A format for a small-group teaching session is described that could be modified for any subject in a medical curriculum. The technique discussed uses subgroups and a simple recording chart that have been successful in teaching microbiology to medical students. (LBH)

Findings from a study of the socialization of 15 Asian Americans in teacher education, medical school, and law school at a large university show that all these students chose to enter these human services fields primarily for humanistic and altruistic reasons, and that they were sensitive to diversity issues. (SLD)

Argues against the criticism that medical students are self-centered moral relativists lacking a sense of social responsibility, illustrating this thesis with the Rush University (Illinois) community service program serving the poor and disadvantaged. Suggests that such community service experiences, given unconditionally to those in need, broaden…

Examined the health care needs, practices, insurance status, and concerns of 112 medical students, finding that one-third had informally requested prescriptions or diagnostic tests from medical school faculty and housestaff, and that women more often reported difficulty obtaining health care than men. The majority of students preferred to avoid…

A study of 184 third-year medical students randomly assigned to ambulatory care and traditional inpatient curricula in an internal medicine clerkship found those with the ambulatory care experience were somewhat more likely to choose an ambulatory care career than those in the traditional curriculum. However, the clerkship experience did not…

Discusses the use of video recordings to demonstrate clinical skills in higher education and describes a study that assessed the impact of real-time monitoring of clinical history taking on medical students. Considered whether the opportunities for personal reflection, peer critique, and tutor feedback outweighed unpleasant feelings of personal…

Effects of a medical education program about diabetes mellitus were studied as a function of the extent to which participants' clinical environments were made to facilitate recommended practices. Subjects were 99 internal medicine residents and 15 internists staffing a general medicine clinic who attended a 3.5-hour diabetes seminar. (SLD)

Provides 11 teaching guidelines for presentation of sociological material to medical students and addresses the problems of dense scheduling and competition for time in a medical school curriculum. Considers career implications for sociologists in this setting as well as resources available. (NL)

The article describes an elective course, part of the required psychiatry clerkship, at Dartmouth Medical School (New Hampshire), which stresses development of critical thinking skills in the diagnosis and management of patients with substance abuse and related medical and psychiatric complications. (Author/DB)

The academic performance of reapplicants who entered the University of Alabama School of Medicine were examined and compared with first-time applicants. Applicant status added nothing to the prediction of academic difficulty over what could be predicted by preadmission measures alone. (Author/MLW)

A study to determine the feasibility of creating and administering computer-based problem-solving examinations for evaluating second-year medical students in immunology and to determine how students would perform on these tests relative to their performances on concurrently administered objective and essay examinations is described. (Author/MLW)

A study investigated drug use by fourth-year medical students in 13 schools and compared drug use patterns with those of an age- and sex-matched cohort. Medical students reported less use of marijuana, cocaine, cigarettes, LSD, barbiturates, and amphetamines, similar use of opiates, and slightly more use of tranquilizers and alcohol. (MSE)

A study of 11,136 1987 medical school seniors' specialty choices, before entering medical school and in preparation for residency, found similar preferences at both points, regardless of racial-ethnic background. (Author/MSE)

A survey of fourth-year students in obstetrics at one medical school confirmed the absence of a liberal undergraduate education and indicated their failure to acquire cultural knowledge during their premedical and medical education. Knowledge deficits extended beyond the humanities to nonmedical sciences and the history and philosophy of medicine.…

University students in developing societies find it difficult to learn in a nonindigenous language of instruction. The experiences of an American professor who participated in the English Language Difficulties Committee of an Arab medical college are described. Faculty factionalism, curriculum policy, and national aspirations toward…