Examined impact of Medical Education Preparatory Program, structured career planning program, on career maturity scores of 61 African-American premedical students as measured by Medical Career Development Inventory (MCDI). Results revealed significant increases in career development levels, as measured by MCDI, of African-American students after…

Premedical students evaluating a peer-evaluation grid indicated that they preferred it not be anonymous, but formative. Most recognized their behavior changed as a result of peer assessment; most had more positive attitudes toward health care. (SK)

Notes that most future medical students major in biology and chemistry despite evidence that non-science majors perform equally well in medical school. Traces the history of the liberal arts tradition, discusses its importance for medicine, and urges medical faculties to take the lead in reshaping the premedical as well as the medical education of…

The paper considers the current health care crisis in rural and inner city areas and proposes changes in physician education including changes in premedical education and medical school admissions criteria. Changed criteria could encourage more broadly educated students to enter the medical profession thus maintaining high standards while meeting…

This study attempted to determine if test anxiety is manifested in pre-medical students as a result of the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and if Beta-endorphin similarly responds to that type of situational stress. Seventeen participants completed the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) by Spielberger et al. (1980) and donated 30 ml of blood for…

Explains the organization, structure, and assessment of the undergraduate course entitled Clinical Anatomy and Anatomical Skills. The course aims to refocus, vertically integrate, and revise the subject using problem-solving methods plus testing of various clinically relevant skills recorded in a logbook. This report re-emphasizes the importance…

Asserting that college advisers have the opportunity to enrich prehealth students' growth by becoming mentors, discusses issues mentors will encounter when supporting students, including career selection; roles for the mentor; curriculum, classes, and grades; application; moving beyond the medical school option; innovative opportunities for…

It is not always easy for a teacher to relate to his or her students. To communicate with students, it is important for a teacher to relate the subject that he or she is trying to teach is something that the students know, or at least to something that the students care about. In this article, the author, a genetics teacher, relates how he used…

This paper reports our findings and observations on the difficulties of university students learning Greek as a foreign language at the University of Thessaly. A group of medical students, whose native language was Arabic, answered two questionnaires concerning their use of and competence in Greek. The results showed that first and second year…

Students' perceptions of actual and idealized qualities of practicing physicians were studied longitudinally at three points in students' medical education. Questionnaire data were collected to assess stability and change in students' images of qualities of "most" physicians and of "effective" physicians. Male and female students' images of…

A study examined the relationship between undergraduate and medical school achievement, as indicated by a variety of measures, and competence in 18 medical care tasks during early residency. (MSE)

Foreign study can broaden the undergraduate experience for premedical students and help remedy the problem of on-campus tunnel vision, characterized by too little independent learning and critical thinking, premature specialization, avoidance of social sciences and humanities, and lack of appreciation of cultural heritage. (MSE)

Describes development of a senior undergraduate level medical research class. The purpose of the class is to help health professionals critically analyze medical research and thus decide whether or not to use the results to change their professional practices. (CH)

Many students planning to apply to medical school take undergraduate courses covering concepts that are taught within the medical school curriculum. A study to determine whether these students perform better in similar courses in medical school than students without prior exposure is discussed. (Author/MLW)

Changes in behavioral science preparation among applicants to U.S. medical schools and the success of behavioral science majors in being admitted are reported. Data provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges regarding the undergraduate baccalaureate majors of applicants to U.S. medical schools were analyzed. (MLW)