The number of U.S. seniors who enrolled in the National Resident Matching Program in 1986 decreased. The most competitive programs were in emergency medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery, and diagnostic radiology. A new match, called the Medical Specialties Matching Program, is underway for fellowships. (MLW)

Understanding student problems regarding specialty choice may better be served by studying the decision-making process that produces a specialty choice. The difficulties that impede choice and reduce student certainty about choices made were investigated. (Author/MLW)

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)

Data are reported for information from medical school faculty members regarding reactions to characterizations of evaluation systems, concerns about the evaluation of medical students, and institutional and departmental reviews of clinical evaluation policies and procedures. (MLW)

First-year medical students' attitudes toward their free time and how these attitudes relate to self-reported stress levels were examined. Findings suggest a need for educating students about the benefits of well-spent leisure time as a stress management mechanism. (Author/MLW)

Medical students' perceptions of the learning environments provided by clinical electives taken at three different training sites were assessed to determine whether differences in learning environment among the sites could be attributed to differences in curricular goals. (Author/MLW)

A program designed to help participants cope with stress was offered to students at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The program was taught in a group format and focused on helping subjects to acquire and rehearse coping skills involving cognitive restructuring and progressive muscle relaxation. (MLW)

Responses of 423 freshmen and 410 seniors at Jefferson Medical College to 15 questions on economic aspects of health care were compared. A majority of students considered major problems to be costs of medical care and medical education, malpractice claims, and patients' failure to assume responsibility for their health. (Author/SW)

As emergency medicine became a specialty, it was realized that traditional training of physicians in urgent, emergent, and acute care problems was deficient. Surveys and studies demonstrate that the emergency medicine curricula in American medical schools remains at a minimum. (MLW)

How Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores relate to the probability of a student having academic problems that delay or impede his progress through medical school was studied. (MLW)

A new required clinical clerkship in family medicine at Duke University School of Medicine is described in terms of planning, implementation, and modification in response to students' evaluations. The data demonstrate that family medicine can be taught effectively as a core clinical rotation. (Author/MLW)

Evaluation of medical school graduates by their residency supervisors can provide information for judging the adequacy of the medical school preparation for the residency. Thirteen areas of residents' performances considered of major importance for evaluating undergraduate medical training were identified. (MLW)

A program developed at the University of Arizona College of Medicine that used patient instructors to evaluate interviewing skills of medical students is described. Patient instructors are nonphysicians who are taught to function in the roles of patient, teacher, and evaluator. (Author/MLW)

A study to identify more precisely the sources of stress in medical school, specifically sex differences and differences in medical school class, is discussed. Students at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston were asked to complete a questionnaire that included a list of perceived sources of stress. (Author/MLW)

A pilot study is described that was designed to make medical students' early professional contact with the elderly occur with those who are well enough to function as independently living individuals. The students felt the teaching value of the experience equaled or exceeded that of their experience with hospitalized patients. (MLW)