The development and use of a restricted list of drugs in the medical pharmacology course at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine are described. The list contained 60 percent fewer drugs than had been taught in the course in prior years. (Author/MLW)

An examination to evaluate prescription writing was administered to a group of pediatric house officers and faculty at the University of Arizona. The data indicate that prescription writing should be taught to house officers, and that the therapeutic knowledge of beginning pediatric interns cannot be assumed to be adequate. (Author/MLW)

A national survey of physiology, pharmacology, and surgery departments found that while laboratory exercises using animals are common, they are not universal, and that the widely available alternatives assume diverse forms, including films, computer models, lectures, readings, and clinical clerkships. (MSE)

Reviews the studies of researchers who have attempted to identify the sources of drug information, both professional and commercial, utilized by physicians, discussing relationship between physicians' sources and the choice of drugs and severity of conditions being treated. Also notes new sources of drug information being considered by the Food…

Patient management questions were used to assess ability to convert from one narcotic regimen to an approximately equal analgesic dose of a second regimen. Only eight percent of the answers were within the correct range. (Author/MLW)

An analysis of M.D. and physician's assistant (P.A.) student comparative performances at Baylor College of Medicine is presented. The analysis was seen as being appropriate in view of the P.A.'s increasing involvement with the implementation and monitoring of therapeutic programs. (Author/MLW)

A 4-year effort at Yale University School of Medicine to teach toxicology as an elective basic science from the standpoint of organ-specific toxic effects is described. The objective of the successful multidisciplinary program is to prepare physicians to understand, recognize, and manage adverse effects from drugs and other environmental…

Pharmacological education is presented as a continuous undertaking of preclinical students, clerks, and physicians and surgeons in training and practice. Goals are listed for the preclinical, clerkship, and residency stages of training, and the various actions which candidates should actually perform at each stage are defined. (Editor/JT)

Experiences with a combined computer-assisted and computer-managed pharmacology course that allows both scheduled and individual pacing are described. Students with low aptitudes achieved significantly higher scores on the pharmacology portion of a national medical examination after participation. (Author/MSE)

The medical pharmacology course at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine has changed from a poorly attended course in which students depended on "canned notes" and had bad rapport with faculty members to a course in which attendance is high and the canned-notes system has been abandoned. (Author/MLW)

Medical students performed less well on examinations about drug abuse problems and patient management than on traditional medical board examinations. The best knowledge was of pharmacology of drug abuse, Alcoholics Anonymous, and treatment of delirium tremens. Students knew less about metabolic and biochemical areas, emergency-room treatment, and…

An alcoholism segment in a behavioral medicine course is described that consists of didactic presentations, videotaped clinical material, patient interviews; and small group Socratic discussion. The course provides an introduction to patient-oriented clinical skills, gives awareness of stereotyping, and addresses social and individual…