A new required clinical clerkship in family medicine at Duke University School of Medicine is described in terms of planning, implementation, and modification in response to students' evaluations. The data demonstrate that family medicine can be taught effectively as a core clinical rotation. (Author/MLW)

A 6-week enrichment program for minority student medical school entrants is described and its effect on their first-year medical school performance is evaluated. The program included basic science courses, study skills training, and a seminar on special topics, particularly sociomedical issues. (MSE)

An evaluation study of a faculty development program designed to improve the teaching skills of physicians is described. Cognitive outcomes were measured by a written pretest and posttest, behavioral outcomes were measured by ratings of videotapes. (MLW)

A gross anatomy program was evaluated that shortened the dissection time on the extremities by having half the class dissect either the upper or lower extremity and then study the opposite extremity already dissected by other classmates. Analysis of covariance showed that the program efficiently utilized laboratory time. (MLW)

A case-based, problem-oriented, modular curriculum in geriatrics for medical students was evaluated to investigate whether: students would demonstrate cognitive knowledge gain, students' attitudes toward the elderly would change favorably, suggested activities would influence students' ratings, and which institutional characteristics facilitate…

Since 1974 the University of Louisville has sent medical students to a rural area to receive their core surgical clerkship experience as part of an area health education system program. The first five years of the program and its effect on residency selection are reviewed. (Author/MLW)

An experimental program to provide decentralized training and certification for Utah's physician's assistants unable to leave their own communities is evaluated. Original program goals were met, but it was learned that the methodology is inefficient and the program requires more teaching time than most physicians can contribute. (MSE)

A preceptorship program design to introduce preclinical students to primary care in both underserved and adequately served communities is described. A preliminary evaluation of the program's first year indicates that it has had an impact on the students' attitudes. (Author/MLW)

As part of an ongoing faculty development program at the University of Minnesota Medical School, a program was developed to improve the teaching skills of clinical instructors. The background, program components, implementation, participant evaluation, and consultant evaluations of the program are discussed. (MLW)

A problem-based continuing medical education program to improve the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism by primary care physicians used a computer-simulated patient, individualized feedback, and a follow-up reading. Participating physicians felt the program improved their performance, but the results could not be substantiated. (MSE)

Students and faculty at the University of Arizona College of Medicine found the three-year medical program to be an unsatisfactory educational experience due to excessive intensity of classroom work, insufficient vacation time, and inadequate time to teach basic science. Measures of student performance showed no differences between three- and…

In a survey of faculty, five issues in which opinions were most diverse include: adequacy of program content, time available for faculty to do research, work demands on faculty, basic medical knowledge of three-year students, and quality of post-M.D. positions obtained by three-year graduates. (Author/LBH)

An evaluation program for fourth-year electives at Wright State University School of Medicine is described. Although individual electives were assessed, the evaluation program allows generalizations across electives by identifying strengths and weaknesses commonly found in the electives that were evaluated. (MLW)

A method of evaluating clerkship experiences was developed that combined several elements: close observation of students for six consecutive days of the first and last weeks of each rotation, student diaries, and interviews. (Author/MSE)

The faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine has developed an explanation of repeated medical student failures on Part I of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) examination. They see the failures as the result of incomplete development of reasoning skills. Author/MLW)