A study explored the responses of medical students, resident physicians, and experienced physicians to 12 vignettes describing hypothetical patients to determine the relationship between clinical experience and susceptibility to bias in treatment decisions resulting from presentation of possible outcomes. Framing bias was most evident in the…

A study investigated whether physicians (n=32) would generate less specific initial diagnoses than did medical students (n=39). Analysis of number, specificity, and breadth of diagnoses found students generated significantly more diagnostic hypotheses and more specific hypotheses, but breadth did not differ significantly. (Author/MSE)

The use of reciprocal peer teaching (RPT) was evaluated by first-year medical students participating in gross anatomy laboratory sessions at the University of Ottawa. In RPT each student in turn served as a teacher of his peers. The students compared RPT with staff teaching. (Author/MLW)

An exploratory study suggests that legal and medical training can have a negative impact on marriage: role behaviors learned during professional socialization and transferred to the spouse role are not conducive to a satisfying marital relationship, and student and spouse roles compete for time and personal commitment. (MSE)

A study compared student evaluations made by residency directors and deans in 2 medical schools, using 3 standard methods of ranking 20 students per school. Ordinal ranking showed substantial agreement for 15 of 16 residency directors. Two methods of clustering into fixed groups gave high agreement only for top students. (Author/MSE)

A study of the distress experienced by male and female law students in all three years of law school, as measured by a validated psychiatric symptom survey insrument, also compared the distress of law students to that of with medical students. (MSE)

A study investigated reasoning processes of medical students in schools with different curricular formats, a conventional curriculum with basic science taught before clinical training and a problem-based curriculum with basic science taught in the context of clinical problems. Strengths and weaknesses of each curriculum type emerged. (Author/MSE)

The diagnostic discourse of medical students and physicians in thinking-aloud protocols on paper cases was analyzed for evidence of semantic structure. Results show that structural semantics can be used to distinguish various levels of mental processing among novices as well as between novices and professionals. (MSE)

Different ways student-generated learning issues are used to deal with disciplinary content were assessed at seven North American medical schools with problem-based curricula. Structured interviews with key faculty representing the schools being studied suggested that the seven programs are encouraging the development of self-directed learning…

A study found that the admission interview scores for 62 Dartmouth Medical School (New Hampshire) applicants correlated positively with dean's letter ratings given 4 years later and that interview scores were better predictors of ratings than were total Medical College Admission Test scores or science grade point averages. (Author/MSE)

A method for classifying students according to the breadth of their premedical preparation is presented, and medical school performances and career plans of students thus classified are compared. Grouping is according to undergraduate major, nonscience-to-science course hour ratio, and extracurricular involvement. The method is found useful for…

This report addresses the problem of underrepresentation of minorities in the health care professions and presents results of a comparative study that examined the factors differentiating schools that enroll and graduate relatively large numbers of minority students from those who do not. Study findings revealed that schools with higher minority…

A pilot project profiled and compared the influence of the major environments of supply and demand, education, practice location and incentives, licensure and regulation, and planning and analysis on the health workforce in and among 10 states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and…