Because there are no universal standards for educational technology, curricular materials in medical education cannot be easily managed, reused, or shared with other educators and institutions. A standardized, object-oriented architecture is needed to facilitate these processes. The Instructional Management Systems specification, which has emerged…

Describes a technique designed to assess workforce availability and workload demands on family-medicine faculty at East Carolina University (North Carolina), using weeks per year as the unit of measurement. During the assessment period, a study revealed the department needed 2.8 additional faculty to cover existing work requirements and…

Suggests that formal classroom debate presents an opportunity for dental students to develop important learning/thinking skills and can be incorporated into coursework along with other active learning strategies. Discusses debate organization, presents rules of debate used in second-year dental school classes at the State University of New York,…

A study investigated whether a third-year medical clerkship evaluation system validly predicted students' later performance ratings during internships. Internship ratings of students needing remediation from 1986 to 1993 were compared with those of students voluntarily choosing fourth-year medicine. Results indicate the medicine clerkship…

A study assessed the effect of training stage, gender, and specialty interest on 493 Northwestern University (Illinois) medical students' breast cancer knowledge, attitudes, and clinical breast examination skills. Results suggest knowledge and attitudes are not related to clinical breast examination proficiency, which is a practiced tactile skill.…

Gives an overview of the decisions, activities, events, and issues that influenced the process of change at eight medical schools participating in a large-scale medical curriculum development project. Focus is on three stages of the change process: planning and creating the climate for change, making the change, and reinforcing the new model.…

Discusses the role of organizational communication in the process of curricular reform at eight medical schools participating in a large-scale medical curriculum development project, particularly during four stages of change: recognizing the need for change; planning; implementation; institutionalization. Communication strategies for promoting a…

An address to dental school deans looks at anticipated changes in the health care system, the public sector's changing role in health care, and draws implications for dentistry. It is suggested that academic health centers, and especially dental schools, will be particularly affected by these trends. (MSE)

U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs support over 100 health professions students annually in six locations. Fellows participate in activities designed to strengthen the ideals that attracted them to health care. Program alumni report that their experiences integrate their own ideals into professional and career development. Such programs may…

Dartmouth Medical School (New Hampshire) was one of 16 institutions receiving Generalist Physician Initiative grants, enabling it to accelerate institutional changes. Principles successful in achieving change included capitalizing on a sense of urgency for change, creating and empowering a guiding coalition, developing and communicating the…

Efforts to expand diversity in the health professions has received a boost from a prominent member of Congress. U.S. Senator Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, recently introduced a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act as part of a comprehensive initiative to improve the health of minority and other underserved populations. This bill, which is being…

This research looks at student experiences of learning in a clinical teaching situation. At the end of a course, students took part in a class that was led by a user of the health system, rather than their usual lecturer. We chose to study this class because we knew that it provided a very different learning experience for the students and…

In the late 1990s the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis was dangerous and crumbling, prompting "The New York Times" to dub the city "Murderapolis." As Minneapolis' largest neighborhood in size and population, and Minnesota's most culturally diverse community, the Phillips neighborhood became a negative symbol of urban blight…

The preparation of paraprofessional providers of services to older adults is often a "back-burner" issue, even though most direct care of older clients and patients is provided by paraprofessionals. This community-academic project delivered gerontological training to 74 paraprofessional service providers and evaluated the impact of training on…

Objective: The objective of these analyses was to explore maternal antenatal decisions about baby walker use, factors associated with these decisions and the relationship between antenatal plans to use a walker and postnatal walker use. Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Mothers-to-be (n = 1174) participating in a cluster randomised…