Curricular changes continue at United States medical schools and directors of gross anatomy, microscopic anatomy, neuroscience/neuroanatomy, and embryology courses continue to adjust and modify their offerings. Developing and supplying data related to current trends in anatomical sciences education is important if informed decisions are going to…

The need for additional nursing and health care professionals is expected to increase dramatically over the next 20 years. With this in mind, students must have strong biomedical science knowledge to be competent in their field. Some studies have shown that participation in bioscience laboratories can enhance science knowledge. If this is true, an…

Suggests some tips for giving effective lectures and presentations. (NB)

Argues that no interactive model can substitute for a well-organized lecture that structures a mass of information, illuminates basic concepts, suggests applications, and reviews relevant literature. (CCM)

Sophomores and juniors in a medical school who habitually did or did not attend lectures were compared on several academic achievement measures. Attendees performed significantly better on grade point averages and board examinations, but these are found to be inexact predictors of performance as physicians. (MSE)

This is the report of a study of the effects of an optional attendance policy on actual lecture and laboratory attendance and on cognitive examination performance in the medical physiology course at the University of Kansas Medical Center. (Editor)

As part of the required Introduction to Clinical Sciences course, second-year students at Georgetown University School of Medicine attend three one-hour lectures on dentistry: restorative dentistry, oral surgery, and various diseases. Contents of the lectures are summarized here. (JT)

Discusses the attitude differences between university staff, researchers, and teachers. Considers student learning with two different assumptions, "teaching is learning" and "the more we teach, the more students learn." Evaluates the relationship of student assessment curriculum to educational practice and points out the importance of tests in…

A review of American medical practice from 1876 to 1975 is presented in this Alan Gregg Memorial Lecture. Social and cultural influences are described, and it is concluded that the central and essential feature in medicine is the patient-physician relationship, in which physician actions should always be determined by what is beneficial to the…

Evidence suggests that a well-developed lecture script on a topic in medical biochemistry can quickly and easily be converted into an effective slide-tape program that is as educationally effective and well-received as one that is painstakingly tailored to the nature of the medium. (LBH)

Evaluates the implementation of a curriculum that married a lecture-based first year program with a problem-based curriculum in the second year. Demonstrates how this unusual curricular structure was successful in improving students' perceptions of and performance in basic sciences. (Author/CCM)

Factors that may affect a medical student's decision to attend basic science lectures were investigated. Basic science faculty members and administrators' views on student lecture attendance were elicited to construct a questionnaire. A total of 103 first-year and 75 second-year medical students attending a Puerto Rican medical school responded to…

The Clinical Oncology Assistantship Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is described, along with student reactions to the program. The summer elective program involves cancer lectures (one week) and clinical exposure (nine weeks) in medical, surgical, and pediatric oncology services, as well as self-directed learning…

A self-instructional workshop is described in which the effectiveness of a text was determined by pretest and posttest. The results suggest that pretesting and posttesting along with self-instructional materials are feasible alternatives to the usual lecture approach to continuing education. (LBH)

The development of a program designed to improve the teaching effectiveness of faculty members of a new Introductory Psychopathology course at the University of Washington School of Medicine is described. The lecture observation schedule developed was used to assist faculty in self-improvement. A literature review is included. (Editor/JT)