comes first and then, based on that idea, objects are created. Thus, according to Christian existentialist, man is the result or realization of a specific concept of God. Atheist existentialist says that human reality was created that gave identity to man and it was man himself, who defined how and what he will be. Therefore, according to atheist existentialist, since God does not exists, there is no concept of human nature but once man comes into existence, he is, what he makes of himself to be. This is a very interesting concept of human reality. Man, being a subjective reality, can mold himself into any desired image that he can conceive for himself. When a man makes a choice, he needs to be responsible because he is also representative of mankind and indirectly responsible for all men. It means that man cannot transcend human subjectivity. When a man decides to act in certain manner, he does so because he thinks that is the right way to act and that is how he would expect others to act. Similarly when he makes a choice, he opts for something that he accepts is important and which has considerable value for him. One can never deliberately choose evil so it can be correctly interpreted that we always make effort to choose things and actions that are good. Since things can only be good for one if they are considered good by one and all, therefore, it can be said that oneââ¬â¢s responsibility becomes greater because it involves all human-being. Indeed, when he says that ââ¬Å"Existentialism is nothing other than an attempt to draw all the consequences of a coherent atheistic positionâ⬠, he implies that man acts in a certain manner because he knows those actions have some definite value for him and therefore,
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Treatment Planning System Software Reflective Essay
Treatment Planning System Software Reflective Essay ââ¬Å"Improving oneââ¬â¢s learning and performance could be considered to be a ââ¬Ëmeta-skillââ¬â¢, that is the skill of learning how to learn.â⬠(The Open University, 2012) Clinical skills chosen The clinical skill that was chosen is learning how to use Varian Medical Eclipseâ⠢ Treatment Planning System software and acquiring knowledge on how to plan a treatment for the different cancers. Eclipseâ⠢ is a comprehensive treatment planning system that simplifies modern radiation therapy planning for dosimetrists, physicists, and physicians to efficiently create, select, and verify the best treatment plans for their patients while ensuring high standard of care and effective protocols (Varian Medical Systems, 2014). This skill was chosen because it is treatment related and is able to give me a deeper understanding on patientââ¬â¢s treatment. Furthermore, the resources were readily available in the department for learning purposes. Process of learning this skill The process of learning this skill was broken down into two components; mastering the use of Eclipseâ⠢ software efficiently and gaining knowledge on treatment planning. The intention of breaking goals down (University of Kent Careers and Employability Service, n.d.) into two components is so that I can tackle them one step at a time. Each component was further evaluated based on a three-stage framework of developing a strategy, monitoring progress and evaluating performance (Figure A), which can be used to develop and improve skills and learning in general (The Open University, 2012). Strategy first component of learning process Firstly, the strategy was to have an action plan and time checklist of what I should be doing each week and what I should achieve at the end of each week. An action plan is a review of oneââ¬â¢s current capabilities and goals over an extended period of time (The Open University, 2012). It is useful as it provides a structured plan linking the objectives of the learning process together and setting targets for achieving goals. There is a time checklist/schedule plan created on a weekly basis at the end of every journal entry to keep me on track and ensure that the objectives for the week have been met. There was a change in the schedule plan in week 1 as compared to the schedule plan in the action plan because I realised in the first week that one week was insufficient and I needed more time to learn the software. Another strategy was to split the learning process into two components. Getting to know the user interface and all the functions of Eclipseâ⠢ treatment planning system first would enhance my learning in treatment planning in the later part. Treatment planning requires both knowledge on treatment planning and skills on using the Eclipseâ⠢ treatment planning system. Thus, the first component of my learning journey was to get myself familiarise with Eclipseâ⠢ treatment planning softwareââ¬â¢s user interface and its functions. This took me a couple of weeks instead of one week that was originally planned in the action plan. I was able to learn a lot both on my own by referencing the user manual and also with the help of the senior radiation therapists during the 8-hour learning session per week. As I learn, I jotted down notes in the notebook. Note-taking was helpful as I was able to monitor my learning progress to keep me on track on the things that I have covered and have not. In order to evaluate my performance so far, a written assessment was carried out with the help of the senior radiation therapists at the end of week 2. The results from the assessment would determine my next step, which was to either continue learning the softwareââ¬â¢s user interface or to move on to the second component of my learning journey to learn how to plan a treatment. I chose a written assessment to evaluate my performance because it allows me to see my results visually in terms of scores. Scoring 92% for the written assessment on the softwareââ¬â¢s user interface gave me confidence to move to on to the second component of the learning process. Second component of learning process I passed the assessment and moved to learning how to plan a treatment for rectal cancer. For this component, I required the senior radiation therapist to guide me and share her knowledge. It was an observational and verbal learning for the first few hours after which I was left on my own with the hospitalââ¬â¢s protocol booklist to try treatment planning on my own. The overload of information and knowledge caused me to miss out on quite a number of things in treatment planning. As such, it occurred to me that I would need a checklist. In my notebook, there were 2 types of lists: one of which is a step-by-step list for a treatment plan based on what the senior radiation therapist taught me and the other, is a checklist that the senior radiation therapists check against after every completion of a treatment plan. The advantages of having a checklist are that it focuses my mind on important objectives, orders my thoughts, making me less likely to forget certain details, monitors my p rogress and prevents me from side-tracking from my objectives. I managed to complete learning the treatment planning for rectal cancer a week earlier than planned. This caused a change in my schedule plan where the remaining planned weeks were brought forward a week. During this process, I should have read up textbooks for information instead of relying solely on the protocol book and the knowledge provided by the senior radiation therapist. I could have also used the Millerââ¬â¢s pyramid (Figure B) to monitor my performance on a personal level. Based on the Millerââ¬â¢s pyramid, I am at the ââ¬Å"Showsâ⬠level as I am able to demonstrate the skill of planning a treatment plan for rectal tumours. I have yet to reach ââ¬Å"Doesâ⬠because I am still not efficient in treatment planning as I do still make mistakes such as over-shielding in the treatment plan for brain tumour. For each treatment plan, a competency-based assessment and verbal assessment were carried out to evaluate my performance. Firstly, I had to design a suitable treatment plan using Eclipseâ⠢ treatment planning software for a particular case that was selected by the senior radiation therapist. After which, I had to explain and convince her that my treatment plan has met the requirements and was suitable for the patientââ¬â¢s condition. She used a competency-based assessment checklist (Figure C) to evaluate my performance. A competency-based assessment is a collection of evidence to demonstrate that a learner can perform a task according to specific standards (Singapore Workforce Development Agency ââ¬â Quality Assurance Division, 2012). The assessment outcome will allow the assessor to make judgment with respect to the competence or incompetence (Singapore Workforce Development Agency ââ¬â Quality Assurance Division, 2012). Such method of assessment has been used for many years by the planning department to assess training staff on treatment planning where they have to apply their knowledge in designing a treatment plan and explaining the rationale as well as suitability for the particular patient in accordance to the hospitalââ¬â¢s protocol and patientââ¬â¢s benefit. This is good as it involves an assessment of a combination of treatment planning knowledge, process skills and transferable skills (Singapore Workforce Development Agency ââ¬â Quality Assurance Division, 2012). Apart fr om competency-based assessment, I also chose verbal assessment for this component because it allowed me to gather feedback directly from my senior radiation therapist on ways that she thinks could have been better and on how to improve my treatment plans. Learning from my mistakes allows me to learn and grow as I will avoid making similar mistakes in the future. Type of learner I learned faster with the help of the senior radiation therapist. At the start of each session, the senior radiation therapist will show and explain to me regarding treatment planning. After which, I was given hands-on opportunities to enhance my learning. Among the learning styles (Figure D), I learned better through visual, verbal and logical styles where the senior radiation therapist showed and explained to me the different components of treatment planning. I feel that explanations make better sense to me rather than just verbal instructions. As such, I found myself asking more to get a deeper understanding of the interface and usage of the software as well as knowledge in treatment planning. After each discussion with the senior radiation therapist, I prefer to work alone to digest all the information and try out the treatment planning on my own. Therefore, solitary learning style (Figure D) was more suitable for me rather than social, also known as group discussion. Self-reflection using Gibbââ¬â¢s Reflective Model (Figure E) Description feelings I was able to learn new skills and knowledge from the seniors. Throughout this learning process, I learned how to develop my own learning goals, identify my own learning styles and be responsible for my own learning. At the start of the process, I struggled a little bit as the amount of knowledge and things to learn was too overwhelming especially since I am not IT-savvy. However, the hands-on practices helped me build up my confidence each week. I feel that this newly learnt skill and knowledge are useful as it can be applied when I carry out the daily treatments and also when I am doing the new treatment card check. The knowledge can also be shared with my juniors and students on attachment. Evaluation analysis The main challenge during the learning process was time. I only had one day (8 hours) every week to go to the treatment planning department. There was no fixed schedule plan as certain skill or knowledge required more time to learn. The changes in my schedule plan were made as more time was needed than expected to learn the software at the start and also due to the lack of manpower in the department which denied me of learning opportunities. However, I did managed to complete learning the treatment plan for rectal cancer a week earlier. As such, the schedule plan will always be adjusted based on my needs and capabilities each week. Despite this, it is crucial for me to keep to a certain timeframe as delaying a learning objective for too long would mean that the whole learning process will be completed at a later period. Given more time, I would like to be given a chance to create my own checklist on treatment planning and refer to more references from the textbooks instead of relying on the hospitalââ¬â¢s protocol and knowledge shared by the seniors. Conclusion action plan If I was given another opportunity, I would repeat the same process with similar action plan but with a more realistic set of timeline based on my learning speed and capabilities. I would also like to develop my note-taking skills and the method of evidencing my skills. 1
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