As curricular emphasis on anatomy in undergraduate medical education continues to evolve, new approaches to anatomical education are urgently needed to prepare medical students for residency. A surgical anatomy class was designed for third- and fourth-year medical students to explore important anatomical relationships by performing realistic…

As a newcomer, the philosophical basis of systems biology seems intuitive and appealing, the underlying philosophy being that the whole of a living system cannot be completely understood by the study of its individual parts. Yet answers to the questions "What is systems biology?" and "What constitutes a systems biology approach in…

The foundation upon which surgical residents are trained to work comprises more than just critical cognitive, clinical, and technical skill. In an environment where the synchronous application of expertise is vital to patient outcomes, the expectation for optimal functioning within a multidisciplinary team is extremely high. Studies have shown…

Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate a recent medical school curriculum change at our institution 3 years ago; specifically: shortening the Psychiatry core clerkship from 4 to 3 weeks and adding an optional 6-week core/elective combination rotation in lieu of the 3-week core. The authors aimed to determine whether clerkship length was…

In the twenty-first century, communication has become truly global. Advances in technology have opened up a host of ways in which we are able to communicate to retrieve or pass on information and knowledge. In many cases we have moved from a place-based communication approach to one of increasing mobility. With this shift in approach, it is…

Gross anatomy is not only a rite of passage for medical students as they enter the world of practicing medicine but may also be an unrecognized fork in the road in their pursuit of choosing a medical specialty. Otolaryngology: head and neck surgery tends to be poorly represented in medical school curriculum, often only offered as an elective…

As an undergraduate in the 1960s, the author mostly used a slide rule for calculations and a Marchant-brand motor-operated mechanical calculator for statistics. This was after an elementary education replete with learning multiplication tables and taking speed and accuracy tests in arithmetic. Times have changed and assuming even basic calculation…

Given the chorus of approval for primary care emanating from every party to the health reform debate, one might suppose that the future for primary physicians is bright. Yet this is far from certain. And when one looks to history and recognizes that primary care medicine has failed virtually every conceivable market test in recent years, its…

The authors argue that attempts to establish more placements to meet the growing demands of undergraduate medical students in North America for international experiences may be outweighing critical reflection on the ethical issues, curricular content, and pedagogical strategies necessary to support equitable engagements with countries of the…

The term "altruism" is often used without definition, leading to contradictions in what we expect from medical students. In this reflection paper, we critique the concept of "altruism" from the perspective of moral philosophy and social psychology and challenge its unquestioned usage within the medical education literature,…

Students often attain memorable experiences from cadaver dissections through reflective writing. For many, facing a dissection for the first time elicits a wide range of emotions. These may include thoughts of their own mortality to the sheer admiration of knowing that someone cared enough to help others learn about the body, even in death. Poems…

Legal liability of medical students and residents can have significant consequences for clinical faculty members, the health care facility, and the educational institution. Issues and significant court cases related to the liability of students and residents in the health care setting are examined. (Author/MLW)

This study describes the medical student-nurse relationship primarily from the perspective of medical students, by looking at their definitions of the roles of medical students, physicians, and nurses and the working relationships among professionals within various institutional settings. (JOW)

Few medical faculty members are adequately prepared for their instructional responsibilities. Our educational traditions were established before we had research-based understandings of the teaching-learning process and before brain research began informing our understandings of how humans achieve lasting learning. Yet, there are several advantages…

To improve clinical teaching, simple and consistent expectations for the learning performance of students, residents, and attending faculty members will suffice. Comprehensive bedside teaching permits the educational and evaluative loops to occur. Excessive focus on details, regimentation, national guidelines, and long lists of goals and…