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)

A systematic, interprofessional, self-directed approach is described, along with the format followed in assessing educational needs, evaluating resources, and initiating appropriate and necessary programs. The model appears to meet most educational needs, both individually and collectively, at the community hospital level. (Editor/LBH)

Adversarial relationships existing among medical students, nurses, and hospital staff members were recognized at Hermann Hospital, a private, nonprofit teaching hospital in Houston, Texas, to be potentially detrimental to patient care. A joint communications committee identified ways to improve relations between medical students and hospital…

A survey of 200 specialists to determine their attitudes about and interactions with family practice is reported. Most physicians learned about family practice through referrals, in-hospital activities, and medical conferences. Suggestions are made for improving communication and information dissemination about family practice. (MSE)

Results of a survey support the statement that pediatricians have a negative attitude toward the pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) in South Carolina, generally due to the physicians' feelings that the PNP is not competent at child illness management. Implications for pediatric residencies are discussed. (LBH)

A study of patterns in second- and third-year family practice residents' requests for referrals found higher rates for the senior students, suggesting possible differences in approach to case management, lack of experience in referral among younger students, and differences in case mix. (MSE)

Physicians' negative attitudes toward law and the legal system derive from the lack of understanding of basic legal principles relating to medical practice. The impact of required curriculum programing in legal medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is assessed. (Author/MLW)

A study to evaluate the effect of a resident-staffed continuity clinic providing immediate subspecialty consulting rather than referral is reported. The study compared pediatric and nonpediatric clinics. A reduction in pediatric subspecialty visits occurred where general pediatricians could be expected to have substantial expertise. (MSE)

Studies of the communication patterns among scientists in a biomedical research center should help in the assessment of the center's impact on research processes. Such a study at the National Heart and Blood Vessel Research and Demonstration Center (NRDC) at Baylor College of Medicine is reported. (LBH)

An elective workshop offered to Wright State University medical students focuses on intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, collegial, educational, organizational, community, and existential aspects of communication and combines cognitive skills and training approaches to developing effective communication skills. (MSE)

Medical college curriculum must be continually changed to take into consideration changes in our society, and to develop new skills and new concepts in medicine to solve public health problems. (IR)

Students from four health professions--medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy--initiated a course designed to improve their knowledge of one another's training and skills, with the larger aim of preparing themselves to work in health care teams. The nine weekly meetings are described in terms of their content and students'…

A new technique, systems intervention, designed to deal with problems of needed change in complex organizational settings is described and its use reported in a case study of the relationships between Tufts University School of Medicine and its associated hospitals. The process combines system analysis and behavioral science techniques.…

A seminar in quality of care analysis was developed to: (1) familiarize health administration students with methods for measuring the quality of health care; (2) sensitize students to complexities of the medical care process; and (3) provide a setting where students interact directly with physicians in dealing with a common problem. (Editor/LBH)