Narrative writing has been used to promote reflection and increased self-awareness among physicians. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of prompted narrative writing on reflection. Thirty-two interns at 9 internal medicine residency programs participated in a year-long qualitative study about personal growth beginning in July of…

A model educational program for third-year pediatric clinical clerkss and pediatric level I and II house officers is presented. Learning is defined in three areas: patient management, behavioral care needs, and hospital and community health care needs. Information on goals, objectives, learning experiences, and evaluation methods is provided.…

The relationships between medical school academic achievement and first year residency performance were investigated for the 1983 and 1984 graduates of the Medical College of Wisconsin. The analyses were designed to control for suspected differential resident expectations among the directors of various medical specialties, and were replicated to…

Clerks and house officers in a training program in internal medicine were observed during the performance of a history and physical examination. An itemized evaluation form was used to standardize the observations. Results and implications are discussed including the value of simulation in teaching physical diagnosis skills. (Editor/JT)

Medical students' and interns' thoroughness in keeping problem-oriented medical records (POMR) was evaluated and compared with standard forms of evaluations. POMR evaluations not surprisingly did not correlate well with standard evaluations, but the study suggests that thoroughness in charting is a minor variable in overall evaluation. (LBH)

The relationship of career choice to academic performance is examined by using the National Board of Medical Examiners examinations as the measure of academic performance. It was hypothesized that the examination subtest scores of students selecting various specialty residency programs would demonstrate profiles that were unique for each specialty…

A questionnaire concerning knowledge of opiate abuse and attitudes about abusers was administered to 94 randomly selected physicians and medical students at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. The results indicated that physicians might benefit from improved teaching in the area of opiate abuse. (Author/MLW)

Presents the results of a study of cognitive components in the diagnostic thinking process in which a content analysis of interviews between patients and clinical medical students, house officers, and graduate medical students revealed 14 categories of cognitive activity in the process. Six tables and a reference list are included. (Author/JL)

Ranked purely on the basis of the available reliable and valid measures, the demographic composition of incoming medical students fails to meet societal concerns regarding under-represented minorities (URM). Admissions offices are squeezed, administratively and legally, between honouring objectively measured individual merit and addressing…

Sixty-six English-speaking postgraduate distance-education medical students completed the Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ: 40-item version). This was completed while attending a residential workshop at the beginning of the semester, and 44 of these students completed the same LSQ questionnaire 5 months later at the completion of the semester.…

Team-based learning (TBL) combines independent out of class preparation with in class small group discussion. We adopted TBL in teaching first year medical gross anatomy. In this study, we evaluated student perceptions of TBL by using a survey that elicited perceptions of both pedagogy and mode of learning. Anatomy lectures were replaced with…

Objectives: This article describes the use of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) as a theme to connect the learning of basic neurosciences with clinical applications across the age span within a systems-based, integrated curricular structure that emphasizes problem-based learning. Methods: In collaboration with the Centers for Disease…

Deans of student affairs at U.S. medical schools were surveyed regarding the composition of "dean's letters" (summary letters sent near the end of students' undergraduate medical training to be part of the students' residency applications). They were asked to describe themselves and the letters they write. (MLW)

A study evaluated differences between subjects at three levels of expertise in acquiring and using information obtained from a patient during the clinical interview. Five endocrinologists, five residents, and five students interviewed a volunteer patient and provided differential diagnoses. Differences were found in diagnostic accuracy,…

A study explored the responses of medical students, resident physicians, and experienced physicians to 12 vignettes describing hypothetical patients to determine the relationship between clinical experience and susceptibility to bias in treatment decisions resulting from presentation of possible outcomes. Framing bias was most evident in the…