Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are developed by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Each TIP involves the development of topic-specific best-practice guidelines for the prevention and…

A triple-contract model of the relationship between a profession and a society includes a hypothetical contract articulating the profession's basic principles, a second contract suggesting the model for real-life face-to-face meetings creating moral terms limiting the relationship between professionals and society, and a third contract containing…

Two models of moral responsibility in dentistry--the beneficence model (to know what is in the best interest of those served) and the autonomy model (the patient has values and beliefs underlying his/her perspective on his/her own best interests)--are outlined, and a framework for resolving conflict between the two is presented. (MSE)

A discussion of pharmaceutical curriculum design to meet the competency needs of professional pharmacists looks at the nature of competency, anticipates some of the demands of such a curriculum, describes some methods of organizing curriculum elements, and provides a brief bibliography. (MSE)

A comparison of patient (n=181) and tutor (n=31) evaluations of medical student (n=41) behavior in an internal medicine clerkship revealed difficulties with patient evaluation of students. The process is time consuming and introduces tension between students and patients, and patients are poor discriminators. (Author/MSE)

Surveys of first- and fourth-year Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) medical students found little change in attitudes about abortion over four years. Attitudes correlated most strongly with personal beliefs about when a fetus is considered human life and somewhat with student gender. Results are used in a medical ethics course to illuminate…

Reviews the positive effects of patient education, including the physician patient relationship, improvements in health status, and cost effectiveness. The status of hospital libraries in Nigeria is described, and suggestions for the implementation of patient education programs are made. (5 references) (CLB)

The curriculum design, philosophy, and innovation of four programs in geriatric optometry are described: the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and the colleges of Optometry at the State University of New York, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and University of Houston. (MSE)

Medical faculty who choose and tell stories appropriately, especially if they are of their own clinical experiences, can stimulate students to examine their own values and attitudes. A sample story illustrates how the technique can help students address crises in professionalization and aspects of the doctor-patient relationship. (Author/MSE)

One dental education program used patient-instructors to give individual feedback from the patient's perspective to students after each of five interview scenarios. Feedback was constructive and behaviorally oriented. Ratings assessed process and content skills. Results indicates student interpersonal skills improved significantly, content skills…

A model for a geriatric optometry curriculum that defines key content areas and addresses the values essential for effective practice and basic therapeutic modalities used in treatment regimens with older adults is outlined. (MSE)

A study of medical clerkship students' time allocations found the greatest time expenditures in personal activities, then organized educational activities (rounds, conferences, lectures, chartwork, patient contact, examination study, ancillary activities, procedures, and directed study. Students slept 5.8 hours per night. Better balance of patient…

Three elements of persuasion (source, message, and audience) are discussed, and a paradigm for persuasion, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, which unifies many existing attitude theories, is described. Selected concepts and research on attitudes and persuasion are also examined as a context for teaching preventive behaviors and strategies in…

Community pharmacists (n=176) were surveyed concerning their responses to four ethical dilemmas potentially resolvable by deception and their attitudes about deception in general. Results were compared to a similar study of physicians. The professions appear to have similar standards regarding use of deception, using it principally in the…

A national medical school survey found 141 oaths given in 1989, indicating some offered a choice. Analysis found few demonstrated respect for patient autonomy; none included veracity. It is concluded that the oaths failed to address the changing physician-patient relationship and affirmed traditional principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence.…